9 Month Old Suddenly Stopped BF but Won't Take Formula!!

The ready-to-use formula is slightly sweeter than the powdered version. Try that and see if it helps.

Please go to kellymom.com, and search 'nursing strike'. This is very common, and does not mean your baby is ready to wean.

The tip that worked best for me was to do dream feeds during a nursing strike. After the baby goes to sleep, if you gently pick him up and put him to your breast, he may, out of instinct and while still mostly asleep, latch on and nurse. Then after a few times, he'll be back to nursing like usual.

I would encourage you try this, and other nursing strike tips, before you give up on nursing and go to all bottles.

ETA: here is a good link: http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/2013/1/26/is-your-for...

You should look at kellymom.com and read up on nursing strikes. Very few kids really quit before 12 months. Kid needs to drink something. You may have milk, but not be able to pump. If you are not able to nurse anymore, what about a different formula? Breastmilk is sweet, so is there one that is "sweeter"? Remember that being stressed will affect your ability to pump and your supply. So try to relax and keep working to figure something out.

ETA: Pumping output is not always equal to what a baby can get from nursing. And please remember that your milk changes so 2 oz at 9 mo is much fattier than 2 oz when he was a newborn. His output will tell you about his input.

It's a common nursing strike. If you keep at it, he will decide breast milk is still amazing stuff.

You say that you can't pump more than 2oz at a time. Have you considered that the reason your son isn't nursing is because your supply is not giving him enough? Nursing or pumping, you should be able to get the same amount out of each breast. 2oz at a time isn't enough to fill his belly, so he's seeking sustinence elsewhere.

I would continue to pump for as long as baby used to nurse when he was getting enough. Try to get your supply to build back up. Don't just give up because your supply has decreased because that will allow it to decrease even further. Once you get your supply up, you can supplement his diet with breastmilk in a sippy cup.

Best of luck!

I too believe this is a nursing strike. My daughter went on one when she was 10 months old. I tried pumping a bit, but never got much. I kept offering especially at night, and one night she woke up around 5 am and I offered the breast and she nursed. she went back to it normally after another few days of getting her to nurse mostly during the nighttime hours. I assume my milk supply went right back up because she nursed for a long time after, even while pregnant with my son. Kids really should receive breastmilk or formula until age 2. I know they used to give milk, but have shown the multitude of health problems associated with it. Just between me and my brother, I was given it much earlier than him and he is much healthier having stayed on formula longer, and I suspect we would both be healthier had we been breastfed. I would continue to try to nurse and really try to pump more often, and relax when pumping, not an easy task, but you may get more milk if you are relaxed. Like someone else said check out kellymom, it was a great resource for me. I would really try to get him back to the breast, since formula is so expensive, and tho it will provide what he needs, I think breastmilk is better. He will probably go back to nursing, but if he doesn't you really need him to take the formula if you can't pump enough milk, try different brands of formula, and keep offering it. But I suspect he will go back to nursing if you keep working at it. Good luck and I hope you can back him back to the breast or at least get him to drink the formula.

nursing is taking too long for him - he can't look around to see waht's going on while at your breast, etc. New phase of development!

Remember that in order to have enough milk supply you have to be taking in a lot of fluid - perhaps you're not drinking enough? Has your diet changed? The taste of your breast milk can change due to the food you're taking in. It can also change if you're sick. Have you had a physical lately?

Check it all out, try a different formula, water down the formula, rule out an ear infection or sore throat. Give him plenty of fruit & veggies which have a high water content in the meantime. Good luck mama!

Some great insights here already... My only other suggestion is to try pumping one side while he's nursing the other. He may get distracted by the pump, but you often let down more milk when L. one is stimulating your body. Good luck!

Perhaps instead of the formula you tried powdered milk. I had this situation with my daughter once she weaned about this age. The powdered milk is think like breast milk and she didn't mind that. Give her formula and she would gag.

Hang in there, he will be okay.

I know it is the end of a journey of closeness that had hoped would continue for a while longer. Maybe the taste of your milk has changed and this caused him to refuse to nurse. Whatever know you did the best you could for as long as you could.

the other S.

PS Don't beat yourself up over it.

Heck, if he is not nursing and gags on formular try giving him whole milk. Better than nothing. Years ago babies drank it at 6 mos. they all survived and even thrived.

I would mix in whole milk with it, or do liquid ready-to-drink formula.

ETA: When my older brother was a baby and my mom had to go back to work, she couldn't pump for him. She tried formula but he refused it, so she put him on whole milk, despite her doctor's instructions. He had her monitor his iron levels periodically to make sure he wasn't anemic, and was just fine. Turns out he was, and always has been the healthiest of any of us kids, and the rest of us were exclusively breast fed for many more months.

Maybe cut back on the solids and the frequency, of it.
I would but back, on the focus of solids.

Or have you been eating something that maybe makes the breastmilk have a taste he does not like?

As our Pediatrician used to say, for the 1st year of life, breastmilk/Formula is a baby's primary source of nutrition. Not solids. Solids is not as nutritionally dense, as breastmilk or solids.
And at that age, a baby does not have to "eat" solids 3 times a day, like an adult would. The 1st year is just an introduction to "eating" and solids, etc.

If anything, I would also think about dehydration in your baby.
If he is not drinking (breastmilk or Formula) then what is he drinking?
A baby as you know, does not need to drink water etc. or juice.

Try and cut back on the frequency of solids, you give him.
As a baby, it is not their "main" course.
But well, your baby is rejecting "drinking" from a "nipple."
So I don't know.
And you are not getting a ton via pumping.
Or mix breastmilk in with the solids he is eating.
And well, as you probably know, the more he rejects the breastfeeding... your body's output and production, will decrease, too.