frustrated with feeding - me not lo

[clare076]

Sorry but I am here to vent really.

I am getting so frustrated with my LO and her feeding. I have had to  just put her on the bed and walk away as I am pulling my hair out!!

I wake her up at 7am to start the day, and offer her a bottle which she will not drink regardless of the time of her last feed. This morning I gave her a bottle at 4.45am - she took about 5 oz. At 7am she refused her bottle, pushing it out with her tongue, eventually taking 2.5oz at 8.30. She then took a 7oz bottle at 11am, then again at 2.30. I have just tried to offer her a bottle 3 hours after the last one and it was a battle to get her to drink 4 oz.

Somedays, if she sleeps through the night, she may go nearly 14hours without anything to drink.

Should I just offer her a bottle every 4 hours and on demand rather than 3 hourly? Is there a way to encourage her to drink her morning bottle?

Clare

[15milner]

Hi Clare

 I have no experience of bottle feeding, but could you let us know how old you lo is - it might help others to help you work out timings / amounts etc.

Alex

[Ennypen]

I agree with Alex we do need to know your LOs age really to be able to advise properly.

However just my impression.. but your LO is not wanting that first bottle at 7am so I think you need to make it later. If you think about it she has a bottle at almost 5am and then does nothing but sleep until 7am when you are offering her another - when she is sleeping she is not burning off the calories so will probably not need any more milk when she wakes up.

Throughout William's life so far he has "decided" his feeding routine. He soon let me know when he did or didnt want a bottle. I basically fed him when he let me know he was hungry and didnt worry too much if he refused a bottle - unless he refused two or three bottles in a row or became dehydrated.

If I were you Id go with the flow a bit and see when your LO does want that first bottle after she gets up in the morning and start to offer it to her then. Maybe she does need to go to 4 hourly feeds - William did at about 4- 5 months of age. Most of all don't panic if she doesnt want to drink much - as long as she is not refusing several bottles a day, is putting on weight steadily and is not becoming dehydrated relax and go with what she is telling you. Also - if you feel tense when you are feeding her a bottle - she will pick up on your tension and it will unsettle her and will likely cause her to drink less readily.

You are doing well - Take care!

Helen xx

[clare076]

Hi
Shelby is 14 weeks old tomorrow. The only reason I give her the bottle at 7am is because I thought on EASY you should offer a feed at the start of the day regardless of the time of the last bottle. Our routine starts at 7am. Have I got this wrong?

[Lªuren]

Hi Clare, I understand your frustrations - I still get this  .

You are right about the routine starting at 7am, but the others are also right in saying at she is refusing her 7am feed because of the 5oz 5am feed. DS wakes at 7am every morning and I leave of feeding him until 0730, to give him a chance to wake up and stretch (I can also fit my coffee in here  ). I have heard of others doing this as well.

At this age DS was waking twice in the night for feeds at roughly 2 and 5am. I was only giving him no more than 3 oz at each feed. Then when he went to just one feed at approx. 4am I still left it a 3oz max.

I am sure I have read somewhere if she takes a full feed at 5am then the 7am feed is a top-up feed, then you start as normal again in 3 or 4 hours.

Are you on a 3 or 4 hr EASY? DS was REALLY playing with his bottles at 14weeks and it was very frustrating, I followed him for a day or 2 and saw he was pushing himself to 4hr EASY. I was trying to feed him when he was not hungry, he dropped a night feed soon after.

EASY is a guideline, we usually do EASA throughout the day.

[clare076]

Well looking at it now I think she may be pushing for a 4 hour EASY. She started regular night wakings 2 weeks ago and I have invreased her awake time but not her feeds.
Today she woke at 3.30 and took 3.5oz, then at 7.00 I offered the bottle she took 3.5 oz. By 10.30 she was drinking a 7oz and again at 2.30. I will be trying to leave her until 6.30 and offer her bed time bottle then. Up until 2 days ago she was taking 7 bottles a day including d/f of 5-6oz so I am one confused mother. She seems happy and is sleeping well, with only 1 night waking. I think I might only offer her 3 oz during the night to encourage a bigger intake during the day

Thanks for your help
Clare