Author Topic: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed  (Read 2257 times)

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Offline FroggyMom

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16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« on: November 18, 2014, 15:55:36 pm »
Hi ladies,

DD is 16 weeks old (will be 4 months old next month...I can't believe how fast time flies!), and I am having trouble getting her to drink her last bottle before I go to bed between about 9:30-11 pm.  She takes 6 bottles in a 24 hour period at this time.  I am worried if I just try to let her skip this bottle that she will not get enough food in only 5 bottles.   :(

Just a little bit of history on her feeding...at 4 weeks old, she was diagnosed with silent reflux and placed on Zantac.  When she wasn't getting any better, we took her back in and after stopping breastfeeding and a round of formulas, she was diagnosed with milk/soy protein allergy at 7 weeks old.  She was placed on elemental formula, Elecare, and started dong better with some symptoms; however, she has always had an increased feeding time (could take up to over an hour to complete a feeding).  Her pediatric GI is about to start her on Prevacid since Zantac not working well, and she does still have some inflammation seen by biopsy related to her allergy.   :(

So, we do have a host of issues with feeding anyway; however, I feel like it is just simply that she is so asleep I can't get her to wake well enough to take the feeding before I go to bed. Do any of you have any experience with not being able to get your LO to take that feeding?  What did you do?  Thanks!

Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2014, 15:59:01 pm »
DD3 would never take any sort of df (bf though) no matter what time I tried to do it, the feeds had to be on her terms! Would she wake later for a feed do you think? How much does she take in the other feeds?
Heidi




Offline FroggyMom

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2014, 16:39:06 pm »
Yes, my DD is a very much a "I'm going to eat on my terms" baby.  I think this is due to her issues with milk/soy protein and reflux which has made it unpleasant for her to eat.  :(  Nevertheless, she normally eats between 4-5 oz at each feed (whether it takes her 15 min or over an hour to eat!).  Occasionally, I can only get her to eat 2-3.5 oz (but this is usually at the DF or other odd times).  On a bad day, we are pushing it to reach 24 oz. in a 24 hour period.  On a good day, she may eat about 27-28 oz.  So far, she is gaining weight okay and is in about the 50th percentile (at least she was at her 2 month check-up).  However, I'm concerned as she gets older and should be taking more ounces at a time that she won't.  :(

The thing about her wanting to eat on her terms is that I'm just afraid she won't take enough to grow properly if I don't get her to eat when she needs to.  :(

Offline TB9

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2014, 17:26:12 pm »
DD2 didn't do the df thing either  :(

I am assuming you have tried different nipples in her bottle?  I know some LOs with reflux prefer a variable flow nipple  :-\

Offline FroggyMom

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2014, 17:39:37 pm »
What is a variable flow nipple?  DD uses a slow flow nipple.  I tried to switch her to a fast flow, and she could not handle it.  She had increased choking/gagging/vomiting.  We also had a modified barium swallow study done, and she demonstrated a weak latch at times and delayed swallow at times.

So for those whose LO would not take a DF, what did your feeding schedule look like at 3-4 months old?

Offline TB9

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2014, 18:05:35 pm »
The variable flow nipple will have an x or y shaped cut instead of a pin hole.  The milk will come out when LO sucks, and LO controls the flow by the strength of their suck.  What type of bottle are you using?

I think DD2 was feeding about every 3.5hrs at that age.  And because she didn't take the dream feed she also had a night feed.

Offline FroggyMom

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2014, 19:36:08 pm »
Oh okay, is the variable flow nipple the same as a "cereal nipple?"  We started out using Playtex Ventaire Wideneck.  When DD was diagnosed with reflux, we were told that Dr. Brown's were the best, so we switched for awhile to those.  However, she was having trouble with lots of milk leaking out of the sides of her mouth when she drank as even the Level 1 nipple was dripping into her mouth even when she wasn't sucking.  So, we switched back to Playtex Ventaire Wideneck as she had better control of the milk leakage with that bottle.

So, how many bottles a day did DD2 take in a 24 hour period if fed every 3.5 hours during day and a night feed?  I'm trying to get an idea of a schedule to feed DD on if she won't accept the dream feed now.  Also, how many oz. per bottle should I expect at this age?

Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2014, 19:42:49 pm »
DD3 didn't have bottles until 5 months, she was ebf but we jammed 6-7 feeds in during the 12 hr day as from 4 wks to 4 months she never had nf's (lol made up for that after the 4 month gs though!). So realistically she may have only been taking in 24-28 oz. I think my older two did 6 oz bottles at that age (mix fed) and we used playtex for one and avent for the other. Vari flow on ours had a Y cut nipple. DD's 1 & 2 liked that style but not DD3 until she was much older.
Heidi




Offline Lolly

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2014, 22:07:02 pm »
My refluxers were no good at taking the dreamfeed so we just let them wake when they were hungry and fed them then. Are you trying to wake her for the feed or is it that she is too deeply asleep to feed - they are supposed to be asleep for that feed, but not all babies will suck well in their sleep.

Is she growing well, sticking to her growth curve? If she is I wouldn't worry too much about that bottle and just let her sleep, but feed if/when she wakes in the night. My DD stuck to the 91st centile like glue (and is still there!) but VERY rarely ever took over 24oz in 24 hours. It wasn't until she was about 6 months and on solids that she took decent bottles.

The vari flow/ cereal teat depends on the bottle type really. The Tommee Tippee closer to nature vari flow teat isn't for thicker milks really and it's suitable from birth whereas the Avent vari-flow is for 6 months plus and is intended for thicker milks. Dr Brown's do a Y cut teat for thickened milks but it's not a vari flow, it's a fast flow. They also work in different ways, the TT is controlled by how hard the baby sucks, the Avent has lines on the teat which you line up with the babies nose to alter the flow.

Laura


Offline FroggyMom

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #9 on: November 23, 2014, 20:32:52 pm »
Thank you all! 

Laura, I think my DD is one who just will not suck well or feed when she is asleep.  I have tried to feed her asleep, but she does not even acknowledge there is a bottle in her mouth...lol!  She is just out!  So, I did try waking her to eat, and that did not work well either.  So, I decided to try a few days of just skipping the DF and letting her wake to eat when she wanted to as you said.  I think it is going pretty well so far!

In order to skip the DF, I cut back from 6 bottles a day to 5.  I also increased from about 4-5 oz. per feeding to offering 5-6 oz. per feeding in order to make up for the dropped bottle.  I wasn't sure if DD would accept more as her reflux has made it more difficult for her to feed at times, but so far she has been eating like a champ!  Is 5-6 oz. an appropriate amount per feeding at 4 months old?  We have our 4 month check-up in a week or two, so I will see how she is growing.  But, at her 2 month check-up she had stuck to the growth curve at the 50th percentile where she was at her 1 month check-up.  She has been taking anywhere from about 24-27 oz. in 24 hours lately.

I do not really know anything about variable flow nipples.  Thank you for explaining!  Are they recommended for babies with reflux?

Offline *Kara*

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2014, 05:13:38 am »
I happen to have 2 refluxers right now who will be 4 months on Friday.. I have never attempted a DF with them to be honest.  We are on Zantac (max dose for weight) and they do have a bit of baby rice in their bottles to keep it down a bit better (currently ~ 1/4 tsp per 5 ozs.. though we are in a big growth spurt and they are downing 7-8 ozs every 4 hrs so I am adding just under 1/2 tsp to each bottle now).  And for the record, doc suggested the cereal ;)

As for nipples, I would try a stage 2 nipple (one meant for 3 months +).. some call them medium flow.. I think Playtex labels as 3-6m.  Taking a really long time to finish a feed could be simply because she is getting bored/working too hard to eat.  I wouldn't go much faster with a refluxer though!

Mine have 5 feeds/24 hrs (4 during the day, no dreamfeed, just one night feed).  They have for about a month now actually.  Total intake is typically about 26-28ozs but with this growth spurt we are upwards of 36-40ozs/24hrs!  So weird to me as DD1 maxed out at 32ozs!  Currently, both girls weigh in around 13.5 lbs.

Hope this helps you a little :)



Offline TB9

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Re: 16 week old will not wake to take feed before I go to bed
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2014, 13:50:46 pm »
DD2 hated the ventaire, she didn't like working so hard for her food!  She did much better with the playtex nurser at that age.  I discovered with the ventaires that the formula will flow for a bit, then baby has to work a bit at sucking to keep the flow going.  With the playtex nurser it was a constant flow, so it worked out better for my baby who didnt want to work, and would probably work well if baby doesn't have a great suck.

Hopefully just changing the nipple on the ventaires will work, but if not you ciuld always try the nurser.

At 4mo, dd was still clustering at night before bed, then she would sleep through until about 5am.  Because of the clustering at night she would have 6 bottles over 24hrs.  But she was top of the charts, so I imagine she needed lots of food!