Eleven Weeks Old and Not Feeding. Help!

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello, please can someone help me. I am desperate and losing the plot. My ten week old baby is being bottle fed but is refusing to feed. I breast fed till seven weeks and had thrush in my nipples. I had this with my older son so decided to bottle feed. He has been on the bottle for about a month now and over the past four days has decided to not feed. He was taking four feeds a day but never having more than 600ml per day. He has now dropped to three feeds a day. Yesterday he took in only 360ml in 24 hours and will go for nine to ten hours between feeds during the day. I fed him at 3.15am and it is now 2.15pm and he still hasn't fed. I took him to the doctor two days ago and the doctor is happy with his weight (6.2kg). He told me not to worry and that my baby is fine. He is a content little lad and is on the EASY routine except he misses out the E at each cycle. I don't know what to do.

He is also a very windy baby and has really struggled with wind since he was born. I have him on Infacol and this is helping a little. Interestingly he is also unable to hold a dummy in his mouth as it just pops out all the time and I have to put it back in and hold it in place. I know this is a prop so I have taken the dummy away but wonder if he can't hold it in his mouth because he has wind.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

[Lolly]

When you say he hasn't fed what happens when you offer him a feed? What is his behaviour like when he does feed? Have you tried a faster flow teat?

Do you think he shows any signs of reflux at all? http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0

If he is showing any signs of being unwell or dehydrated I would get him to see a Dr again as soon as you can, it's not usual for a baby this small to go this long without feeding.

Laura

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello,

Thank you for your response, Laura. When I offer him a feed he starts to cry, turns his head away, arches his back and pushes the teat out with his tongue. He will cry until I take the teat out and comfort him. When he is ready to feed he is calm, attaches quickly and easily and sucks like crazy. I tried going up a teat size but that did nothing to help him. I'm on the number two Avent teat but went up to the three and then even tried the four. It made no difference and a nursing friend in the UK suggested I go back to a number two. When he does feed he usually takes between 100 - 150ml in ten to fifteen minutes.
My older son (two years old now) had reflux and so I know what that looks like. He definitely doesn't have reflux. The strange thing is that he looks fine, absolutely fine. He plays under his play gym and yesterday eleven-and-a-half hours after his last feed he was gurgling and playing! Of course I was a tearful mess!
Last night we had a little break through. He fed at 2.45pm (100ml), then again at 5.10pm (150ml) and then again at 9.30pm (150ml). So in total he got about 500ml yesterday - I am so relieved. He then got me up at 4.30am and took 70ml. I am hoping that this is a good sign of things to come. He is up now and doesn't look in the least bit hungry. I hope that he won't go so long before he feeds again! 
Many thanks,
Sharon

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello, is anyone out there who can help me as I am going to go insane very soon. Seriously, I am in need of some advice or ideas. Looking at other blogs it is all about getting a baby to go longer between feeds or to take more at feeds but my baby will take nothing, absolutely nothing for 8 to 11 hours during the day! He then also goes for six to eight hours at night without feeding. This is not normal and I can't carry on like this for much longer.
After a good day of him taking in 500ml in total he then had the worse day ever. He took those 70ml at 4.25am on Friday morning and then fed again at 2.55pm and took 100ml and then fed again at 7.45pm and took 150ml. This was a dismal total of 320ml in 24 hours. Last night he work at 2.00am and took 130ml. He woke at 6.00am and needed to be winded. He is so terribly windy. It takes him about 10 minutes to feed at night but then up to an hour to get back to sleep as he is so windy. He fell asleep on my shoulder last night but when I lie him down he starts to cry in pain. I think pick him up and he quietens down and we go round and round and round until he is so exhausted he stays asleep. It is now 11.15am and he still hasn't taken anything.
I have made another appointment to see the doctor on Wednesday. I have to wait so long for an appointment because it is with a very good doctor. It will also be a week after his last weigh in so I can see how that is going.
For the past two days he has been very relaxed when I have offered him a feed. I put the teat in his mouth and he plays with it in his mouth. He is completely calm and relaxed but he doesn't suck. However, like before, when he is hungry he takes the bottle quickly and easily. Thanks, Sharon

[Lolly]

I know you said you don't think it's reflux but can I ask why you don't think so? Most of what you describe is exactly how my daughter was around 10 weeks (and her brother before her) She is/was the haapiest baby, very content, napped and slept well etc. But when it came to feeding she would take 1 or 2oz then scream/ cry/ arch etc I could sometimes get the teat back in but she would refuse to feed any more and be very distressed. She would go 4/5+ hours on tiny bits of milk if I waited for hungry cues. She was also very windy, hard to burp, wet burps had terrible hiccups etc. She is mostly a silent refluxer so no vomitting and only tiny bits of milk coming back up. Neither of my kids would want to feed during the morning, they fed better (relatively speaking) as the day went on.

