9Mo Boy Won't Take a Bottle/sippy Cup/spoon

Have you tried a baby medicine syringe. It will take a little more time, but you can get the liquid into their mouths. Hopefully once he gets used to the taste he will take a bottle or sippy.

One thing that worked for me trying to get my son used to the sippy was to have it drip onto their tray. I would hold the cup upside down and let a drip or two land on the high chair tray. He would play with the drips and then try it himself. Pretty soon he was tasting it and chewing on it. Then drinking. sometimes, a little perservance is the way to go.

Have you tried a straw? During meals, your husband and you can drink from a straw and your son will see you and hopefully want to do this.

You mentioned that he fell below "the" curve on his weight gain. Do you mean that "his" curve dropped off or that he is just below the average 50th percentile? Just for your peace of mind, if he is following his own curve and gaining weight at his own rate then he sounds fine, particularly since he has met all of his milestones otherwise. I know that every child is different, but my daughter has always been between the 7th and 15th percentile on the CDC's growth curves. She was was breast fed exclusively until about 6 or 7 months then started taking some pureed veggies and fruits. She is two now, still tracking her own growth curve and doing great. If this is the case with your son, you may consider getting a second opinion regarding the NG tube feeding. PM me if you want the name of a fabulous pediatrician.

Also, remember that the growth curves were developed when kids were mostly formula fed (thus bigger on average) and that we now have an epidemic of childhood obesity, so normal/average is not necessarily desirable. Good luck with everything, I know kiddo health issues can be very stressful on us parents.

Hi S.,
Have you tried sneaking the alimentum into his solid food? Like, how "soupy" a mix of solids could you "trick" him into taking?

Also, try to be as relaxed as possible during feeding session (the threat of an NG tube would make ANY Mama tense!!!), and your little one will pick up on that. If it's to the point where he associates you giving him a bottle with throwing a fit, try having someone else (Papa, Grandma, friendly neighbor, etc) present him with the bottle when he's really hungry. You *may* be surprised :)

Good luck.
t

Who is your Dr.? Before doing something so invasive you may want to get a second opinion. We see dana ursea at phoenix childrens. She is absolutely wonderful. Dont see the NP though.

also, breastfeeding IS ENOUGH nutritionally and water-wise if you let him nurse like he wants to. You might have to bring up your supply (chakra 4 is a great place to get herbs and people who can help you do that). My little girl ONLY had breastmilk for her first year. no water whatsoever. I introduced solid at a year and she really didn't take them until she was two years old. so that is two years on just breastmilk basically. breastmilk is the best food for our babies. it is the perfect food. the problem is modern medicine doesn't understand breastmilk (remember only a decade ago doctors encouraged formula over breastmilk) and can't make money off of it! keep feeding your baby breastmilk - that is great!

Hi, I am a dietitian and Mom of 3 boys. I would push fruits and veggies for constipation, breast feeding is supposed to be primary feeding at 9 months so really he is doing what he is supposed to. most breast fed babies do not drink much at this age. But since you have to return to work, that makes it hard. My last son did very little by the bottle but eventually took to his sippy. try different ones. its good to try ones that come out slower, especially for a kid w/ reflux. I used one by avent. You can get liquids from foods too. Fruits and veggies are 70% water. You can make his solids higher calorie, for example :cereal made with formula or juice (could try small amounts of new plum juice or prune juice or baby food prunes in his cereal. Or boil some dried apricots and then mush them into cereal. Could use actual grains like millet or oats chopped in strong blender or food chopper instead of or half half w/ baby cereal (the iron is constipating if too much but baby needs some iron sources at this age if not taking formula. I always used a bit of baby food meat to add iron, I added sweet potatoes or squash and applesauce to mask the strong taste. It is not too soon to try some meats, done earlier in other countries and I participated in a study by Gerber confirming the safety and benefits of easily absorbed iron in meat that is not constipating. (we gave it at 6 months)Calories can also be added by using a bit of butter to foods, or adding some whole milk yo baby yogurt(can add yogurt before dairy milk) and avocadoes! Also egg yolk if ok w/ your Dr. Hope ideas are helpful. A pediatric dietitian may be able to give better ideas than your ped. Not that I am biased or anything:) A.

My 8.5 mo old was really constipated bec he won't really drink anything other than breast milk. I made a mixture of prunes and pears to mix with his cereal and also to feed him plain. It helped a lot. Also, he liked the hummus I made when I mixed it with his other foods. Since the pureed garbanzo beans started getting mixed in, his stools have gone back to soft. We were really worried at one point because he hadn't pooped in 3 days. Good luck.