Infant Suddenly Refusing to Take Formula

I would introduce some solids. I did not BF and my daughter was 100% formula fed and by 4 months I introduced cereal and slowly introduced more solids per my pedi.

She is 20 now, happy, healthy, no health issues and one smart girl... 3 semesters in a row with 4.0, on Dean's list and in top 10% of all undergrads at her university of around 20,000 students!!

He will eat when he is hungry. Also, have you tasted the formula... I started to suggest maybe you got a bad batch and that was why but I see you have tried several types. We used the ready to feed as well.

I pumped and mixed formula with breastmilk in the bottle. Have you tried that?

:)

I haven't read the other responses, but at 5 months, when mine got hungry, it was more for solids. I didn't mess with my milk supply by supplementing - I just went about a week where they were fussy (crying more and harder to soothe) and by the end of it my milk supply was up.

But I would introduce solids .. as your doctor suggested.

I think you could probably go back to nursing more and try the solids and see how that goes?

Could you pump some milk for tomorrow?

And yes, he won't starve :) I know it's worrisome. But keep in mind when you start new foods or even formula it can take a while (longer than a few days) to adjust. BMs and all that. So be patient .. I'm sure it will sort itself out.

Good luck :)

If you are still making some milk, I suggest you talk to a lactation consultant ASAP to see if you can rescue your milk supply. I don't know how quickly supply can bounce back, but you should talk to someone knowledgeable to find out.

When you are at work tomorrow, pump and see if you can get enough for a feeding when you get home in case he refuses during the day. He might take that from a bottle even though he won't take formula.

ETA: I know you are panicked because he's not eating right now, but please try to see the long view here. Your milk supply is based on demand. The more often you nurse, the more milk your body will make. So if you keep putting him to your breast whenever you can (and pump when you are at work), even though today and tomorrow, he will be fussy because it's not enough, in a few days your supply will catch up. And let's face it, if he's not taking the bottle, he's fussy anyway, so you've got nothing to lose by going back to the breast. I know you are working today, so pump today, and tomorrow spend as much time as you can on your most comfortable chair or couch with him at your breast and water in your hand to get your supply back up.

I'm not a "nurse at all costs" mom. I know many babies are perfectly happy and healthy on formula. But from your post, it appears that your baby is not one of these, and since you are still producing some milk, it seems worth it to try to go back to nursing. A LC can really help you with this. If you were in Pittsburgh, I'd know just who to send you to, but since you are in LA, I suggest you call your local Le Leche League and ask them for a recommendation. The LLL moms usually know the best lactation consultants.

Try looking on kellymom.com for supplementing tips. Also, what made you think you weren't producing enough? Was it just his cluster feeding?

ETA: I'm not trying to second guess your doctor, but are you sure it's quantity vs a food allergy or something else? My DD could not handle it when I ate fish. It gave her gas. And try oatmeal cereal. Rice is so bland and doesn't have any nutritional value. If he is hungry, nurse first, and offer a supplement after. See how he takes it. He may also be teething. My DD teethed and got her first 2 by 6 mo.

kelly mom .com. check into ways to boost your supply. breast is what baby wants and theres a reason for that. don't give up on the boob. i bfed both my kids and dd refused a bottle no matter what was in it.
my pedi told me no solids till 6 months or even 7 with a bf baby. breastmilk has all that baby needs and changes to meet babies needs. you need to pump when not feeding, look into fenugreek, mothers milk tea, increase your oatmeal intake. (no bake cookies are great) increase the amount of water you drink. and you produce the most milk in the wee hours of the morning so you may want to get up at 3 or 4 am and have a pumping session (if baby is not up eating then)
sounds like a growth spurt to me and this too shall pass. work on your supply, not buying bottles.
also if they are near you talk to a lactation consultsnt. they can and will help you!

You might try go up a nipple size. The nipple on the bottle may have a flow that's too slow, which can be frustrating for a baby and cause him to reject it.
Good luck!

Teething might be starting in which case he might be a fussier baby for awhile no matter what you do.

I had this with my middle daughter when she was about this age and my mom suggested giving her cream of wheat with formula or pumped breast milk and she took to it. Guess that's old school, but it worked for us. After that we did of course offer more solids gradually.

I know that this isn't what is optimal, but you have to get your baby back to eating. Try putting rice in the bottle. Get nipples with a bigger hole.

This happened to a family member's baby. She was very stubborn and wanted to nurse. I know this is a bit different from your situation. But this really did work for her and got her taking a bottle and put weight back on her.

Morning
We started my so on enfamil (because it's what the hospital had) and what a mistake.. within a week, our son went from sleeping soundly to an all night crying spell.. as new parents at that time, we didn't know what to do.... FINALLY we realized it was the Enfamil.. that stuff in my opinion is way too rich and causes major gas (which also leads me to this) be sure you are burping your child correctly.. some will say how hard is it... well if you are new to parenting (as we were back then) you ll realize that you need to burp below the lungs and behind the tummy.. what a difference that made as well, but also getting off that crappy enfamil..
we did the goodstart and it worked like a dream..the formula is thinner.. and as our son got older, we added a little baby cereal to it to help fill him up.... I didn't breastfeed, so I have no advice on that aspect...
good luck, I am sure posts below will have some great suggestions..