HELP my 5mnth old only driks small amounts of milk....

[louisexxx]

hi im new here but i was jus wondering if anyone can offer me some advice....my daughter is jus 5mnths and has always been a small drinker of her milk anywhr between 2-5oz every 3-4hrs, the thing is she is only putting on weight very slowly and this last wk she has lost it only half an oz but its still a loss which has started to worry me. she is always fathing with teats on bottles and spittin milk out then in next breath she'll take it, i have tried different bottles faster teats slower teats, different milk and i really dnt knw wot to do anymore, she wont take her bottle for anyone else when she does have it and with me she doesnt even take much i really feel at witts end the hv and the team we have got where i live offer me no support or guidance and i feel like im on my own, she is my 1st baby and has alweays been bottle fed im nt sure if ive started weaning too early either as she started to wake in the night alot wanting feeds but only taking small amounts but she wud nt take her morning bottle once she was up and was goin frm 3-4am til 1pm with nothing and so i started to introduce baby rice and now breakfast packet jus to get something in her did i make a mistake?!! she as never seemed much of a milk fan she was on c & g preminum then i tried her on c&g comfort she didnt like it so moved her bak to preminum then she started to refuse her bottles about 3wks ago so i changed her milk to aptimil she put a good weight gain on the 1st wk of being on tht then last wk she lost a little i have also tried her on sma gold which she spat stright out. bottles i have tried were boots basics, which she is now currently on she takes the milk better of them, but she has tried tt closer to nature bottles, mam bottles, nuk bottles, dr. browns bottles, and tbh i dnt really wanna keep buying them for them to jus sit in the cupboard she take to them for a day then refuses and then we revert bak to boots basics and she is on fast flow on those bottles but she is only still having between 2-5oz jus recently its always 2-3oz every3-4 hrs with if ur lucky the odd 4-5oz here and thr, she is waking once in the night between 40-5am and te earlier she wakes the more she takes the later she wakes the less she takes i dream feed her about 10.30-11pm she will take between 4-6oz on tht feed but will nt sleep thru....im really in need of some advice plese help us as iam at my witts end and startin to really dread feed times. ps in a 24 hr period jessica will drink anywhr between 18-23/24oz depending wot she has on the day and no 2days are the same!!!!

[em_here]

Hi there and welcome to bw.  Im sorry you are feeling so worried. At 5 months 4 hrs between feeds should be fine, does she appear really really hungry at 3 hrs? Just you mentioned it can be every 3-4 hrs she eats.  It may be she is snacking, and if you could stretch the feeds to four hourly all the time she would eat bigger quantities.  Also, I know you briefly outlined her behaviour whilst feeding, but can I ask you.

does she spit up a lot? 
Arch her back during feedings? 
Fuss and scream as if in pain?
Seem in pain when laying down?
The reason I ask is I was thinking of a possibility of reflux. Even silent reflux when they do not vomit can be painful as the acid backs up their throat. 

Also, what does the doctor think of the slow weight gain? 18-23 is within the normal range for some babies, as some babies just do not drink massive quantities of milk. 
When did this behaviour start?
Is it something that has gradually worsened?

Sorry for all the q's but the bigger the picture we can build the more advice you can get

hugs, I know its frustrating I have so been there and used to desperately post on here as well.

xxxx