The child refuses a bottle of formula. Why won't my baby eat from a formula bottle? 4 month old baby refuses bottle

He gave up the morning bottle about 10 days ago, and in the evening he drinks a mixture or (extremely rarely) semolina. I noticed that when there is no other food, you can often read that a child refuses to breastfeed after a bottle, and what to do if a child refuses a bottle with...

A nightmare for parents: the child refuses any food. What to do? Every newborn knows how to suck immediately after birth, and if they are not breastfed, they try to put the nipple of a bottle with formula into their mouth. Sometimes this process does not stop even at night.

Bottle???. Habits, phobias. Child from 1 to 3. Raising a child from one to three years: hardening and development, nutrition and At what age did your child COMPLETELY give up the bottle? We are 1.4 and we drink kefir from a bottle (cups, etc. don’t flow) and water at night.

Many babies over the age of one are considered poor eaters. Parents feel that their children eat less than they need; children refuse those or I can only get him to eat pear or banana puree from a bottle, and only a little. He doesn't like juices, doesn't eat...

Refuses to eat. Then he began to refuse formula altogether, tried complementary feeding, he wouldn’t even let me put a spoon in his mouth, he spit out the zucchini and everything else, tried other bottles Breastfeeding Child from 3 to 7 Child from 10 to 13 Students Children’s…

Child from 1 to 3. Raising a child from one to three years: hardening and development we stopped drinking from a bottle at one year and 10 months. I explained to Tim that he was already big and we would give the bottle to little Lala. We weaned off at 2.2 and at the same time gave up diapers.

As far as I know, if a child is offered the breast and a bottle with formula, he will choose the second!! For me, it’s the other way around: he actively doesn’t want to take the bottle, he asks for the breast!!! How can I leave the house now? Maybe someone knows what’s wrong ?

For me, unfortunately, it ended sadly - as soon as they gave me a bottle of formula, the child refused to breastfeed. Next comes pumping and bottle feeding. So look: in addition to the ducts, watch the bottle - it should be HARDER for your baby to suckle than the breast!

Switching to formula milk or short-term weaning of the mother is impossible without a bottle. What to do if a child refuses to drink from it? What reasons do little idealists have for this?

I don't like milk

Perhaps the picky little one doesn’t like the taste of the new formula or breast milk after. If it is formula, consult your pediatrician about changing it. Pay attention to the temperature, too warm or cool food is one of the reasons.

If your baby continues to refuse to eat, visit a doctor; perhaps the reason lies not in a cold, but in other diseases, such as otitis media, high blood pressure or thrush.

Breastfeeding provides the newborn with the necessary nutrients, vitamins and microelements, and antibodies to fight possible illness. Lactation consultants emphasize the benefits of long-term breastfeeding.

At the same time, feeding with artificial formula also takes place if there is not enough breast milk. Manufacturers produce products that take into account children's needs for energy, proteins and vitamins according to age. There are medicinal mixtures aimed at alleviating the symptoms of various disorders. Such products include hypoallergenic, anti-colic, fermented milk, lactose-free, anti-reflux mixtures.

It happens that a small child refuses to eat formula. It's no secret that high-quality baby food requires material costs. But the prospect of leaving a child to starve will not suit any mother. Concern does not leave parents when the baby stops eating formula or eats too little of it. This situation requires careful monitoring of the child, since it is important to determine the reasons for this behavior and understand why the refusal occurred.

Reasons for refusal

The reasons for capricious behavior are varied. The most common are:

Lack of appetite.
Formula is a product that is heavier for children's digestion than mother's milk. The artificial mixture lingers in the baby’s digestive system for up to 6 hours, which is due to the severity of its absorption. In this regard, formula feeding requires a clear dosage of dry concentrate and compliance with the interval between feedings.

How long the time period will be depends on age. Up to 5 months, the interval between feedings is 3.5 hours. From 4.5 its duration increases by 30 minutes. After a year, the baby receives a significant share of complementary foods and is able to withstand a 5-hour gap between meals. It is worth noting that these indicators are indicative and do not take into account the individual characteristics of the child. If the mother notices that the baby is increasingly refusing to eat, it is worth increasing the interval between feedings.

Too high a concentration of dry matter during cooking may result in refusal of subsequent feeding. It is contraindicated to use milk or cream to prepare baby formula.

Tasteless mixture.
Sometimes a child will not eat formula if he does not like its taste. Manufacturers produce products with additives and impurities that are not always to the taste of toddlers. This problem occurs especially often during mixed feeding or in the initial stages of switching to formula.

The child remembers the taste of milk and the smell of the mother's body. In addition, the lack of associations associated with a sense of security that accompany natural feeding may bother the child. This is especially pronounced when there is a change of caregivers, when feeding is carried out by dad or grandmother.

