My Son Won't Take His Bottle Anymore

A 10-month-old shouldn't be refluxing so much anymore. My son did, and by the time we got a new pediatrician, he had a developmental delay caused by his milk allergy. We took him off all dairy and his reflux stopped. He caught up developmentally within 6 months (with help from GREAT nurses). Ask your doctor about possible food allergies.

1 mom found this helpful

A.,
I would have to say that the first thing to worry (or not worry) about is if your son is undernurished or underweight, which from the sound of things, your Dr is not worried about. That is GREAT! Sometimes it is hard to believe as a first time mother that you are doing things just right but it sounds like your Dr thinks you are or he would have made suggestions. Just to ease your mind it does happen that children eat less sometimes in the summer when it is hot and just as they go through growth spirts they also have times when they eat less because they are not growing as fast. My niece had trouble with reflux and they switched her to soy formula which helped but I think your Dr would have done that long before now. If you are starting table foods or thicker baby foods he could be getting more full on them than the formula. You may want to try keeping a sippy of water out between meals. With my daughter it helped with digestion and also gave her a means to practice using the sippy more often and in a play situation so that she was more calm using it at meal times.

I'm no doctor,but my advice would be to ditch the bottle if he doesn't want it, and save yourself the fight getting him off in it a few months. Go to the sippy cup and try to get him to drink as often as possible. Really encourage him, cheer it up when he drinks, cause kids love to please their parents. I went out and bought a thermos bottle that shows measurements on the side, and put 20 ounces in it everyday. It helps to keep track, he might be getting more than you think. I wouldn't go to whole milk yet, it's less "perfect" than formula and if he's only getting a little bit, make it count. If your doc is not worried and he's gaining weight, try not to stress too much! However, I have no expereince with reflux, and getting picky at that age seems weird. Maye a second opinion would be helpful if you are very concerned?

A., Don;t worry about your son he is just growing up and your Dr. is right your son will eat when he is hungry.Believe me when I say this I have 3 children and 2 are grown now but still have a 5 yr. old and there are times he won't eat and I make him eat even when he's not hungry,it's just a phase he is going thru.Hope this helps.

IT'S LIKELY A TASTE ISSUE. I WOULD GO TO THE WHOLE MILK. GO THE HEALTHY ROUTE WITH ORGANIC THOUGH, OR EVEN SOY OR GOATS MILK.

Hi Aime,

I can really relate to your eating dilemmas. I have two children, ages 5 and 2. My 2 year old quit nursing at around 6 months and wouldn't take any type of formulas so I tried milk, soymilk, etc. This is when I bought the Super Baby Food book and then started making my own babyfood, which wasn't as hard as it sounds. I would really suggest reading this book. It will discuss what your child nutritional needs are for his age and has lots of good child recipes.

Your child could go without milk if he just doesn't like it. I would go for super good nutrition, and maybe half water/half juice for a treat and try some of the berry flavored soy milks.

Its 500 mg of calcium that's needed for kids ages 1-3. So make sure you supplement with some yogurt, Dannon makes a really tasty vanilla yogurt, and some other calcium fortifies foods - does your child eat cheese, that could be another choice as well.

I know my pediatrian has suggested my 5 year old get two 1/2 cup servings of a calcium type food!

Good luck!

K.

Hi A. -- that is a frustrating situation for both you and your son! My daughter has reflux, so I understand how diffucult it can be. I would guess that it might be time to talk to a different doctor in your practice -- generally babies that age do not "get picky" about that sort of thing -- and if your son's reflux if bad enough he may be experiencing a lot of discomfort after drinking -- I'm sure you trust your doctor, but speaking from the perspective of a parent with a child with special needs and one who is quirky, sometimes doctors don't look as far as they could.(and don't even know it -- they are doing the best they can of course... but still are only people -- with 20 minute appointment spots!) My daughter only now is getting relief from her reflux -- at 7 years of age. (!) Excessive dairy actually aggravates my daughters reflux -- and she has no dairy allergy. Where do you go for your Peds?

try a different sippy cup maybe he will drink more. my son who is 11 months likes gerber cups(soft tip) over avent. we have been using avent bottles. Hope this helps you out

A.,
Have you tried experimenting with faster flow nipples on your baby's bottle? Lots of times, the nipple that comes on the bottle when you buy it is intended for newborns and it is really really hard to suck and the flow is very slow. A faster replacement nipple may make your baby happier about drinking from a bottle and he won't have to work so hard to get the milk he wants. Hope this helps!!
-RS

