refusing bottle

[alfies mum]

my baby is 4 months old and is on 4 hour easy as seen in baby whisperer book but recently has started refusing his morning bottles.  He has never had a huge appetite but always drank some of his bottles,  but the last 2 mornings wont drink his 7am feed and at 11am will struggle to drink 2 oz.  I know he is hungary as i can hear his stomach gurgle.  His last feed before bedtime last night he drank 6 oz and 6 oz again for dream feed he woke at 5am but was happy with dummy, when i tried to feed him at 7am he fought the bottle but eventually drank 1 oz in an hour had a nap and then drank 3 oz at 11 am again his stomach was gurgling.
As well as refusing his bottle he has been quite unsettled during the day.  Normally he is a happy baby playing and laughing but recently he has been quite grumpy with no way of pleasin g him. 

Please help

[* Paula *]

What size teat are you using on your bottles?  Do you think that your lo could be ready for a faster flow teat?  Sometimes they get bored with the flow and can tend to have a few sips and then push it away.

Another reason could be that your lo has started to teeth.  You say that he is unsettled during the day, this could either be that he is hungry due to the fact he has not eaten much, or that he is uncomfortable with his gums, and this is why he is refusing his bottles.

If you think your lo is teething, you could always try and rub some teething gel on his gums a few minutes before a feed and see if this helps ease the discomfort and see if he take a bit more of a feed.

HTH's

Paula

[Mama G]

Hi

I'm new to BW websitebut have had the book since DS was about 4weeks old.

Sounds familiar to my DS, who is now 6.5months old.  If he is quite unsettled sounds like it could be teething or do you think he might be constipated? If it's teething, i agree with Paula to apply some teething gel or to give him some infant paracetamol.

My DS has recently also started to refuse his morning feeds but this i think is due to him being constipated. 

I also changed the teat size a few weeks back as his milk intake was very low & since he has always been a fast eater, he would get bored & frustrated with his feeds. Changing the teat size helped a lot.

Another thing i found with my DS that around abut 5months, the DF was disrupting his morning bottle & by reducing this amount, he would take more in the morning. 

Just a few suggestions... Hope it helps!

[* Paula *]

Hi Mama G,

Welcome to the BW Website 

My DS suffered a lot with constipation at around 6 months too and was actually hospitalised for it.  I am not sure where you are, but here in the UK we have something called Lacutlose and this helped our lo out really well.  The way it works is that it actually softens the poo, and it helps them go.

We also found that giving him a bit of fresh orange juice helped him too.

Just thought I would let you know.

Paula

[Mama G]

Hi Paula,

Thanks, i think I'll try that. Does it matter if it's home-made or bought?

I'm from the UK. Is there any side affects from giving lactulose?

Oh by the way, congrats to!!

[* Paula *]

I don't think that it matters if it is home made or store bought - we just used the store bought.  If you are going to use home made, I would watch out for the pulp.

With regards to the lactulose, I have not heard of any side effects, but you can double check with the pharmacy.  You can get it over the counter, but might be easier if you get it on perscription so that you don't have to pay for it - I think it is only a few £ for a bottle.

We found the lacutlose to really work and had our DS on it for 5 months.  We then went on holiday and forgot to give it to him and realised, that he was coping ok without it.  On days that he is having trouble we will give him some orange juice and it usually works within a few hours.  (Just watch out for the OJ - double check with the HV if you have any history of allergies in the family).

Is your lo having any foods that are constipating?  What sort of cereal is he eating?  We found that rice cereal was one that really bunged our DS up and swtiched to Ready Brek or Weetabix, and this helped out as well.  I would also watch out Apples can be very constipating too.  Bananas are a type of fruit that can work either way.  It can either help your DS go, or it can constipate them.  We found that bananas helped our DS go, but have heard quite a few stories that it has caused a lot of constipations in lo's.

Thanks for the congrats.

Hope the above helps.

Paula

[alfies mum]

thankyou for the advice.  i did think at first that he may be teething as he is drooling, always biting at his hands and has reddened cheeks.  Tried calpol and teething gels with no success.  If i drop or reduce df then he needs a night time feed and wakes up several times a night, which will mean that he wont drink his morning feed.  I havent tried bigger teats as the next size is from 6+ months and he is only 4 months and is not letting the teat into his mouth so dont think its a flow issue.
Been struggling all week seriously contemplating stopping easy routine and just feeding him when he wants it which is a shame as he has been donig great on easy untill now

[* Paula *]

It definitely sounds like teething is the culprit.

I would not drop your EASY routine as this could start interferring with your lo's sleep.  If he refuses the bottle, then I would definitley try and offer him the bottle again at a later stage.  You can only keep on offering it to him, and he will take when he wants it.

