r/FormulaFeeders • u/AlarmingPossession43 • Apr 23 '26

Bottle Aversion / Feeding Refusal ❌ Rowena Bennett - Day 12

We have a 5.5 months old, who used to be sleep fed as that’s the only way we can get volumes in. And during the day (awake) - absolutely not a chance, unless you try and distract.

It seems that LO is no longer upset about the bottle, grabs it and brings it to the mouth. But he starts and stops, willingly and calmly. He might tense a bit but doesn’t seem to bother him. He shows no hunger cues, just always ducks his fingers. When he sees the bottle he will suck get in 2-3oz and then stop. If you re offer he may start and stop but not improve a lot.

He did loose 90grams and got really constipated on day 8 and didn’t poop till day 11. But wet diapers are perfectly fine.

We are just simply not getting the volume at all… he would do 2-3oz per feed max. So total with a top up night feed would land us between 15-19oz per day.

I’m so upset and discouraged and just don’t know what to do.

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3

u/crd1293 Apr 23 '26

Is he starting solids yet? Cuz you can focus on calorie dense food that way. 2-3 oz per feed is the max some babies tolerate. Mine never went past 3.5/feed.

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u/AlarmingPossession43 Apr 23 '26

Absolutely refusing solids. He takes the spoon to play. And we dip the spoon in pures and he will lick it, but majority of the time he would keep food in his mouth and it will drip out with saliva.

2

u/Witty_Draw_4856 Apr 23 '26

At his age, that’s not bad actually. Especially if you’re handing him the spoon instead of feeding him with it yourself 

1

u/AlarmingPossession43 Apr 23 '26

When I tried feeding him he would gag and vomit. Starting to think maybe it’s untreated tongue tie

1

u/Witty_Draw_4856 Apr 23 '26

How long ago did you try feeding him last? He could be sensitive to the new textures.

Even if it’s not a tongue tie, you should ask about a referral to occupational therapy

1

u/AlarmingPossession43 Apr 23 '26

Is occupational therapy same as feeding? As we have been referred to that already. We have tried pures, fruits, vegetables, cereal and anything appropriate

1

u/Witty_Draw_4856 Apr 23 '26

Wha about meat like steak? Things he can gnaw on?

1

u/AlarmingPossession43 Apr 23 '26

Haven’t tried that. But it doesn’t fix the 15oz milk issue. He basically been consuming the same 15oz since 3 months old

1

u/Witty_Draw_4856 Apr 23 '26

Is your ped concerned about weight gain? Did they recommend fortifying his formula?

1

u/AlarmingPossession43 Apr 23 '26

Yes. They have been and have been asking me to feed more. So I think that pushed for aversion. Fortifying no, they said to try high calorie formula which he refused to have

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u/crd1293 Apr 23 '26

I wasn’t a die hard baby led weaning parent. As soon as we got the ok to start solids I got plain Greek yogurt and peanut, mixed the two and spoon fed. Yes two allergens at a time in that case but I was confident it wouldn’t be an issue with those two!

Generally normal for them to gag. If might be that baby needs a little more time to outgrow the tongue thrust reflex

1

u/AlarmingPossession43 Apr 23 '26

Any solids we tried have been a no go. And milk is the biggest issue as he’s taking 15-17oz MAX. And solids not meant to be the main intake of calories, I was hoping that he would enjoy solids and we will wean of milk as he want taking it. But now he takes neither

1

u/crd1293 Apr 23 '26

Maybe ease off a bit. If he’s feeling pressured it’s not going to help. Maybe he’s getting teeth or just not super hungry this week. Baby’s don’t let themselves starve.

1

u/Famous_Variation4729 Apr 25 '26

Im in kinda the same boat as you except my baby wont take the 2-3oz. She rejects at 0.5oz only. But we dreamfeed all the time- and I think you may need to as well. Just enough to leave her a bit hungry to try again when awake. Also I feed her at scheduled times 3 times a night. This way we get to 20-22oz a day and she manages to get 25oz on a good day.

We do solids 2x a day as she is 6.5 months old and what helped was having one sweet treat in each meal- nice fruit usually. The rest is something normal with iron. There is also a high protein yoghurt that is unsweetened but somehow bomb- its called ellenos. My baby INHALES it.