4 mos old won't eat during the day

[AngelaF]

Anyone else seen this: my DS who is about 4 1/2 months old (born at 37 weeks), suddenly has stopped eating. Getting two oz. is the biggest chore and can take upwards of 45 min. The only time he seems to want to eat is in the middle of the night, which as you can imagine we're not such big fans of. The only way I can get him to eat during the day is laying flat on his back in the crib. Weird, right? It's affecting all aspects of his nighttime sleep. We put him down at 8 and of the past four nights, three of him he's woken up three times before the DF at 10!

He is a reflux baby, but for three plus weeks prior to this he was eating 6 oz bottles with no problem. He takes 15 mg of prevacid every day. I just don't think it's reflux issues. He'd rather put his hands and pull the bottle out or stand up or smile and laugh or do anything else. I've tried feeding him in a dark room, covering his face with burp rag, DF during naptime, everything I can think of and/or got from pp. Any ideas? This is driving me CRAZY. My tongue literally hurts today from how much I was biting down on it in frustration yesterday.

And by the way, he's a twin, so not only do I have him to contend with but his sister needs to be fed in there too. Slowly loosing my mind....

[* Paula *]

Hugs I am sorry to hear you are going through a rough time.

I would not suggest feeding your lo while he is lying down flat in the crib, this can cause a few problems like ear infections etc and might not be the best thing for his reflux.  My DS went through a phase where he wanted to be laying down for a feed, so we would prop him up on a pillow, so that he was not lying flat.

What size teat are you using?  Do you think that your lo is bored with the flow and this is why he is not interested in feeding?

Do you think your lo may be teething?

Paula

[AngelaF]

So funny that you posted this Paula. I thought the same thing about laying him flat so today after p.m. nap I propped him on a pillow and he ate 4 oz. I was just talking to DH and said maybe he's teething. What are other signs? This started on Friday and has been so frustrating! As for the teat, we use Dr. Brown's and it's a stage 2. Milk drips out of the side of his mouth, but as I'm headed to Babies r us today, maybe I'll check that out. Hadn't thought of that.

Thanks so much! It seems like every day there's a new issue I need advice on! Welcome to parenting, right?

[* Paula *]

He could very well be teething.  Does he seem fussy any other time.  When you are feeding him does he get cranky and pull the teat from his mouth or cry?

I would try the next stage up teat - prop him up a bit more than normal so that if the flow is a bit fast it wont hit the back of this throat too quickly.

If you think it could be teething, you could always try rubbing a bit of teething gel on his gums a few minutes before a feed to see if this helps ease the discomfort.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[AngelaF]

Aarrgh!!! Last night he had 8 oz at 7 pm but only had 2 oz at DF at 10. So, lo and behold, last night he woke up at 12:45 starving!!!!!!!!!! I really, really feel like I have a newborn. He ate 4 oz then but was awake again at 4. DH fed him at 4:30 b/f going to work and thankfully right now he's still sleeping, although he's been stirring since about 6 am (it's 7:30). I am considering dropping the DF. Emma doesn't need it anymore (past three nights she's taken less than an oz. and still slept until 8 am) and it obviously isn't doing much for Jake. Any thoughts?

I am over this! I just don't know how to help him be a better sleeper at night. DH thinks somehow little Jake's schedule has gotten wacked out and it's like he's on a 4 hour schedule 24 hours a day. How can we reverse that? He is wearing my butt out!

I'm going to go out today and get a new nipple and see if that helps. As for the teething, he's not really fussy any other time. During feeding, he happily and eagerly eats the first few oz. but then just closes his mouth or will open his mouth but after the first few swallows fusses and turns his head away or just plays with the nipple.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will keep you posted.

[* Paula *]

Hugs, you may find that the DF is disturbing his sleep and causing him to wake more in the night - it can happen.  Give it a try without the DF and see how you get on.

If you say that he is not fussing any other time of the day, it could very well be that he is just bored with the flow and may require a faster flow teat.  Give it a try.

Please let us know how you get on.

[grahamsmama]

My lo is almost 5 months (Monday) and we've been going through this as well, since about 16 weeks.  For her, the reflux was one of the problems.  As she outgrew her Zantac dose, the problem got worse.  But even once that was under control, we still had problems, she just didn't seem upset by the problems anymore.  She'd happily eat an ounce and refuse the rest. 
I switched to many different kinds of nipples and bottles (Soothie, Nuk, Ventaire).  Finally, I switched to the Playtex Drop In system with the fast flow nipple (she refused all other stage 2 and fast flow nipples) and she's finally starting to eat a little better.  There is a sticky at the top of the page about 3.5 month old eating problems, although most of those babies are now 4.5-5 months, so you can see what all we've tried.