With regards to the teat size.  We never went on the age on the box, our DS was on the fastest flow nipple before he was 4 months old.  Let your lo be the judge.  If he starts to splutter a bit and milk comes out the side of his mouth, then the flow may be too quick for him.

Hugs, I know how hard it can be when your lo is teething and not feeding as well.  Just wanted to give you some support and let you know that it does get better.

Please keep us posted on how you get on.

[alfies mum]

i will try and persevere with routine as it has worked well till now.  Had a thought last night that night time feed might mean hes not as hungry but this never used to be the case.  He has never drank more than 4 oz for his 1st feed of the day and when he has had a night time feed he simply used to top up at 7am.  He woke up twice last night and each time i settled him using his dummy and at 7am he drank 100mls.  Is this enough to keep him going till 11am?
Will buy some new teats and give them a go.

Thanks for help and encouragement

[Mama G]

Well I was in the same boat a few days ago.. my LO would not feed properly & i was getting frustrated as i thought that he wasn't taking in enough calories, so i truly understand what you are going through.

My LO is now on solids & has 3 mini meals a day& up until a few days ago his milk intake decreased significantly.  I was pretty sure it was due to him being constipated & stopped giving him solids & concentrated on his milk feeds, also offered prune juice. Still following EASY i would let him have how much he wanted & if he didn't take enough during the day, i would give him a cluster feed before bedtime to make up for the missed daytime calories.

My guess was right... 24 hours later he had a big bowel movement & his milk intake went back on track!!!  It was such a relief!!!  The weird thing is that during the daytime, if i offer two milk feeds about an hour & half apart, he would not be interested but with the cluster feed he is.  Today as an example he took 10oz for his cluster feed, bearing in mind that his usual feed is only 5-6oz.

I agree with Paula not to bother going with the age recommendation on the packs... we use tommee tippee closer to nature bottles & DS was on teat size 2 at about 8 weeks & size 3 at about 5months.


Before i changed teat size, i noticed that my DS, who is a fast eater, was taking longer to drink his milk & wouldn't finish his feed, therefore takingless calories.

Hope that helps.Let us know how you get on.

P.S. Paula thanks for your help!

Naz

[alfies mum]

today he reused 2 feeds (11am and 3pm) tried throughout the hour, 3pm feed with bigger teat size with no luck.  At 7am he only took 90mls and hadn't had any milk during night.  So from 11pm last night till his 7pm bedtime meal he had only had 90mls.  I know you shouldn't try solids till 6 months but just out of interest i mashed up some banana and he couldn't eat it fast enough and then drank 140 mls before bedtime.
I know he isn't constipated as he has a regular bowel movement every morning sometimes 2.  Could he just be bored of milk and be ready for solids.

[Mama G]

Could you post his routine?

[alfies mum]

his routine is as follows

7:00 wake up and feed
7:30 activity
9:00 sleep
11:00feed
11:30 activity
1:00 sleep
3:00 feed
5-6:00 catnap
7:00 feed, bath and ready for bed
7:30-8:00 sleep
10:45 dreamfeed

Occasionally sleeps through to 6-6:30, sometimes wakes up earlier but can be pleased with a dummy
Everything goes to plan except feeds

Hope this helps

[* Paula *]

Alfies mum,

The guideline is that solids are only introduced to your lo at 6 months old, so cannot give you much advice with regards to the solid foods.  I would however watch out for bannanas, as this is one food taht can work either way, it can either help your lo with bowel movements, or it can constipate your lo.

With regards to the bottle refusal, it definitely does sound like your lo is teething.  My DS went through phases where he would refuse his bottle when he was teething - he would only take a few oz and then push the bottle away.  Have you tried rubbing some teething gel on his gums before a feed to see if this helps ease the discomfort?

[Mama G]

reading back now, I agree with Paula it definitely sounds like teething. you can usually tell if they don't feed well from bottle as it hurts their gums when the suck, but if you feed them from a spoon, because they don't have to suck it doesn't hurt them that much.

advice is to use teething gel or infant paracetamol. 

[alfies mum]

i know teething can occur for quite some time but isn't the painful time when the teeth are breaking through the gums.  Cannot feel anything under his gums or see anything, i have tried calpol and teething gels with no success.

I'll just persevere im sure we will get back on track eventually.

thankyou for advice everyone, it helps to talk and through a few suggestions about.

[* Paula *]

The teething pain can also be quite painful when the teeth are acutally moving up in the gums.  I have heard that this can be more painful for a lo than the tooth actually cutting through.

I would just persever, he will definitely get back on track soon.

Please keep us posted on how he gets on.

Paula