Low %tile babe who refuses bottle

[Bobbys]

I breastfeed my 10 month old, but when I am at work, he needs to take a bottle at daycare. (I only work part-time.) He refuses the bottle. I supplement with formula, because he wouldn't take my expressed milk and it was time-consuming to pump and subsequently dump the milk. So he takes one bottle of formula at daycare and then I bf him at lunchtime.

Trouble is my ds is in need of gaining some weight. I need him to take the bottle. We have tried the bottle, sippy cup, straw cup, regular cup. It doesn't seem to be the container, just the contents.

So what do I do?

[poorlittlefish]

Have you tried a cup? or a soft spouted sippy cup? My DD drank her EBM out of a sippy cup starting around that age. Maybe a different method of deliver will work.

[Mosaic]

I'm a little confused. He doesn't take BM, but he does or does not take formula from the bottle? Or he does take the bottle, but not from you? Do you think it's a supply issue on your side? Is he eating a lot of solids or drinking any other liquids that might be filling him up without the calories he needs? Is his doctor worried about his size? Lots of babies are lower in percentile or dip off their curve for a bit, and it's not necessarily something to worry about.

[texmati]

Is he on solids? Can you 'trick' him into taking the bm if you mix it into other foods? Could he be needing a faster or slower flow nipple?

[Bobbys]

Originally Posted by Mosaic

I'm a little confused. He doesn't take BM, but he does or does not take formula from the bottle? Or he does take the bottle, but not from you? Do you think it's a supply issue on your side? Is he eating a lot of solids or drinking any other liquids that might be filling him up without the calories he needs? Is his doctor worried about his size? Lots of babies are lower in percentile or dip off their curve for a bit, and it's not necessarily something to worry about.

He wouldn't take BM from a bottle or a sippy cup or any cup. Only mommy would do. At one point, he would drink the formula from a bottle. I'm assuming because he didn't associate it with me and therefore didn't associate it with boob.

He doesn't drink any other liquids, although he would drink water from a sippy cup and sometimes juice. Very rarely is this given.

It could be a supply issue from me because I don't feel like my boobs fill up as much as they used to. He eats quickly and my boob deflates.

My doctor is concerned with his weight because he is declining on the percentage chart. He went from 75% at 2 months to 50% at 4 months to 25% at 9 months.

I wouldn't sweat it so much if he drank the formula at daycare. It's a supplement. But he won't drink it from my husband either. He did for a few weeks, but then he stopped.

He is very wishy-washy. One week, he'll take the bottle, one week he won't.

[sapphire_chan]

Does he nurse at night?

I ask because from about 9 months to a year, dd only nursed about twice during the day besides occasional sips. But she'd make up for it during the night.


Also, is he dropping percentages on the WHO chart or on the old CDC charts? The WHO charts are based on breastfed babies and are more accurate.

And breasts don't really fill with milk after supply has been established. Once things get efficient you basically produce as you go.

[sosurreal09]

DD was in the 75th then the 50th and now since 9 m/o (shes 12mo now) has been in the 25th and her Dr doesnt care. she said its fine as long as shes nursing and eating solids...
maybe they are making a bigger deal out of it?

[Ruby2]

I wonder if you would get some good ideas if you posted this in the breastfeeding forum. I have a vague recollection of reading something about how some people's breast milk can have a reaction with air, causing only their pumped milk to taste bad. Have you tasted your expressed milk?

[texmati]

Originally Posted by Bobbys

He wouldn't take BM from a bottle or a sippy cup or any cup. Only mommy would do. At one point, he would drink the formula from a bottle. I'm assuming because he didn't associate it with me and therefore didn't associate it with boob.

It could be a lipase issue as well. Could you try giving him fresh, fresh, fresh bm in a bottle just to see if he will take it?

at 10 mos, I'd also look into alternate feeding methods, eye dropper, spoon, etc. Finally, if my son didn't take the formula or bm, I'd try with some whole cows milk , or something else. I know you are supposed to supp with formula, but if he won't take the formula, than currently you arent supplementing at all.