Hi A.,
I had the same challenge with my son, starting at about 8 months. He has reflux (GERD) and had gotten so much negative experience with food/liquids that kept coming back up (hurting) that naturally he started avoiding it. We put him on an acid blocker (Prevacid Solutabs) which doesn't help with the reflux, but neutralizes the acid so it shouldn't hurt so much. We also needed to do lots of small meals, keep him upright after eating, etc. but it only helped a little, over a long time. St. Paul and Minneapolis Childrens Hospitals has a Feeding Clinic that you could get referred to for help. (Our son had an "Upper GI" x-ray series that confirmed the reflux, and also testing for food allergies, etc. and saw a pediatric gastroenterologist.) It would also help if his doctor understood about what is happening--it doesn't sound like your son is just a picky eater and I remember it really aggravated me when people said that he'd eat when he was hungry...
My son is now 21 months, still a lean guy but at least holding his weight and trying new foods. He is just weaning off of the Prevacid and we'll see how he does. I know how incredibly time-consuming feeding can be and how frustrating for you both--good luck! Oh, and switching to cows milk won't help, and lacks the iron which he particularly needs.
B. (mom of a refluxer, and I'm a doctor too)

A.,

You need to take this seriously. It is time to go to a Specialist in Reflux. My son is now 4 and has REFLUX since Birth & Slow Weight Gain. He's only 32 lbs. So... much time was wasted when I went to the Family Ped. and they too told me he was just PICKY! NO, DO NOT except this response, you need to see a Pediatric Gastroenterogist. The one who has given us many answers is Dr. Khalid Khan at the U of M, Fairview Children's Hosp. You can make appt. at this number: ###-###-####. He is also available at Gillette in St. Paul, the 1st & 3rd Tues. of every Month: ###-###-#### for an Appt. at Gillette, and he also Clinics in Burnsville: ###-###-####. He is worth the wait, and I would get in ASAP. My son was placed on Prevacid in the Morn. and Zantac in the Evening for Reflux from our old Family Ped. ( Since MOVED to a Better Clinic - Stillwater Medical Group - Dr. Nicole Groves, She's A+++++++ ). He took the Meds. for 1.5 yrs., and we knew they were not working. Dr. Groves listened and Acted, gave us Dr. Khan's Name, met with him, again A++++++ Dr. He ran a pH Probe Test on Colin, and found the Opposite to be true he was refluxing due to Low Muscle Tone, Not any ACID! HE WAS PLACED ON THE WRONG MEDS.!!!!!!!! UGH! With all the Specialist we have seen, even at the Mayo Clinic as well. REMEMBER you are the Customer, and if you are not satisfied with their answers go else where. Dr.'s are not GODS and we all make Mistakes, but when it comes to the Life of your Child. Go straight to the BEST! If you have any further questions I will be Happy to discuss further. In Fact, I am off to see Dr. Khan today, for follow-up. Wishing you the best, but PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! Better to Rule out Reflux, then not have it treated.

HE'S READY TO MOVE ON TO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS, ID KEEP TRYING THE SIPPY, SOMETIMES DIFFERENT BRANDS AND STYLES CAN HELP UNTIL YOU FIND ONE HE LIKES, MY SON ALWAYS SEEMED TO FAVOR CERTAIN ONES OVER OTHERS, SO TRY TRY AGAIN. GOOD LUCK
(GREAT NAME BY THE WAY!)

My daughter did the exact same thing around 9 mos (she's one now), so I just gave in and put the bottles away, after all, most people complain that they can't get the kids off the bottle, but like your child, she wasn't very good at the sippy cup yet. So i just found a good cup (she really likes the gerber one, i dunno which it is called, but the bottom is a gerber bottle with a sippy top on it and big huge handls) and would make sure it was offered much more frequently. That way she only took a small amount at a time but still got the milk. It really only took about a week for her to get proficient this way also. While it is recommended to keep on formula till they are one, they can start digesting the whole milk around 9mos (the big reason why they need formula or breast milk until then, i've been told), it just doesn't have the same nutrient fulfillments or something like that.... Anyways, good luck =)

We went through this with out son, too - we were never able to go back to the bottle when this happened. The sippy cup eventually worked, coupled with nursing when mommy was home. You might also try to start him on cereal, yogurt, or other solids now - to be sure he is getting all of the nutrients he needs. You can mix all of the early food with milk/formula, too.

We also went through reflux - our son was a preemie and was on Xantac for approx. 4 months. By the time he was nearly 10 months, he didn't need the medicine anymore. He is now 21-months and is 31 lbs! A big boy.

I'd try a straw cup. My daughter never took a sippy cup. I think it was too different than the bottle. She took a straw cup right away. If it lasts more than a few days or he starts to lose weight, I'd go back to the Dr.

Hi A.,
I'm also a 27yr. old 1st time mom and have a 12 month old son, he's pretty much the opposite when it comes to a sippy cup, not a huge fan but one thing that helped was a sippy cup that has a soft spout similar to a bottle... that may help the transition. Also once I switched him to whole milk he drinks more than he ever did with the formula, about a gallon and a half a week! Hope this helps you!