Help! Baby refuses to drink milk

Hi,

I think your bb is doing just fine. There is no need to worry. Your bb knows when he is hungry and when he wants to be fed. Babies at abt that age will go through a short period when he/ she doesn't seem to be interested about his/ her feed, (whether bottle or breast!)

The baby is growing and gets more and more curious increasingly abt the sound, the sight and the touch of everything around him. He gets so excited abt the world around him, that feeding is comparatively less important. He wants to explore. Some babies who have slept thru the nite wakes up a few more times... you should be lucky, yours choose to explore at daytime. He was attracted to the TV because of the moving pictures and sound. You could do similar things for him, like a mobile, soft music, reading to him (actually just flipping the pages), etc.... they have similar effects too! As long as your baby is happy and smiling and communicating with you, he is doing perfectly fine. Trust them. You should still remember how he hungers and cried for milk during the first couple of months and nothing could stop him unless he got his bottle/ or bf.

As for teething. Different bb develops at different times. Some as early as 3-4 months, some start only at 10 months. Teething is also another reason why they refuse the bottle. You could ease his discomfort by giving him a chilled teething ring.

BB go thru different stages of their lives experiencing different things. It's part of growing up. Do not panic, but give them the chance to learn and grow! ^_^ I have two bb, the first one is 22 months and the second one is 6 months. They are so different in their feeding patterns. My no. 2 is going thru the stage too. She drinks only 5 times (5 oz or less) a day! However, she is happy, always turning to moving pictures, distracted easily by any sound around her, babbles sweet nothings..... I am happy!

I understand how you feel as I felt the same way when I had my bb here and my family and friends are overseas. However, I am glad I learnt and grew from the experience. Being a mother is a great responsibility and we want the best for our bb.

I hope I have been of some help to you.

Have fun and enjoy motherhood!!
 
Hi again

Yes, I tend to agree with the others that you don't need to worry for your baby at this stage. It's not like he's not drinking at all so you shouldn't force him when he doesn't want to. He sounds like he's a happy baby and doing really well. My baby is fed on breastmilk (I work so have to pump too) and he's cut down on his consumption recently and only drinks between 20-24 oz a day which doesn't sound a lot for his weight (7.1kg) - he's lively and happy during the day so I'm not worried.

Of course, just watch that your baby is not losing weight.
 
Hi arleneli, akiwai, and eyt,

Thank you so much for the sharing, advices, and supports.
Yes, generally my baby is very happy. He has been practicing turning over recently and is able to do so since last week. Now whenever we put him on our bed, he will happily turns over his body repeatedly.

eyt, I supposed your baby born around the same time like mine.
My baby was born in mid July. Niice to know someone that can share the closest experience.

:thanks
 
take him to a doctor asap! if your baby is not drinking for 9 or 10hrs, and then refuses to drink again, then he is in danger of getting dehydrated
 
My son is only 3 month old and we have the same situation since this week. He started eating less (25 - 30 oz) than he used to take as an infant (30+ oz). Recently, he refused to nurse, esp in the morning. Now he takes only 20 - 25 oz daily. We also found out he is more concentrated when he is half asleep. that's why I have to wake him up in the middle of the night for a night feeding because he takes the most at that time. He is active, playful and full of energy. When will this stage over? Will he take more in the future? Thanks for any advice.
 
Actually I am in the same dire straits as jxoxo and limantari. Exactly the same story - won't feed after long hours, but each feeding is a battle. I don't want to make feeding an unpleasant experience for him but he has definitely dropped off the average weight curve. (he's on formular btw)

its clear that he's thinned but the doc says its Ok and to observe for a while, but I am still worried as this has happenhed for quite some time now ( over 1 month).

I have started to give him a bit of rice cereal to test, and at least he is interested and doesn't turn his head.

Any insights as to why this happens , or any experience to share v welcome.
 
I started trying to offer milk only when he cries for it. It seems like he is hungry every 3.75 to 5.5 hours. Sometime, he will drink peacefully up to 6.5 oz. Sometime, he will yell after a few suckles and yell and sucks again. In this situation, he will at most take 3 oz. I am not sure why he has this behavior. But at least ,we can get him to drink while his eyes are open. I found out he can eat more peacefully in a quiet and dim environment. So I always have a "romantic" light setting and absolutely no noise in the room when feeding.

I still want to figure out why he would yell and drink at the same time. any idea? Thanks.
 
My daughter is now 6 months and 1 week old and we started having feeding issue about a week ago. I was sick and my milk supply dropped a lot and she started refusing to nurse in the evening. At the beginning, I thought it's just because of my slow let down and low milk supply. However, even now my supply has been back to normal, she still refuses to drink in the evening and even lunch time. I am very sad and feel rejected. I've heard babies refused to drink from bottles but not from breasts. Don't babies love the comfort from mama's breasts?

I cut down her solid and only feed her a couple spoonfuls of rice cereal in the evening 1 hour before nursing. She still pushes away from my breasts and I can only get her to drink when she is falling asleep in my arms.

any advice?
 
Hi limantari,

My son is now 6.5 months and he has been having the proble as you described for 3 months. I am going to lose my mind if he continues acting like this. I noticed that you haven't posted any new messages for quite sometime. Can I ask how's your son now? Did he finally go back to normal drinking? Or anybody out there can share their experience? I dunno what else to do I feel so much frustrated now. 3 months is torturing enough.
 
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