Health problems.
Teething, painful colic, stomatitis, infection, sore throat, otitis media and other diseases accompanied by pain disrupt the usual process of obtaining food. At the same time, it is important to observe the baby and note other manifestations of the disease. Sometimes the source of pain is located outside the mouth. For example, increased gas formation, diaper rash, itching due to diathesis, or pain in the ear.

Children often refuse to eat after vaccination, due to hyperthermia, or a viral infection. Pediatricians emphasize that lack of appetite during illness is a natural phenomenon. This indicates that the body is weakened. He needs to redistribute the energy intended for digesting food, spending it on recovery. At the same time, the sick child drinks water with pleasure. Drinking plenty of fluids is a necessary condition for recovery.

Fixed unpleasant associations.
If receiving food was accompanied by unpleasant sensations (too hot formula, pain when sucking, rough actions of the mother during feeding, etc.), the baby refuses the bottle, not wanting to relive the unpleasant moments associated with feeding.
Uncomfortable nipple.
If the hole in the product is too large, the baby will choke, if on the contrary, he will quickly get tired, “getting” food.
The baby may also not take the formula after introducing complementary foods.
The calorie content and proportion of adult food increases and the need for the same volumes of artificial nutrition decreases.

There may be other reasons for refusal. At the stage of determining the essence of the problem, the parents’ task is to carefully monitor the child’s behavior. Attentive attitude towards the baby, following non-verbal signals on his part, sensitive and caring attitude during the period of illness will help to overcome difficulties faster.

What to do if you refuse the mixture depends on the source of the problem. Based on the established reasons, tactics to overcome the problem are developed, aimed at eliminating the inconvenience. So, if the baby is sick, it is recommended to use measures aimed at pain relief in the affected areas. During teething, gels with a cooling effect are prescribed; the use of teethers relieves itching. Affected areas of the mucous membrane with stomatitis require careful adherence to food temperature parameters.

If the feeding regime or the rules for preparing the formula are violated, the required duration of intervals should be maintained according to the age of the child, and the recommended proportions for dilution should be followed.

If the baby does not want to eat at all or does not eat solid foods well, long walks in the fresh air and active games will help restore appetite. Do not restrict the child's movements.

Dr. Komarovsky notes that the best tool in the fight for adequate nutrition is hunger, provided that the baby is healthy. A well-known pediatrician, evaluating baby food based on its safety and usefulness for the child, adheres to a certain hierarchy: breastfeeding (breastfeeding); feeding the baby with expressed mother's milk; high-quality artificial nutrition; donor milk; milk from farm animals. The pediatrician emphasizes that no artificial formula can replace natural feeding.

Rejection of one type of mixture, as a rule, is overcome by replacing it. At the same time, transferring to a new mixture requires knowledge of certain rules and adherence to the principle of duration. Therefore, your pediatrician will help you choose the appropriate milk formula.

Situations when the baby does not take a pacifier or bottle due to some disorientation or stress require special attention.

Excessively long separation from mother and baby, emotional pressure on the child, excessive coercion to feed, strong emotional reaction of the mother, moving, unfavorable environment can cause stress in the baby, refusal to eat.

This reason also arises when there is a change in caregivers, when the mother leaves and one of the relatives provides feeding. The child, feeling the changes, refuses the formula, spins, cries during feeding. This situation requires establishing a trusting relationship with the child: it is recommended to carry him in your arms more time, play, talk, feed him in a calm environment, and use a sling.

There is no single recipe for teaching a baby to eat formula. Eating is a kind of ritual that should bring pleasant emotions to the baby and give a feeling of fullness. Wrong actions of parents, inattention to the child's person, as a rule, violate this ritual. The mother’s task is to return these natural pleasant feelings to the baby.

A regular bottle of breast milk, just like a pacifier, helps the baby get used to feeding on his own. Mothers are not always able to feed their child if urgent matters arise. What to do if a child refuses to take a bottle? Here are a few points that will definitely help in this matter.

Why does a child refuse a bottle?

Has your baby refused the bottle? Situations like this are completely normal. After such a pleasant and soft mother’s breast, any nipple will seem hard and uncomfortable.

In addition, he may not like the speed of delivery of the mixture, the size of the device, or the unpleasant smell of rubber. But reluctance to eat is not always hidden in the nipple; there are other reasons.

