5-month-old not eating much during the day [SOLVED]

[J-Dad]

(Edit 5/09/2018: You can read about our solution here)

Hi, all!

This is my first post on here but my wife and I are very grateful to have found this forum. The info on here in addition to Tracy's book has been wonderful for us and our daughter.

The back story: We never really did a proper E.A.S.Y. routine with our daughter but did try to stick to a routine. That routine, however, always involved feeding to sleep (nursing at night with my wife, bottle-feeding pumped milk with me during the day). Honestly, our LO was a pretty good sleeper, sleeping through the night by about 3 months. Naps were never great and never over 45 minutes, but we were surviving. Then the 4-month sleep regression hit. Our daughter would drink almost an entire bottle of milk (6oz) and still not go down for a nap. Worse, she started waking to feed almost every hour at night (though usually sleeping for about a 4-hour stretch from 4:30am-8:30am).

The good news: Well, since our daughter is now old enough for P.U./P.D. we decided to give E.A.S.Y. a proper shot and so far we've had great results! She  slept through the night the very first night and (almost) did again last night. It's amazing! Naps are still iffy, but at least I don't have to worry about running out of milk if she doesn't go down quickly.

The problem: Whereas previously I had to ration the 12oz of milk my wife had pumped, now my daughter seems uninterested in eating during the day. She gets up at 8:30, and so has had two proper feeds so far, plus a snack (since she ate so little at her first feed). She's only finished about 5oz.

Any thoughts on why this change may have taken place?

Here's what last night looked like:

8:30 - Put in crib. Did pu/pd until...
~9:45 - Asleep
2:30 - Awake. Fed and did brief pu/pd
5:30 - Mom woke her to feed her, then put her back in the crib fully awake, but she went back to sleep on her own. 
8:30 - Woke up and drank ~1.5oz
9:30 - Tried again to get her to eat. Drank maybe another 1.5oz
10:30 - PU/PD to nap (took about 10 min  )
11:21 - Awake.    PU/PD from then until 12:30- scheduled end of nap. No more sleep.     )
12:30 - Feed. She ate about 2oz.

I know we've deviated from the traditional schedule a bit, but the morning feed is something we've done ever since my wife went back to work and has, so far, worked well. Our daughter sleeps well in the morning, generally, and yet has still been happy to drink lots and lots of milk by the time she's ready for her first nap.

I know this is a lot of information, but I appreciate anyone who has taken the time to wade through it and can offer any insights on why my daughter is eating so little during the day. (I should add that, while not exact, yesterday's schedule and feeding went much the same.)

Thank you!

-J-Dad

[Lolly]

Hello and welcome! Let's see if we can help...!

There could be a number of reasons for not eating, the first being at 4 months most babies are moving to a 4 hour EASY, so I would try moving your feeds further apart. She may not make 4 hours at first, but you can move to 3.5 hours first then work to 4 hours.

After that 2.30am feed I would let her sleep as long as possible then start your day when she wakes rather than waking her for that 5.30am feed. At 8.30am she probably just wasn't hungry enough to feed properly so she's had a little snack then and again an hour later. If she's fed when she wakes in the night and then when she wakes for the day she would most likely take a proper feed.

If the lack of eating has only been for a couple of days it could be teething related, some babies do start feeling their teeth around this age. There is a growth spurt around 4 months too, some do seem to feed less for a few days rather than the traditional feeding more.

The other issue could be that the bottle teat could be too slow for her now if you haven't changed it. The only issue is that is she is still breastfeeding a faster teat isn't recommended as it can lead to a bottle preference as it's easier!

I would try pushing the feeds to 3.5 hours first though and not wake her to feed at 5.30am and see if that makes a difference first.

Laura

[J-Dad]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply, Laura!

We are aiming for a 4-hour EASY, though it's true, the 5:30 feed doesn't make it appear that way. Honestly, it's not the distance between feeds that worries me nearly as much as the time between naps. She's usually rubbing her eyes 20-minutes before it's time to put her down (but I guess that's a story for another section of the forum).

Yes, teething could be an issue. Our little girl just turned 5 months, and the doctor noticed her bottom incisors at her 4-month checkup. They're pretty well poking out now, but who knows what the top ones are up to? (Also, why are baby teeth so SHARP??)

I think we'll forgo the 5:30 feed and see what time she wakes up. I'll try to update tomorrow.

Again, thanks!

[J-Dad]

Didn't want to abandon my own thread so I'm checking back in.

My wife and I talked about getting rid of the 5:30 feeding, but ultimately decided not to for a few reasons. Nonetheless, our daughter has started eating more during the day. I think she was mostly just getting used to eating when she's wide awake rather than when she's drowsy. She seems to be getting the hang of it.

Thank you for the help!

[Lolly]

Fair enough, you need to do what suits you as a family!

Glad to hear things are improving and thanks for the update. You know where we ae if you have any further questions!

Laura

[J-Dad]

Well, I think we've solved the problem!

We've been consistently using the slow flow nipples but as DD's bottle rejection continued I decided to try out a medium nipple. It worked! DD is now taking a bottle from me as well as either grandma and doing so with no complaints at all. It also doesn't seem to have affected her nursing one iota. She'd still definitely rather have the breast, but now she's finishing off everything that's been pumped every day. In fact, the only problem now seems to be whether Mamma can pump enough to keep up!

Now if we can just get the sleep thing worked out...