8 Month Old Daughter Barely Drinking Her Bottles...

If you have a nagging feeling that something isn't quite right, go with your gut instinct and take her to the pediatrician. She may have a sore throat or earache that makes it hurt to swallow- however, if she is not crying and fussing, I doubt that is the case.
I do agree with most moms here that if she is hungry, she will eat, and I went through this with my own daughter (but at 4 months old instead of 8 months) and it lasted a couple of weeks and then all was back to normal.
You know your child best though, so go with your gut and get her to the Dr if you are really worried.
I would not worry that you are "training her" to take a bottle in the middle of the night... if she needs the hydration and wants to drink, I personally would let her.

-Amanda

OMG this is too funny - we are going thru this at home at this minute! My nine month old will not drink either. She is getting a top tooth and I am also at my wit's end. I cried and my husband thinks that I am crazy. I called the doctor and he said the same - she will eat when she is hungry. As long as no fever, wets her pants, she is fine.

My daughter (18 weeks) will do a similar thing. She will eat/nurse for 5 minutes while her twin brother is sucking away. My pediatrician assures me if she is hungry, she will eat. My husband trys to assure me that if she is hungry, she will eat. Of course crazy mom then thinks... well, maybe she doesn't KNOW she is hungry? I am not sure... but it sounds like a common issue. If you get any really good insight pls share. :)

if its the teathing and you want to wait a while and see how she does maybe you can make her cereal a little thinner so she'll get a bit more milk or water and i would keep trying giving her drinks even if she just takes a sip, its something.
dont worry too much it will pass

C., have you looked into her mouth? she may have thrush. it hurts to suck and swallow when they have that. it is a pretty common thing that babies get and an antibiotic will take care of it quickly. if she has it she will ahve white spots in her mouth,tongue and throat area. hope she feels better soon

C.,

We had the SAME thing happen with our son at about 8 months. See the quote below I put on his website when he was 8 months...

"We had a little issue with bottle feeding. Jacob wanted nothing to do with it for about 10 days or so. We thought he had an ear infection, but nope. He just didn't want to drink out of the bottle. He'd take in about an ounce or 2 and then start playing with it. The doctor assured me that he wouldn't shrivel up and starve so to "go with his lead". It seems that Jake would MUCH rather have his formula mixed with cereal and veggies/fruit. So, that's what we did. He gained 1/2 pound in a week - not that his weight was ever a concern."

I would try mixing the formula with some baby cereal and fruit. I seem to remember that prior to 1 year they don't NEED anything to drink except for formula/breast milk and since your little one isn't getting enough to fill her up through the night maybe stick to just offering formula to drink. Just an idea.

But, again we went through the same exact thing at about the same age and when babies are hungry - they will eat!

Good luck.

T.