For a child to refuse a bottle, a good reason is needed - for example, lack of thirst or hunger. If the baby is not yet a year old, then his feeding schedule is most likely flexible. Doesn't want to eat? So, I'm not hungry. And reluctance to drink may indicate that he is not moving much and does not feel the need for additional fluid.
After tasty breast milk, not every little one easily switches to the proposed milk formula, which also has a certain taste. Probably, the contents of the bottle are too sweet or bland for him. In this case, you will have to go through several options for artificial nutrition.
The mucous membrane of a baby's oral cavity is much more sensitive than that of an adult. That is why a child, both at 5 months and at one year, needs to be given a drink at a certain temperature - no higher than 36-37 °C. These parameters are not accidental, since this is the temperature regime that is characteristic of breast milk.
If your baby is reluctant to drink from a baby bottle, you may have chosen the wrong feeding position for him. Try to change your position - feed him by holding him in your hand, lying down, on the side. After some time, you will probably be able to discover the most suitable position.
Most children, finding themselves in an unusual environment (for example, in a hospital ward), experience anxiety and fear, as a result of which they refuse the bottle. If you suspect this is the reason, try changing the environment and providing the baby with the most favorable conditions.
If a toddler sees a bottle for the first time at 5-6 months when starting complementary feeding, he, not understanding the meaning of this device, begins to play with this container. To avoid such a problem, immediately drop a couple of drops of the mixture onto the child’s tongue so that the baby “understands” the true purpose of this item.

Why does a child refuse a bottle?

Initially, it is important to establish the reason why the baby refuses the bottle. There are quite a lot of such points, but these are the main 4 nuances that are worth paying attention to.

Mixture. The taste, temperature and even the smell are not to the baby’s liking. This is one of the most compelling reasons why a baby will refuse a bottle. Sometimes baby formulas made with milk also have different tastes: for example, some are sweeter than others.

In this case, it is best to try all the options that are offered in order to settle on one thing. If the baby does not like the temperature of the bottle, then remember that it should be heated to 36 degrees, that is, exactly the same as mother’s milk.

If your baby refuses a bottle of formula, fill the bottle with water, then the expressed milk. It will be faster to identify the cause of the failure experimentally.

Bottle. There are times when the child likes everything, but the shape of the pacifier is not the right one. He starts spitting it out, trying to get rid of it. Maybe he doesn't like the flow of the mixture, which is either fast or slow. This is why any pacifier needs to be selected and tested on site to ensure that your baby will like it. You can also purchase several different pacifiers to change them and see which one your little one likes.

No hunger. The child does not eat from a bottle because he simply does not want to eat. So, if you offer your baby milk, he will most likely refuse it. On the other hand, it all depends on how many months the baby is, since the older the baby gets, the more milk it needs. At 2 months, the baby is unlikely to pick up a bottle, and at 6 months he will start drinking from it.

Body position. The position in which the baby is fed plays a huge role. Some people will only be able to drink while sitting, while others, on the contrary, need to be held close to themselves. This is another point why the child completely refuses the bottle.

These are the main reasons why the baby does not want to drink on his own and demands his mother’s breast. Be attentive to how your baby behaves during feeding.

Why does a child refuse a bottle: 5 main reasons

The most common reason: you don't like the content. Very often it depends on the temperature. Children, despite their angelic expression, are, oddly enough, vindictive creatures. Once you don't please them, they will remember it for a long time. Therefore, the liquid should not exceed a temperature of 37 degrees, and it is better to generally offer water at room temperature.
Unusual taste. If a child refuses only a bottle with formula, but accepts other liquids with a bang, most likely he does not like the taste or smell of the contents.
Uncomfortable nipple. The bottle with the formula may have a nipple that is too tight, the baby is not able to suck out the contents, or, on the contrary, it may be too big, so he will choke and be afraid.
Unusual surroundings. Children, especially in the early stages, are very sensitive and receptive. If more than a dozen eyes are looking at them, he will never show his skills and will not drink “to order.”
Inappropriate mode. It happens that the child was offered a bottle for the first time at the wrong moment, when he was not at all in the mood for lunch.

What to do if your baby won't eat formula from a bottle?

The first thing you need to do is be patient. Before you lies a tiny person who needs to be accustomed to his first independent experience. Not all babies quickly get used to feeding, especially if their mother is not around.

If your child does not want to eat formula from a bottle, then you should follow the following instructions, which will definitely help. This is a plan for further action in case the baby asks only for the mother's breast.

What to do if your baby won't eat from a bottle:

A good way to help your little one is to divide the meal into two stages. The first half of the meal is breastfed, the second is bottle feeding. So, some mothers take the baby in their arms, exposing the breast, and then sit on a chair to change it with a bottle.
sometimes you just need to distract the child so that he does not notice the substitution. Get up, walk around with the baby in your arms, you can sing a song or tell something, and then bring the bottle to his lips. He will think that this is his mother’s breast and will begin to suck it with pleasure.
Never insist that the entire contents be drunk completely. Let the baby eat as much as he wants and can. If he pushed the bottle away the first time, don't be angry. This behavior of a baby should not be regarded as bad.

