Out of the blue my 10 month old stopped eating his bottles of formula. I put it in his mouth an he launches it across the room but will happily suck on a binkie. He has not had a bottle in 3 days! (He used to have 4, 10 oz bottles a day). He will eat baby food and will accept his formula if it's mixed in with oatmeal. He is spitting up more, burping a lot, and seems uncomfortable when eating. Could reflux develop this late? Could he all of a sudden be lactose intolerant or have developed an allergy to the formula that he has been happily drinking since he was 6 months old? The doctor isn't worried but my gut tells me different (and this is my third child). Any ideas?
bet he's getting new teeth. Also he is at the age where you should be able to give him a cup now. He can eat table food by now as well. I have had SO many kids refuse bottles around that age, and almost always about a week later a tooth pops out.
I would have him checked for ear infection. With my oldest that was our only sign. He would be happy, no fever, no crankiness nothing... except he would stop drinking his bottle.
Maybe he is breaking himself from the bottle. You could take this as an opportunity to give it up. Keep giving him the formula in a sippy cup if he will drink it from there. Really if he is getting enough to eat from other foods then I wouldn't worry about the formula too much. It wouldn't hurt him to start switching over to milk. I know its earlier than that magical date, but if he is ready... follow his lead. All of my kids were off of formula by 11 months. They just didn't like the taste or something, but they wouldn't drink it anymore. My #3 was on all table foods by 10 months. He wouldn't eat the baby food anymore... if he couldn't feed himself, he wanted nothing to do with it.
I would think that at 10 months, you may be offering a variety of other foods,also? It is highly possible that he no longer likes the taste of the formula now that he has had other flavors introduced. Try it in a cup, and if he won't take it then, either, this is probably the case. I just read a very interesting article from a dad who tried different types of formula to see what they tasted like, and said that they were all very nasty, so it wouldn't surprise me that babies think that, too! Since most of his nutrition should still be from the formula, could you add a tiny bit of chocolate flavoring or something else to it and see if he would accept it, then? The additional sugar would be negligible compared to the nutrients from the ABM.
At 7 months my sister was teething and hurting so bad she refused her bottles. I happened to sit down next to her in her highchair to try and soothe her and she reached over and took my regular cup with no lid which had milk in it, got it to her mouth and downed it! She WAS hungry, but her mouth hurt to suck.
You mentioned he will suck a binkie so i suggest offering him his formula in a sippy cup. He still needs the formula, but it doesn't have to come from a bottle. Also, he possibly is taking in too much air from the nipple, causing his discomfort, and I don't think he would develop reflux or an allergy to a formula he's been on for 4 months at this late date. My granddaughter's reaction to formula she was allergic to was almost instantaneous.
Another possibility is that he is eating too much baby food and doesn't want the formula for that reason. Up to a year formula or breast milk should be his primary source of nutrition, with solids secondary and only to get him accustomed to eating them. Try giving him less solid food and his formula in a sippy cup (you may have to try a few to find the one he'll accept) and see if this helps.
My experience with this has been teething related too. You might not even see or feel them quite yet, but the pressure of them being pulled down/up into the gums is compounded by the sucking motion from the bottle. my very happy bottle drinker just stops when there is a major teething situation. You could try sippy cups or helping hold a real cup where there wouldn't be too much sucking motion.
Simplistically speaking an allergy will be a severe and immediate response. You should think of a person's reaction to a bee sting. A true milk allergy is very rare too. You would be looking for more severe symptoms such as rashes, facial swelling, and hives.
On the other hand lactose intolerance is an inability to process a particular sugar (lactose) so the symptoms tend to be milder. You will notice continual fussiness, abdominal cramping, bloating, diarrhea and/or vomiting. Also most babies tend to be less lactose intolerant as they age. Typically a young infant (3 months or less) may have lactose intolerance but by age one the baby will have resolved the intolerance.
At 10 months I would be surprised if your baby suddenly developed lactose intolerance. However, the symptoms you describe are generally consistent with what we see in our lactose intolerant baby. We notice if our baby receives very much dairy continual day after day, he has far more problems. Thus, we limit all dairy to minimal amounts. While he ate formula, we used a soy based one. He recently turned one so we switched to milk. After a brief trial run of two days on whole milk, he evidently displayed signs of lactose intolerance. We had to switch to soy milk. The results were almost immediate within one feeding. He lost his fussiness and stopped vomiting. The diarrhea and constipation took about three more days to resolve themselves.
I would consult your doctor again since a parent’s gut is a valuable tool. Good luck.
You say the pediatrician isn't concerned? Was your son examined? He may have a sore throat or ear infection in which case sucking would be painful. The formula would not be causing acid reflux at this point. Did you introduce a new food? I would go back to the basics of cereal and perhaps bananas and sweet potatoes or something like that to be sure it isn't a new food causing gas or spit up. Time now to introduce the sippy cup too. If he takes to it then he'll be able to get hydration. Sounds to me though a tummy virus or ear/throat irritation or at worst a new food that didn't agree with him. If has been 3-4 days I'd have him examined to rule out any illness. You're right it's not normal to continue like this. 10 month olds still love their bottles :)
I would say no to all of those. Could his tummy just be bugging him right now, yes. is he going through a phase? Maybe. Just wait till he refuses to eat anything except yogurt for a week straight...then you learn how to shave meat and veggies and mix them into a bowl of yogurt! they go through phases!!
Could he be teething? Sorry if that was already asked, I didn't read the other reponses.
First, you are right to stay in touch with the doctor and make sure he is getting enough fluids, etc. He still needs the formula, so you do want to find a solution.
However, 10 months is a tricky age. He is behaviorally pretty mature. He might just not want the bottle. Or he may be showing his independence. he may have a tooth ache. Or a sore throat. Lots of things can drive a baby to change their behavior. It isn't necessarily physiological - hid burping etc might be because he isn't having as much formula as usual.. Try an open cup or a sippy. Will he drink water from a bottle? Fool around with his routine. He might just be being a stinker :)
