3 month old, barely eating but gaining weight

[MommyMoulton]

I am just looking for some ballpark people FF their little ones. I am FF my DD and she is barely eating, mostly 3 or 4 oz per bottle. and only 4 or 5 bottles a day. I dont think this is enough, but she is gaining weight, sleeping well, and generally happy all day long. I know that I shouldnt stress but it is stressing me out, and now I no longer enjoy feeding her at all.

I recall my DS at this age was drinking nearly 7 or 8 oz 4 times a day, thats a HUGE difference. Please help me understand what other FF babies are eating right now.

[*Kara*]

Hi Melissa

Just dug out my records from when DD was Roni's age...  average was 5 ozs every 3-3.5 hrs.  Total for 24 hrs was about 26-28ozs.  She had 5 bottles during the day and one overnight.

Does Roni still wake for a NF or are you doing a DF?

[MommyMoulton]

Kara- no DF or NF. She typically is on a 3 or 3.5 hour EASY with 4 sometimes 5 daytime bottles

She has developed a cough and runny nose over the last 24 hours so maybe its just illness

[*Kara*]

Ugh.. baby colds are the worst ever   That could well be the issue though... Put some Vicks on her feet at night   Could you maybe try a DF with her just to get some more into her?

[MommyMoulton]

I tried a DF and she just coughed and spit out the bottle.  Then screamed for 45min before I was finally able to get her to calm down. Then a few bum pats and she was back to sleep. Hopefully she sleeps the rest of the night.

[*Kara*]

Sounds like my experience with a DF

Fingers crossed she has a good night now that mommy isn't going to bug her

[MommyMoulton]

Ok after a possible dehydration scare that was a false alarm, Dr says " Shes just not hungry". So likely the lack of eating is from lack of hunger. the slight cough and runny nose she has just seems to be coinsiding with lack of hunger.

So today she ate roughly 1.5-2 oz every 2 hours. So I think now the problem is that we have a 'snacker' on our hands. Hence why my next question does she now sound ready for the 3.5-4hour transition. Her A time is roughly 1.75 hours, and she can nap for 1.5-2hours. When not coughing of course.

Thoughts?

[*Kara*]

She is a bit young for the 4 hr routine, but maybe a 3.5 hr would work for her?

No way to know unless you give it a try!

[lilisuze]

it's only been a few days since you were on a 3 to 4 oz bottles right? it's normal if babies are feeling poorly to drop right off their food. and fwiw, my DS never had more than 6 oz in a bottle in his whole year of bottle drinking.

if you think she's snacking, you really need to stretch it out slowly abecause if she's been ill, she need energy to build back up. so just stretch by maybe 10 mins after she gives you the hunger signs and see if they're still there after that. does that make sense?

I always try and remind myself how I feel if I have a cold. I feel sad, grumpy, I snack on junk food, a whole meal makes me feel sick! give little v the benefit of the doubt for a few more days

big hugs while you wait for her to feel well

[confusedmummy]

Hiya, just coming in to say my DD is exactly the same as yours. She is 15wks and barely eats 4oz and that can take almost her entire A time. She is gaining weight (well was since her last weigh about 3wks ago) my concern is that she has been on that amount since about 4wks old and it hasn't increased at all, I haven't even noticed any GS where she eats more, at least not in one sitting.

I think she is a snacker or it gas become habit, the problem we have here is that she is only doing 45min naps so gets fed before she goes down each time in the hope she will sleep longer. The only time I could get her to take closer to 5ml was by changing the teats on her bottle to the next level, but unfortunately as she is on special formula that is very watery I dont think she had much choice but eat more as it poured out, and this caused problems with her reflux.

A way I'll stop waffling. Hope your DD picks up soon so that you can relax. I'll be following to see how it goes and steal any advice. ((hugs)) x

[ismaeelsmummy]

This sounds just like my LO hes 16 wks on thurs

Everyone said to me that maybe he just has a small appetite but I always make up a 6oz bottle and has 3oz in one go and the rest bit by bit until he goes for a nap..

i think snacker but i also think he needs to stretch out his feeds but i dont know how to do this because i hate him crying.

Not sure how much my LO has gained but i can definately tell he is heavier.

[Mummy23boys]

Hi ya!

How is V now? My guy was a little like that over Xmas. Xmas day he went about 7 hours without touching a drop! And I tried and tried! He had very little all day. The next few days were the same and he was sniffly and had a cough. But he was fine after a few days and back to guzzling his bottles. Hope V gets better soon and lots of love to you xx

[MissChristina]

Hi there,

Not sure if this is helpful to you, but I spotted your post and it reminded me of when my son was around that age, so I thought I'd offer my opinion. My baby was also barely eating around that age, but gained weight, was generally happy, and all else was well. It became a struggle to feed him because he would refuse the bottle, and eventually, I started to dread feeding times cuz it always seemed to turn into a fight.

I spoke to his pediatrician about it. Like you, I was also stressing out because I thought he wasn't eating enough, etc. But this is what his doctor said: Babies will never starve themselves. If they're hungry, they will eat. And if they're not eating, they are not hungry. Then, he explained that all the guide books out there on baby care, and all the advice about how many ounces a baby SHOULD take at a feeding, and how many bottles a baby SHOULD take in a day -- well, these are all just guidelines. Some babies may follow the guidelines to a T. Other babies will eat a lot more. And then, some babies, like your's and mine, will eat less. A LOT less. So his pediatrician told me to do this: Cut back on his ounces. Basically, drop it down to the amount that he will ALWAYS finish, and offer that amount to him in every bottle. When the baby is able to finish every single bottle, then slowly increase it (by half ounce, or 1 ounce, is up to you to decide).

We went home and tried this immediately. We dropped every bottle down to 4 ounces. He went through a few bottles, and struggled through the others. A few days later, he polished off every single bottle. So I knew he was ready. I bumped it up to 5 ounces. Again, he went through a few bottles, and struggled with the others. A week or so later, he was able to finish the majority of his bottles... though, was not able to finish all. Eventually, we worked our way to 6 ounce bottles by the time he was 4 or 5 months old.

Overall, it was a slow process to get him to eat his food. But it reduced the stress on me... feeding times were no longer a fight every time... and baby was still growing, strong and healthy. Maybe you should give it a shot. I hope it helps you as it helped us.... :-)

[lilisuze]

mm -how are you doing?

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

I'm hoping V's feeing troubles were due to her illness and that she will be back to feeding normally once she is better hugs xxx