The other thing to think about is the milk he is on - what are you feding him? How are his nappies, does he have any signs he could have milk protien intolerance (MPI) like green mucousy nappies? If you are really worried about how little he is taking there is always the option of taking him to A&E to get seen quicker.

I'm sorry we can't offer anything else but if you have tried all the things we would normally suggest like faster teats, longer between feeds etc I'm not sure what else to suggest. How is he sleeping - is he napping well in the day? Could he be starting to teeth too - have you tried pain meds/ teething gel just before a feed to see if that makes a difference?

{{HUGS}} I know how hard it is with a food refusing baby.

Laura

[Sharon Eshmade]

Thank you for the hugs, Laura, they are greatly appreciated.
Okay, I went on to the reflux postings and it could be that he has silent reflux. He doesn't bring up any milk, even when he takes in 150ml in ten minutes. With my older son I used to have muslins around the house to mop up after him as he was my leaky baby. I will go and look at the advice again and try and introduce some of the ideas into his life and see if it helps. Holding thumbs.
I have him on Hipp Organic. I had him on Aptimil but then changed to Hipp Organic as it was a thinner consistency and he took it better. His nappies are mainly yellow and well formed. When I was at the doctor I had to change his nappy so the doctor got to see the content and was happy with it. In the past week he has had two green mucousy nappies. What does this mean?
Unfortunately we live in the Middle East and if I were to take him to A&E they would either do a huge amount of tests on him or they would tell me to go home. I know they wouldn't be helpful, unfortunately.
He sleeps very very very well between activity times. He honestly is the worlds best little baby except he doesn't feed. I just can't believe that he will take nothing, absolutely nothing for so very long.
My older boy started teething very early, at about three months, so I will try some teething gel before offering him the bottle and fingers crossed it will work. Thank you for all your ideas and support. If anything else comes to mind, please let me know. Sharon

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello Laura, well, I want to reach through this computer and give you a huge hug and kiss! After reading your post I proped up my DS cot with some books. I have also been giving him the dummy so that if he has silent refulx the saliva he swallows would dilute the acid. I have also been rubbing rather than patting him and there has been no more giggling going on. Oh, my goodness me, he took 770ml yesterday! He just seemed to feed non-stop. At one point he was feeding every two to two-and-a-half hours! I was running out of bottles and loving it! I even got him to take 150ml at an 11pm DF and he woke up on his own ready for a 7am feed this morning. Today I am trying to help him to get into a three hour EASY routine and it seems to be working rather well. The strange thing is that he has been burping easily and has really had no real wind. He has taken the feeds easily and even took more this morning after doing a big burp, which he has never been able to do before.
I hope that someone else can read this post and it will help you, as having such a young baby go almost twelve hours during the day and nine hours at night without feeding in one day is one of the most upsetting and stressful experiences of my life. I hope we have cracked it and thank you for all your help and support!
 

[Lolly]

That's great news! Well done both of you!

I wonder if he is having his 3 month growth spurt as well - but that was a great night!

Laura

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello Laura, I think you're right and that he is having a growth spurt. He had 860ml yesterday!
Last night I fed him 150ml at 7.00pm and he woke up at 9.30pm wanting more. He took another 150ml! I successfully had him on a three hour EASY routine yesterday and it went pretty well. He seems to have some feeds where he finishes the 150ml bottle (just) and others where he takes in only 90ml. I thought that if he was going through a growth spurt he would take in a consistently larger amount of milk.
He got me up at 4.00am as his nappy was so full and he couldn't get back to sleep after I had changed it so I gave him another feed. He took 60ml and then had 90ml at 7.00am.
Every time it comes to a feed my heart is in my mouth as I am worried that he is going to refuse the feed.
I am feeling a bit foolish about going and seeing the doctor tomorrow as everything is going so well. I still want to see him as he is a very experienced caring doctor and I hope that he might have some insight. I just don't know what questions to ask. I am going to take along the records of how much he has been taking on every day and hope that he has some idea of why my DS went for so very long taking in so very little. It will be interesting to see what he says.
Thanks again so much,
Sharon

