not eating as much in the day help!? 5 mo old

[kaynay]

is this a BF post or a Bottlefeeding post?

so after some good consistent 6-7 oz bottles all day long our LO is starting to eat less most of the day is it time to drop the NF? please advise? it seems he isnt hungry every 4 hours anymore closer to 4.5 but that will totally screw up our day...what to do? this is what we look like this and are 5 mos tomorrow to the day...nap are getting weird too like 1 hr 20 mins as opposed to 1 hr 45 or so...

on a good day note the wake time fluctuates about 30 mins so does the routine most days I have yet to get an exact wake up since birth just a range and note we are on on the longer range of A times we just are

700ish wake

730ish BF its tricky to get him to eat here he doesnt eat much at all I can tell because the milk is
watery

945-11ish sleep

1130/1145 4 oz expressed bm used to take 6-8 oz?

145ish-315 sleep

330/345 5-6 oz expressed bm used to take 7-8 oz?

530ish cat nap in stroller when he wants

715 8.5 oz expressed bm

on a good night will sleep til 4 eat and go right back to sleep resulting in about a 12 hr night on a bad night starts stirring around 2 cries out around 330 and cant settle so I bf him at 4 not sure if this is a BFing post or a Bottle Feeding post?

[Lolly]

Is he teething at all? It could be this affecting his appetite so try a bit of teething gel before a feed. They do get very distracted at this age - have you tried feeding in a dark room with nothing going on?

I would normally suggest trying a faster teat but that could effect his BFs as he may prefer the easier faster flow so I think it's not recommended with mixed feeding .

I also think his lack of interest in his first feed could be because of the 4am feed. Have you thought about trying to reduce/ limit or eliminate this feed to tide him over but keep him hungry for the day? Do you dreamfeed at all?

I will also ask a breastfeeding mod to have a look and see if they can suggest anything!

HTH!

Laura

[~ Vik ~]

Laura's pretty much suggested what I would have! 

At 5mo teething could definitely be a culprit - those buggers can cause problems long before they show themselves.  In addition to teething gel (or instead of, my ds always hated it) you could try giving pain meds about 30m before a feed if possible.

I agree that the lack of interest in the wake up feed could be due to the night feed.  Does he feed both sides?  You could try limiting to one side, or limiting the time, or use a bottle of ebm and only offer 2-3oz.  Often, when there is an early morning feed, the wake up feed becomes more of a top up, just enough to get your lo through to his next EASY feed.

I agree too that I wouldn't jump to a fast flow teat as it can cause problems with mixed feeding.  You could try a variable flow one though (they're also called y cut I believe).  That's what we use and they work quite well - the milk doesn't just flow out of them.  They have to suck to get anything out, but the harder they suck the faster the milk flows, slow or lazy sucking and they don't get much.  Just like bfing

hth

[kaynay]

hi ladies...well he has always been a one side feeder, has always since birth been 3 hours til about 3 mo then 3.5 hr at 3.5 mos at 4mos then 4 hr  even with one side it has always been a struggle to get him to take both sides even before I went back to work...I have a fast let down I believe and decent milk supply maybe that is the case?

..at 5 mos this past weekend I believe he was bored with the slow flow so we changed to a medium flow and he is eating beautifully 7-9 oz, not spitting up, acting fine and dare I say sleeping better (1 night feed now at about 430---going about 9 hrs at night)...then a breastfeed between 4-5 am which I am worried does affect his am feed...the thing is that even wtih the a short am feed he seems to nap fine in the am the weird thing is that in the day he just simply isnt hungry at 4 hrs its closer to 4 hr 15 or even 4 hr 30 for all feeds except the last one...we are about 6-8 weeks away from starting solids...

its hard to gage that night feed he has ALWAYS been a one sided FAST eater...so offering one side and limiting it is already the case...how do I elminate this 430 feed? isnt a 9 hour stretch no DF typical for this age or should we drop it?

He chomps down on my nipple at 430 during his feed ok for now but there is not teeth yet.!..he started getting very distracted during day feeding at about 3 mts and since when he eats its alone, not near toddler, in a quiet darkened space yes.

we have just recently gotten (dare I say) consistently to between 4-5 am feeding  this past week, after other NWs etc...how long should I wait for this to be consistent before I really work to eliminate it? I dont want to start a bad habit feeding at 430 or is this normal?

[~ Vik ~]

then a breastfeed between 4-5 am which I am worried does affect his am feed...the thing is that even wtih the a short am feed he seems to nap fine in the am

That's completely normal - and if he's napping fine in the am then it's safe to assume between the 4am feed and the morning top up that he's getting enough milk.

how do I elminate this 430 feed? isnt a 9 hour stretch no DF typical for this age or should we drop it?

we have just recently gotten (dare I say) consistently to between 4-5 am feeding  this past week, after other NWs etc...how long should I wait for this to be consistent before I really work to eliminate it? I dont want to start a bad habit feeding at 430 or is this normal?

Honestly, there is no 'typical' - if you asked 10 different moms when they're babies slept through consistently, you will get 10 different answers (if they're being honest! )  Breastfed babies tend to need night feeds for longer than formula fed babies.  Some ebf babies sleep through at 8 weeks, others don't sleep through until one year or even later.  At 5mo, it's normal to have a dream feed plus one night feed.  So the fact that you're only having one night feed with no dreamfeed is better than normal!  I certainly wouldn't work to actively eliminate it at this point.  Reduce it so he takes a better morning feed, maybe (though I can see that would be a challenge for you with single side/fast feeds), but IMHO your routine seems to be working well so I wouldn't change it at this point.

hth