8.5 Month Old Refusing the Bottle

[BumbleBee]

She'll drink *maybe* 3 oz of a bottle before it goes flying. And she will not take it back after she tosses it.

I tried putting it in a sippy cup, 1 sip and the cup went flying coupled with the rage scream.

She'll eat infant oatmeal with her formula mixed in. 2 oz of formula in oatmeal is the max she'll take of that though.

She'll gobble up any table food you put in front of her. God help us if the kids are eating real food and she is not. Rage screaming, throwing herself back, furiously trying to roll her way to the table.

She's always been opinionated but this is a new level, even for her.

Anybody ever had a baby like this before? Tips? Ideas?

[Pestle]

Offer the bottle and table food at the same time. Keep parents updated. Let them deal with the bottle at home.

Mix a few ounces of formula and offer it in a shot glass, one ounce at a time. Teach her how to hold and drink from a cup and get her to drink her formula at the same time.

[BumbleBee]

This little stinker has us trained.

She's taking three 6 oz bottles between 8:45pm and 6:45am.

So no lack of formula intake, just a baby who trained us well.

[Mom2Two]

I would just give her the formula and when it's tossed, put it up.

Keep a sippy of water handy that only you control, and that's just for if you feel kiddo isn't getting enough fluids with the meal.

And I would just let the kiddo eat table food if that's what dck wants.

Just chop it 1/4" or smaller. Just do small pieces of cooked dry beans, broken Cheerios, little bits of rice, tiny strawberry pieces or whatever.

[Cat Herder]

I would not offer infant cereal until she took enough formula to meet her nutritional needs. It is an empty filler, I don't even serve it.

Minimum 24 ounces in 24 hours. I prefer closer to 32 because of iron.

My goal would be:

3 ounces with breakfast. 3 ounces with lunch. 6-8 ounces with morning snack. 6-8 ounces with afternoon snack. 18-22 ounces offered right there.

Remember they will also be getting formula at night, with their parents. Knowing how much they give may take some of the pressure off of you. They may even be giving a morning bottle before arrival.

[BumbleBee]

I would not offer infant cereal until she took enough formula to meet her nutritional needs. It is an empty filler, I don't even serve it.

Minimum 24 ounces in 24 hours. I prefer closer to 32 because of iron.

My goal would be:

3 ounces with breakfast. 3 ounces with lunch. 6-8 ounces with morning snack. 6-8 ounces with afternoon snack. 18-22 ounces offered right there.

Remember they will also be getting formula at night, with their parents. Knowing how much they give may take some of the pressure off of you. They may even be giving a morning bottle before arrival.

Turns out she's getting 18-24 oz of formula between 8:45pm and 6:45am.

The story before today was she was sleeping thru the night and not taking much of her morning bottle before she got here. Hence my concern with the lack of formula intake because my calculations, based on sleeping thru the night, had her at 18-24 oz max in 24 hrs.

With the new info it's more like 24-30 oz in 24 hours.

[rosieteddy]

I would ask parents to give at least 6 oz before dropping off .Then do the best you can.I wouldn't fight her .It always seems once they get real table food it ruins them on baby food.Offer formula when appropriate then give same lunch /snacks as everybody else.

[Cat Herder]

Turns out she's getting 18-24 oz of formula between 8:45pm and 6:45am.

The story before today was she was sleeping thru the night and not taking much of her morning bottle before she got here. Hence my concern with the lack of formula intake because my calculations, based on sleeping thru the night, had her at 18-24 oz max in 24 hrs.

With the new info it's more like 24-30 oz in 24 hours.

It makes such a huge difference. Hope it gets easier, now.

[Ariana]

Turns out she's getting 18-24 oz of formula between 8:45pm and 6:45am.

The story before today was she was sleeping thru the night and not taking much of her morning bottle before she got here. Hence my concern with the lack of formula intake because my calculations, based on sleeping thru the night, had her at 18-24 oz max in 24 hrs.

With the new info it's more like 24-30 oz in 24 hours.

So the parents were lying about her formula intake?!

I start infants at 12 months and not one has ever taken milk at my house and in every case they are getting more than enough milk at home with bottles before bed or in the morning instead of breakfast.

[AmyKidsCo]

This little stinker has us trained.

She's taking three 6 oz bottles between 8:45pm and 6:45am.

So no lack of formula intake, just a baby who trained us well.

If the parents are willing to feed her in the middle of the night she won't have a reason to change her habits.

When our 3rd child was about 10 mos she weaned from breastfeeding, wouldn't take a bottle, and wasn't good with the cup. She ate lots of table food but I was worried she'd dehydrate. The Dr. said she was getting some liquid in her food, and that she'd instinctively drink enough not to dehydrate.