SOS almost not eating – bottom teeth coming

[maka]

Our LO is one week shy of 6 months. He has been on a 4 hour EASY since he is 4 months old. We are having horrible feeding problems since the beginning of this month (I posted before about possible signs of dysphagia). He was never a good eater but this month is horrible. He would not take more than 1 to 2 ounces per feed and sometimes even less than 1, he spits out and cries. However, he does it better when he is sleeping, he can drain 6 to 7 ounces down in 10 min in his sleep, which basically tells me that he is hungry. At our last ped. check up he was only in 25% weightwise so I decided to start feeding him in the middle of the night in his sleep (basically now we are up to 2 dream feeds). If I don’t feed him he wakes up every ½ hour to 40 min. I’m so frustrated and tired. His two bottom teeth are almost out so I really, really hope that this is all because of that. Did anyone experience the same feeding problems during teething? Below I’m posting our routine, any advice is appreciated.

6:30-7 - wake up
7:00-7:30 – formula)
8:00 – ½ can of fruit or vegetable
7:30-8:30/9 - activity
9:00-10:00 - nap (ideally we want it to 11, usually lasts anywhere from 1 to 1 ½ hour)
11:00-11:30 – formula
12- ½ can of fruit or vegetable
11:30-12:30 - activity
12:30-2:30 - nap (usually he lasts for 1 to 1 ½ hour)
3:00-3:30 – formula
4:00 – 1 to 2 TS of oatmeal cereal (most on water, usually wont eat it on formula)
3:30-5 – activity
5:00-5:45 nap
7:00-7:30 formula, bath time. 
8:00 – 8:30 sleep

[grahamsmama]

You can definitely get feeding problems with teething.  Are you doing any teething gel, tablets, or Tylenol?

[maka]

We tried teething gel before feeding and it didn't help. We also giving him Tylenol before bed but it doesn't help much. I'm wodering though, if its only formula that bothers him because he eats much better when he eats solids from a spoon?

[KellyDMB]

We are experiencing the same thing!  She's 5 months old, and seems to have been teething all month.  She doesn't eat well during the day but will eat at night, she wakes up frequently during the night, at least once per hour.  I am keeping fingers crossed that this is teething and that they pop up and her sleeping returns to normal.  I am glad we are not the only ones, it makes it seem more "normal"!

[tac217]

Sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time.  I had the same problem with my daughter starting the beginning of this month.  She is 9 months old but wouldn't eat much of anything from her bottle for almost 2 weeks.  She was perfectly happy to eat any kind of solid food.  I know your lo is younger but the only thing I could do was try to give her more cereal with lots of formula in it plus more fruits and veggies and just wait it out.  Things have improved this week - at least until more teeth come in.  Hang in there, hopefully it will pass soon.  I know how frustrating it is!

[maka]

Thanks you all for your responses. I'm trying to give him more solids but unfortunately he doesn't take cereal with formula, only cereal with water. His sleep also got a lot worse, he usually wakes up 1 to 2 times before dreamfeed and then 2 to 4 times during night.  Also, on top of that he still has a lot of gas. I'm actually wondering, since now he is on more solids does formula intake have to decrease anyway?

[tac217]

I was told that at 6 months babies should be taking in around 26oz per day either by bottle or in their solid food.  My lo was only drinking and eating around 20oz at 6 months and was doing fine.

It's interesting that you mentioned that he has a lot of gas too.  Sounds really familiar.  Did you introduce any new foods recently too that coinside with the lack of eating and gas?

[grahamsmama]

Since it seems like the sucking on the bottle is the problem, could you use the next biggest flow nipple?

[lucyc]

My daughter is doing the exact same thing she is really keen to eat solids and every time i show her a bottle it is like she wants it she goes to suck and then screams she drinks her first bottle of the day fine and the rest she is refusing. Last night she was screaming because she couldnt take her bed time bottle i had to give her some fruit and fromage to settle her then she slept. She also will drink her dream feed fine. She is 6 1/2 months and her two bottom teeth have just popped through. Its no fun is it she is also fine one minute then grumpy the next.

[maka]

Yesterday afternoon was the worst, he would not take even 1 oz but he eat cereal fine. I think a lot of gas is the result of more solid food as before (trying to compensate for formula). He is on Alimentum (pre-digested) and it doesn't taste good, so I was thinking may be it’s the taste and we should change formulas to a regular (Advance)? Is it possible that it’s the taste of the formula that drives him away? He would drink water fine from the same type bottle so I don't think that it’s the bottle. But it makes me feel a bit better that we are not the only one, because you always tend to think that something is wrong. 

[*Mona*]

I'd try a regular type formula. it could really be the issue. but it coould also be just the teething itself.
my dd is almost 21 months so a bit different story but still on bottle [full milk now] and some month ago she kind of dropped it all together BUT when 2 teeth poked through, she started asking for, no, demanding!!! the milk again.
she took no milk for 2 weeks and now it's twice a day, 7oz each.

but I'd try a new formula for sure.
m

[grahamsmama]

maka- how long has he been on the alimentum? What led you to use it?  I might ask your pediatrician whether to use the cow's milk based or the soy based formula if you're switching. 

[maka]

LO has been on Alimentum for 3 months. We switched formulas 3 times because of gas and stomach problems and decided to stop on Alimentum. I think that we need to swtich again to a regular type formula (at least it taste a little better) but I don't think that its such a good idea to do it now when so much is going on developmentally. Although, it does feels like he is getting worse and worse every day, he eats less and less. I'm going crazy here. 

[grahamsmama]

Well, the developmental stuff is going to continue for a while now, so I might go ahead and switch if you think that is the problem.  Our dd was MSPI and did really well on the Alimentum, but when she outgrew the soy intolerance we switched her to soy formula and she did beautifully.  Another thing to think of is lactose intolerance.  If you want to do a cow's milk based formula, maybe start out with a lactose free one.