is my baby spirited or touchy?

[anyasmum07]

I've done the quiz but I get fairly even scores for everything except grumpy (which she isn't)!  But my 12wo dd is a nightmare when she's either too hungry or too tired.  If she realises she's hungry she cries so much she won't actually feed and if she gets overtired she cries so much she takes ages to sooth to sleep.  The overtired bit I can cope with - she will eventually settle - but the not feeding bit is very difficult to deal with.  Once she's started feeding she's ok - it's getting her to start drinking that's the problem.  If we feed her before she gets hungry she gets distracted part way through and won't take a full feed.  Is this spirited or touchy behaviour?  (so that I can start working out how to fix it)

[Grace's Mom]

That sounds like touchy to me, but I have a spirited lo so someone with a touchy baby may know better 

When she does get fed too early....is there a way to wait 10 minutes or so and start the feed up again so that she can finish the feed?

What are your lo's average A times?  How does your lo nap?

[anyasmum07]

In a bit more detail then - having a really rubbish 48 hours.  She should be on 3.5 hour EASY and taking 5oz per feed (6 times a day including a dreamfeed - she's just over 12lb) but this is what's happened for the last couple of days from memory -

Yesterday:
6:30 wake up & feed - only about 3oz then screwed her face up at the rest
play
7:30 sleep
10:00 feed - again, only about 3oz - she pooed in the middle so we had to stop and then she wouldn't go back to it - screwed her face up at the rest
play
11:30 sleep
12:45 woke up hungry - started crying.  Tried to feed her but too late - screamed for over an hour until dh came home
2:00 dh got some feed down her - about 4oz from memory
memory of the rest of the afternoon blurs into crying/sleeping/trying to feed.  She had 2 further meltdowns and dh had to practically force-feed her - she did nap in between but cried about being too tired too.
9:30 sleep
10:30 top-up feed of a couple of ounces.
12:30 dreamfeed - 3oz

Today so far:
6:30 woke and feed - 3oz
7:00 both of us back to bed - she lay awake for a while I think but then went to sleep
8:30 play then fell asleep in baby gym
10:00 feed - 3oz
play
12:00 sleep
12:30 fed while asleep - 2oz to top-up (now back on track for the day!)
1:45 woke from sleep to feed - 2oz then was sick
2:30 awake but lying quietly while I write this...

As you can see, EASY has gone out of the window.  I'm worried that she's not taking enough food - but if we go back to it she then won't take enough at her next feed (this is happening today) and if we make her wait for her next scheduled feed she screams the place down and won't feed anyway (happened yesterday). 

HELP!

[*Vicki*]

Hello 

I have a spirited 4 year old whos also touchy...and my 7 month old LO is spirited/ touchy.......i can tell you its an explosive combo!! 

Im marking my spot here coz i gotta go feed LO right now but it looks to me off the top of my head that perhaps that morningnap is a bit long so that when she goes to sleep at 11.30 and wakes at 12.45 shes still tired so the screaming till 2pm could have been overtiredness..

Also it seems shessnacking a bit...this is a bit hard to change at this young age as they tend to need little amounts and often IYKWIM but thats prob causing some probs in that when shes tired shes still hungry and vice versa..

Ok so im gonna have a think and when i come back on hopefully ill have thought of soem ideas to help you out xxxxx

I know where you re coming from tho - they can be hard work...so hugs coming your way        

[Grace's Mom]

Just to reassure your, my lo only took 3-4 oz until many months down the road.  All lo's are different and not all need 6oz.  My lo could barely handle 6oz at 12 months, so I wouldn't worry about the ounces too much. 

After the dream feed, does your lo wake up at all in the middle of the night to feed?

How long have you been on a 3.5 hour EASY?

 What made you move to a 3.5 hour EASY?

I always had to remind myself that all lo's are different and the numbers in the books are just averages.  My lo couldn't handle a 4 hour EASY until about 5 months, didn't move to 2 naps until close to 11 months, so it all about following your specific lo. 

I bet Vicki will have some great advice for you.   

Melissa

[anyasmum07]

We've only been on a 3.5 hour EASY for a couple of weeks and it's not really worked out yet - mainly because of the feeding issue.  Moved onto it because she was doing 3 hour EASY comfortably (once we got daytime sleeping sorted out) and she can go for 3.5 hours in the morning.  She doesn't wake up at night between her dreamfeed at 12:30 until her morning feed at 6:30.

Actually we're now thinking the feeding problem is an issue with the formula (this batch smells really weird - I mean REALLY weird), or the teats.

[Grace's Mom]

How does she handle the 3.5 hour in regards to A time?

How long does it take her to eat?
If she's taking a really long time to eat it might be time to move to a faster teat! 
Yucky, stinky formula      Hope it's ok 

Melissa

[anyasmum07]

She handles the A time fine - she can happily be awake for a couple of hours - the exception is after the first feed where she just likes an hour before going back to bed for a lie-in.

At the moment it can take 30-45 mins just to get a couple of ounces down.  We're on a medium-flow teat - tried a fast-flow one last night but she didn't like that at all!

This morning tried a ready-made carton instead of the powder and after pushing it away a few times she had 3 oz in 5 minutes - she's not done that for days, I nearly cried.  It looks like it might have been that batch of powder after all, in which case she'll need time to learn that the bottle's not got revolting stuff in it anymore.  I'll see how today goes with cartons.

[manuela]

Hello, Anya'smum, my baby is also a devil when he gets hungry.......he screams like crazy!

Sorry to wander off the subject, but does anyone know where can I find out which kind of baby is mine?

[Grace's Mom]

It is with in the EASY FAQ's located at the top of the EASY thread.   

---With anything new, even with a faster flow teat, it will take some time for your lo to get use to that.  I would keep trying as 30-45 minutes is a really long time.

[anyasmum07]

Thanks for all the advice.  It turns out to be the milk after all - we must have had a bad batch - she's feeding normally now on cartons.  Relief!!

[*Vicki*]

thats good to hear 

bear in mind tho that they often preferthe cartons.....something to do with how the milks treated.... i know both my DD's wouldhappily down a 9oz carton while only doing maybe 4 oz of the powdered stuff....

[Grace's Mom]

Glad to hear.
Let us know how things continue on.

-Melissa

[Grace's Mom]

anyasmum07
How is your little one doing?