14 Week boy turned into fussy feeder

[ozbub]

Hi all

my little boy, now 14 weeks, used to be a great feeder, would guzzle back his bottles of 6 ozs 5 to 6 times a day (to the point I was worried he was drinking too much!!) He has been taking expressed breast and formula from the bottle since birth. It all changed about 3-4 weeks ago. At first he started to slow down on his early morning feed (he sleeps through the night, bed at 7, dream feed at 10.30 and the wake at 6.30am), usually he will only take about 3-4 ozs, sometimes less before spitting the bottle out and turning his head away. He's gets cranky if I try to feed him again. So I started to wait til he was asleep where he would take abother 2-3 ozs. Feed again at 10am and he'll take maybe 3-4 ozs and then I'll struggle through giving him another 1-2 ozs. But it really upsets him when I persist. And so it continues through the day.

I've resorted to feeding him when sleepy or asleep to try and get he ozs up. Not ideal but I don't want him to start losing weight. He's generally happy when not feeding. And I don't think it's reflux as he's happy lying on his back and he's a good night sleeper (still working on day sleeps), he doesn't spit up much and doesn't vomit.

He wakes up happy and doesn't cry, I can hear him coughing a little which lets me know he is awake but this all changes once I start the feeds.

I know dread feeding time as does my little boy too it seems.

Anyone had this happen to them, any ideas or suggestions?

thanks!

[Lolly]

Can you post a typical day please with all the times you feed him. If you are feeding him before he is giving hungry cues then you may be topping him up when he doesn't need it so he's not hungry enough to take a decent feed at the next feed.

It could be too that he is ready to stretch his feeds, so if you are feeding 3 hourly then try 3.5 or 4 hourly which will help him to be hungry enough to get a decent feed (providing you aren't topping him up in between ). What flow teat are you using too - try changing to a faster one if you haven't already.

Laura

[ozbub]

Hi Laura

we had been on 4 hourly feeds where he was taking 7ozs a feed (and would only take him 10-15mins) however then he started to only take 4-5 ozs at each feed so I had to up them to 3 hourly so we could fit more feeds in the day. Our days can be up and down if we are out and about but a typical day is normally something like this at the moment

7.15 am Feed (Not sure what time he wakes as he doesn't cry in the mornings). I usually hear him coughing around 7 and do nappy change.
7.30am play
8.15 am sleep (have tried to strectch this out in the morning but he's just so tired)
9.30am Awake, play
10.15am Feed
10.30am Activity
11.15am Sleep
12.30am Awake, play
1.15pm Feed
1.30pm play
2.15pm Sleep
3.15pm Awake, play
4.15pm Feed
4.30pm play
4.45-5pm cat nap usually only 20 mins
5-5.20 pm play
6.00pm bath
6.30pm Feed
7.00 pm Bed
10-10.30pm Dream feed

He was used the same bottles since birth - I have changed the teat to medium flow which is appropriate for his age. He has been a great night sleeper and started to sleep through til morning from about 6 weeks of age. I know that when I say he is asleep in the day he often wakes up and is happy to lie in his cot (am torn between picking him up and letting him in the cot, I usually leave him, however this means less play time with us) so I figure he usually just sleeps for 45 mins at a time through the day.

I have resorted to feeding him each three hours and also again when he is sleepy to try and get milk as he feeds better when he's sleepy and relaxed. I know this could be eating into his feed time however I have tried to force him to take it all the other way and he would take 45mins to an hour to feed and he would get very upset and then he wasn't drinking at all so have resorted to this way and he seems a bit happier. He is pretty good at self settling in his cot, and I put him down awake most of the time. (He is not so good when in the car or the pram.)

I really don't know what's happened and why my once hungry boy seems no longer interested. 

[Lolly]

I'm really not sure what to suggest! Looking at your routine I would say the 45 min naps mean he needs longer A times, at 4 months he should be able to do 2 hours at least, the feeds may be because of this.

I would try and push that first A time - (do you have any idea what time he wakes?) so he is doing as close to 2 hours as you can to get a decent first nap in and then take the day on from there. I wouldn't worry too much about how much he takes as babies are very good at self regulating. If he takes less at one feed with a decent A time and a decent nap he *should* take a better feed next time. My DD who was nearly 9lb at birth stuck like glue to the 91st centile on an average of 25oz a day, some days a less.

Laura

[ozbub]

Hi Laura

I've pushed him back out for 4 hourly feeds again and so far so good, he's taking his full bottles and quickly. Now to sort out his daytime sleeps.....he's still napping a lot so usually by the time the feed comes around he's tired and sleepy. Still goes down awake though but just can not get into the EASY as we seem to be more on a AESY routine at the moment. I've extended his first activity by 15 mins this morning which he was very annoyed about and still he only slept for 45 mins, was happy to lie in his cot for another 45 mins before I went in (hoping he would have gone back to sleep). Next nap he slept for 45, I heard him stir for a few mins (he's a noisy sleeper at times so wasn't sure) I went in and his eyes were open so I lay on the floor and did the shhhh and low and behold he went back to sleep, not sure if it was a coincidence but will try that again tomorrow with his first nap.

I know this is a sleep question but I heard him this morning stirring at 3.00am he had the hiccups but he went back to sleep very quickly and again at 6am this time I put the monitor on and it sounded like he was thrashing about and making a few noises, I let him be for a while and decided to get up at 6.45 to get him up and when I went in he had gone to sleep, although wasn't a deep sleep. I woke him up and gave him his bottle - I would say these early morning wakings are potentially eating into his A time and that's why he's so tired. I don't know whether I should get him up when I first hear him wake or whether I should have let him sleep on til he woke again?

I think I've hijacked this page a bit - am just a bit confused as to what to do. I personally am not that bothered about him being on a AESY routine as I know the milk relaxes him and helps him wind down but I've heard this is bad and everyone advocates an Eat, Play, Sleep routine. I just want to do what's best - he's not too bad at self settling now as long as he is relaxed.

[Lolly]

I think I've hijacked this page a bit - am just a bit confused as to what to do. I personally am not that bothered about him being on a AESY routine as I know the milk relaxes him and helps him wind down but I've heard this is bad and everyone advocates an Eat, Play, Sleep routine. I just want to do what's best - he's not too bad at self settling now as long as he is relaxed.

Glad he's taking better bottles! If AESY works for you and he can self settle then I think that's fine. The only thing to watch is that the milk before sleep doesn't become a prop, which is the danger with AESY. What will happen is that if he does need the milk to relax and fall asleep when he wakes at night he will need a bottle to get back to sleep and that's a hard one to break . What you can do is AEAS, so you make sure you seperate the E from the S time. Hope that makes sense!

Laura