[Lolly]

Good luck with the Dr, let us know how you get on! It may be worth prinitng off the reflux 101 info and highlighting all the symptoms that your LO has to take along - I always forget half of what I want to say

Laura

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello, all went well with the doctor. He has given me his mobile number and has asked me to call him if my DS is not feeding again. We went through a whole list of possibilities but he doesn't thing my DS has silent reflux or any of the other ideas that I proposed. He said that if it happens again he would like to run some blood and urine tests to see if there are any issues with my DS PH level etc. His weight was up and so was his head circum from a week ago but he hadn't grown. It was only a week ago so the doctor was happy that he had put on weight.

Over the past few days he has been taking in less and less milk. Today we have started to have some more feeding issues. He took in only 50ml at 9.45am and refused his 1.00pm feed. I can't believe that this is starting all over again. I fear that the growth spurt is over and he is going to stop feeding again. I am so dispondent right now. I don't think I can go through him having another feeding strike. I guess I will have to if it happens.

It has been quite a few weeks since I tried a faster flowing teat so I think I might try that.
Thanks, Sharon

[Lolly]

Well, if you have the Drs number then use it!

It's a shame he's dicounted reflux - that would be a simple thing to rule in or out with a meds trial at a decent dose. If the meds work it's reflux, if not move on to something else (also a lot less distressing than bloods being taken). There again I don't have the benefit of medical training so what do I know

I hope he feeds better for you today - definitly try the faster teats as well.

Keep us updated.

Laura

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hello, well, he's back to his old tricks of taking in very little. We have decided that on Tuesday afternoon I will take him back to the doctor and have him weighed and measured. Only after that will I make an appointment to see the doctor again. I want to see if he is putting on weight and growing even though he is taking in about 400 - 550ml per day.

I also noticed that he is feeding every four hours at night but going longer, much longer, stretches during the day. So, I think he has got his day and night feeding mixed up. I am now trying to gently get him to move his feeds so that he is feeding during the day. It's so hard because he is taking in so little but I am trying to get him to go a little longer before each feed so that we slowly make the transition. He is having four feeds a day and is taking in between 100ml - 160ml per feed. Interestingly, my older DS went 12 hours without feeding overnight from the age of 10 weeks so I think he is doing the same thing, but it's during the day.

I tried the faster teats and it doesn't seem to have made a difference, however, he is twelve weeks old now so the medium flow teat is more appropriate. He really does take the feed so easily but just stops and won't take any more. Strangely the wind has disappeared completely, thank goodness. He is burping so easily now and isn't having any of the pain that he had before. But, even when he burps he won't take any more of the feed. He is super relaxed at the feeds so part of me is thinking that he has had enough. But what do I know?
Will keep you posted on how we are getting along.

Thanks,
Sharon

[Sharon Eshmade]

Hi, had him weighed and measured and he hasn't put on any weight in a week and hasn't grown in two weeks. I am now officially freaking out. I will contact the doctor tomorrow and see if he can see me before the weekend. I just can't believe that such a happy baby with no obvious signs of anything wrong wouldn't feed enough. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I will speak to him again about reflux and see if he will prescribe some medication that I can try and, hopefully, discount as a problem.
Feeling sick to my stomach.
Sharon

[Lolly]

Nothing about reflux makes sense I'm afraid and they are all so individual. I hope you can get in to see your Dr soon, I think a meds trial will tell you if it is reflux or not.

Ranitidine is usually the first med to try. Ask what strength dose he is prescribing if he does. The usual dose range is 2-4mg per kg, some will only prescribe 1-3mg per kg for under 6 months. A dose of 1mg per kg probalby won't help much, most babies need a decent dose to get relief, if he will only prescribe the lowest dose ask if you can just speak to him to increase the dose if it's not helping within a week, it can take up to 2 weeks to be working properly but you should see some difference in about a week.

Let us know how you get on and {{HUGS}}

Laura