Almost 6 mths - teething cause of reduced feeds ?

[October]

Hi, My nearly 6 mth old LO is down to about 5-6 oz a feed when I know she can take 8oz if hungry. We've been on 4 hr feeds since 4 mths (A time just over 2hrs). She seems to be teething and has been for a while but no teeth yet. Before I tried a small solids offering after her am bottle 6 days ago she was alrea reducing feeds to 5-6 oz. She's 75th percentile for weight and length so no worries there !

The solids (oatmela and pear only so far) are going so-so with some tongue thrusting and yucky faces. She is getting more interested though. We have had 3 nights of NWs with a feed proving necessary the last 3 nights so I'm wondering if it's the solids or teething or a bit of both.

We have been known to have 13hr nights before this so getting up at night (never the same time) is horrible (I have a teething toddler too)!

Any ideas ? She was on Pepcid for reflux but is better so we weaned her off that. No issues. It's just that she stops suddenly at about 5-6oz and is not at all interested. Guess it's her gums then

Never quite sure.....our toddler sailed through teething (till now with his canines)..............
Deb x 

 

[*Natasha*]

if you are feeding 3 times a night then that is probably why she taking smaller feeds in the day. What size teat are you using?

[October]

We fed 3 nights in a row once a night ..... not 3 times/night ! She is on Dr. Browns' No.3s. Just had a 12-hr night and only took 4oz. Must surely be teething ?

[*Natasha*]

We fed 3 nights in a row once a night ..... not 3 times/night ! She is on Dr. Browns' No.3s. Just had a 12-hr night and only took 4oz. Must surely be teething ?

Sorry i missunderstood 
Definatly sounds like teething try giving some pain relief before bed.

[October]

Thx. She may need pain meds. b4 feeds too. The 2nd feed of the day gave us 4oz so I had to offer more after an hr as she was hungry again ! This is bad news. 2 feeds per A time is killing our routine. Lat night she went to sleep at 7.15pm and was bawling for food at 8pm, she guzzled another 7oz !

The night feeds are hunger methinks. We just can't enough down her during the day. Please don't tell me this is how her teething will be. 

[*Natasha*]

Try rubbing her gums with some teething gel before a feed which is what we had to do during the teething periods.

[October]

OK. Will try that. I'm also wondering if she needs more time bt. certain feeds ? I mean, it's odd that she only takes 4-5 oz in the am after a 12hr night. Her brother was the same with brekkie, (as am I !) never v.keen.........

Her naps are wonky today too.... bleep 45 min. naps haven't completely gone away yet.....

x

[*Natasha*]

I use to have to wait 30mins before giving DD1 her morning bottle she wasn't interested as soon as she got up perhaps try that.
Re. 45min naps perhaps you need to extend awake time a little.

[October]

Hi Natasha,

Now I see more of a pattern of behaviour at feeds. My DD does well at bedtime when she feeds in the dark (and today when DH fed her before a nap as she wouldn't eat more than 10z in her A time downstairs before that !). She otherwise drinks 4-5oz OK then pulls away suddenly and arches her back away. If we persist she gets fussy. Now I stop as soon as she pulls away. BW and all !

She was on Pepcid from 3 weeks till a few days before we started solids (3 weeks ago ?). She may be getting gassy from the oatmeal at breakfast but I don't know. She always arches and that was a sypmtom with her reflux. There's no crying but she does still spit up. We've decided to go back to Pepcid and up her dose to her weight (today a whopping 18.5lbs !) but I just don't know if this is reflux getting worse with solids or a full bloated tummy from the oatmeal. She has been fussy the odd night lately and woke for a feed 2 nights ago (again mid/late eve so could be some O/T). Her A time is already 2hrs 15-20 and I don't want to push her (today she went 2.5hrs and still only slept 1 hr 25 mins).

Guess I'm confused. She only sleeps up to  1.5hrs for her 2 big naps and up to 45 mins. for her catnap...........doing 12 hrs when she goes through though. Maybe we need to stick with the Pepcid and come off the oatmeal/all solids for a bit ? What would you do ?

Thx for any steer !
Deb x

[* Paula *]

Hi Deb,

The arching of the back is a sure sign of the reflux, like you said.  I would definitely suggest going back to the meds to see if this improves things.

How much solids are you offering and how many times a day?  At this age the solids are purely for tasters as their milk is still their main source of nutrician.  With regards to the solids, I would also offer it earlier in the day incase of any reactions.