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Since my baby girl was 4-5 months old she would only drink her bottles while asleep. when she is awake she will REFUSE that bottle at all costs. To get her to drink during the day I would have to put her down for a nap and once she falls asleep I'd give her the bottle and she would drink it. She is now 12 months and does the same thing. She does not eat any solids and I have tried everything including baby lead weaning. She would take one bite.. two at most and that's it. It is getting harder now that she is older and walking because she doesn't want to nap as often as I would like to feed her. Now she is only wanting to take two naps. that means two bottles and one when she falls asleep for the night. So overall she is having 3 bottles of 6-7 oz of toddler formula per day. (with no solids- only a few puff Gerber snacks in between) I don't know what to do. Any advice or solution to this? FYI- I have tried the starving until she takes it herself but it did not work. she went 8-9 hours without eating and still was not "hungry"

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    Have you consulted the doctor? This seems like a fairly severe feeding problem that should be assessed by professionals.
    – Meg
    Commented Sep 1, 2023 at 16:14

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There are two transitions that your child needs to make, from bottle to sippy cup, and formula only to formula and food.

To get from bottle to sippy cup you could substitute a pacifier at night, instead of a bottle, and most likely your child will be ready to drink from a sippy cup in the morning, but if not, then you could try the same thing for her two naps.

Maybe you give one bottle, so you know your daughter has had some formula, and then all other formula comes in a sippy cup.

There's a balance in making changes, and choosing how to make those changes so that your daughter learns something new, while not triggering your fears about her going without food. That balance can be hard to find at first, but don't give up, you'll find a program that feels reasonable and works for you and your daughter.

The transition from formula only to formula and food can wait until your daughter is off of bottles and using a sippy cup.

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    I think the more serious transition that needs to be made here is that baby needs to treat eating as a thing that she does, not a thing that is magically taken care of while she sleeps. A feeding specialist might need to be called in, because this is a baby who probably literally does not remember what eating is, because from her point of view, she hasn't done it in months.
    – swbarnes2
    Commented May 30, 2023 at 21:39

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