The only argument why a child refuses a bottle with formula is that he does not like the new method of feeding. In this case, it is better to choose a pacifier that is shaped like your nipple. This will be more familiar for the baby, and the sensations will become familiar.

What to do if your baby refuses a bottle

All babies are different. Some easily accept a new type of feeding, while others do not recognize it at all.

If your child only requires breastfeeding, try the following:

Dip your pacifier in breast milk . It will help arouse interest and create a feeling of hunger. Some parents do the same with honey. But experts don't recommend giving honey to babies under 12 months because it can cause infant botulism.
Is your baby sucking on a pacifier? Use it! Choose a nipple for the bottle that is similar (from the same material) to the one your baby is already used to.
Let him learn a new subject. Over time, the child will understand the purpose of this “toy”.
Change your position. For example, place your baby in a child or car seat so that he sits reclining. At the same time, he will be able to see your face while bottle feeding. Try feeding him by placing him on your lap and pressing his back to your chest. Once your baby has learned to feed from a bottle, you can return to your normal feeding position.
Try different temperatures. Your child may prefer his food to be a little warmer or colder. To do this, experiment with different temperature conditions. Also pay attention to whether the baby feels the difference between fresh and frozen milk.
Offer a new type of feeding throughout the day. If your baby won't take a bottle in the morning, try giving it at night or vice versa.

How to get your baby to drink water from a bottle?

Drinking liquid is very important for the baby. It happens that a child does not drink water from a bottle. A spoon comes to the rescue, but with its help it is not possible to replenish a sufficient volume of the required liquid.

What to do if your child does not drink from a bottle:

The most common taste that a baby gets used to is sweet. Water is tasteless, it can seem unpleasant and even disgusting. To prevent this from happening, try sweetening the liquid a little and giving it to your child. He must like it;
If a child does not want to eat from a bottle or does not accept water from it, then take a special liquid for babies. It is sold at any pharmacy. This is purified water, which many infants drink the first time. This liquid tastes sweet, enriched with vitamins and other microelements;
If the baby eats from a bottle for a long time and does not drink water, you should try to heat the liquid to the same temperature as the mixture. The fact is that too cold water scares the baby. Therefore, the ideal liquid to drink is room temperature.

These are the most common moments on how to teach a child to drink from a bottle. Watch your little one carefully, because only he can show you what he likes and what he doesn’t. In any case, all children are scared of bottles at first, believing that they are something foreign.

The task of every mother is to try to explain and show her child that this is a new way of feeding that one day he will need.

Why does a child refuse to drink from a bottle?

Young mothers abandon breastfeeding in favor of bottles for various reasons. Someone starts taking medications that are incompatible with feeding, someone goes to work and is forced to leave the baby with a grandmother or nanny. Or maybe it’s a simple desire to spend more time outside the home, without the child, to place him under the supervision of his father. The reasons are not important, because the mother's wishes must be respected.

It’s just impossible to explain to a small child the importance of the changes taking place - he refuses to accept a pacifier, demanding the usual breastfeeding. Why does he react this way to bottle feeding?

He lost his sucking reflex. Immediately after birth, newborns need to suck - they instinctively respond to the presentation of a nipple, pacifier or finger. It was enough just to bring something closer to his mouth, and he would try to catch it and suck out at least a drop of milk. It is during this period that it is very easy to accustom a child to a bottle - he immediately catches it in his mouth and begins to suck out the milk out of habit. But the older the child gets, the weaker his sucking reflex is. He suckles at the breast out of habit, because he already knows how to feed like that. But he doesn’t react like that to any other objects. So the bottle nipple is just a foreign object that got into the mouth. He will immediately try to spit it out.
The baby can control his body. He has already settled into this world, he has his favorite and least favorite things. And if something is not to his liking, he will express his disapproval without hesitation. Unwilling to drink from a bottle, the baby will tilt its head and push away the unusual object with its hands. You will no longer be able to simply insert a pacifier into his mouth, forcing him to drink from a bottle. Why should he endure this? Now he will try with all his might to get rid of her. All his life he knew only one way to get food - his mother's breast, so he cannot adapt to a new way in a couple of days. The baby perceives this as an attack on his own safety.
Drinking from a bottle is more difficult than drinking from a mother's breast. For starters, the way we get food is different. And the situation is completely changing. After all, it is important not only to fill the belly, but also to connect with the person you love most. The smell, taste, touch of the mother - all this plays a huge role for the child. So even the most delicious milk from a bottle will not replace that contact with your mother. So the child will resist because of the desire to get closer to mommy again.

In addition, there are many individual characteristics of the child. The shape of the nipple for the bottle, age characteristics, jet pressure, and mouth size are important.