refusing formula all of a sudden????

[busymomof2]

hello ladies, again. ha...my dd is almost 7 months old..she was 8lbs 8 oz at birth and is currently 17.5 lbs..she has been bottle fed since birth and started solids just after 4 months however i did take her off between 5 and 6 months as she became terrible constipated and still has trouble digesting alot of cereal..especially rice.  anyway, the past week, she has gone from about 4 bottles of 7 oz each to 1 or 2 bottles a day usually no more than 6 oz each..she has acts like she wants them then gets fussy or chews the nipple..she has not other symptoms of teething so i don't think it's that. she is however interested in solids and will eat them no problem. i have cut down her solid intake as to make her more hungary for formula, but she still will not take much of it anymore.   i feed the bottle (or try to) before solids but it makes no difference.  yesterday, she had ONE 6 oz bottle!  here is how she went today.
7am wake
745am 6 oz bottle
9am 2 tpsp fruit
945am nap
noon attempted bottle, no go
1pm attempted bottle, no go so gave 2 tbsp cereal mixed with formula
230 pm took 3 oz
4pm attempted bottle again, no go
6pm attempted bottle again, no go
630 gave 2 tbsp veggie, 2 tbsp fruit
refused bedtime bottle...

so in total she has had 9 oz. i totally realize this is not enough to hydrate her not is it enough for growth if we keep up like this??  i mentioned to doc on thursday that she was un-interested eating/formual...he said she is above and beyone her weight expectations so not to worry about it??
i have tried giving her formula in sippy cup but still not drinking it....


help? or should i just "not worry about it?""

[LŠuren]

busymomof2 just posting to let you know I have seen this, but can't reply properly right now.
DS is also started refusing all milk because he is teething, I am rubbing his gums with teething liquid before hand - DS also wants his milk but it hurts him too much.

The only sympoms I ever get are refusal of milk and hands in the mouth and off course screaming in his sleep 

[gabriels mum]

Hi

Our LO's are similar in age, and mine has ALWAYS been a terrible eater!  We are getting by on 11oz'z ish a day (today we've managed 6 so far!).  Don't know what to suggest, as I am at my wits end!

I think the only judge is their weight, so we are checking this week, but prior to this he'd not been putting on any, so not sure where to go from here!?  All I know is that you can't force them!

Sorry i can't be of help, just thought I'd say we are in a similar boat (but mine has also not eaten food today either!!)

Lou

[LŠuren]

so far today he has had a total of 6oz and I need to stop because he gets so upset after 1oz and he is refusing his food.

[gabriels mum]

This is just the same as us (and Gabe is not teething!!!!!).  Do they know how much they worry their mummies!!??? 

Callum normally sounds like a terrific eater, so it's hard for you (we always have an utter nightmare, which seems to increasingly get worse!)

Vino time!

L x

[LŠuren]

Definitely Lou!!!  I have some waiting in the fridge with pizza for later    How was your return to work?
Lx

[gabriels mum]

Hi Lauren

Actually quite good, as it is taking me away from the nightmare of focusing on his feeding all the time.  I am making myself ill.  Just dread picking him up, and finding our how much he hasn't taken (which was all bar 4 ounces all day yesterday!).

How are you coping??  It amazes me that you do sooo much (work. BW mod, and a mummy!)  you are super mum!!

L xx

[LŠuren]

busymomof2 how have you been getting on since you last posted, do you think it may be teething or a virus of some sort?  I have just managed 1oz into DS usually he take 12oz at bedtime.

hello ladies, again. ha...my dd is almost 7 months old..she was 8lbs 8 oz at birth and is currently 17.5 lbs..she has been bottle fed since birth and started solids just after 4 months however i did take her off between 5 and 6 months as she became terrible constipated and still has trouble digesting alot of cereal..especially rice.  anyway, the past week, she has gone from about 4 bottles of 7 oz each to 1 or 2 bottles a day usually no more than 6 oz each..she has acts like she wants them then gets fussy or chews the nipple..she has not other symptoms of teething so i don't think it's that. she is however interested in solids and will eat them no problem. i have cut down her solid intake as to make her more hungary for formula, but she still will not take much of it anymore.   i feed the bottle (or try to) before solids but it makes no difference.  yesterday, she had ONE 6 oz bottle!  here is how she went today.
7am wake
745am 6 oz bottle
9am 2 tpsp fruit
945am nap
noon attempted bottle, no go
1pm attempted bottle, no go so gave 2 tbsp cereal mixed with formula
230 pm took 3 oz
4pm attempted bottle again, no go
6pm attempted bottle again, no go
630 gave 2 tbsp veggie, 2 tbsp fruit
refused bedtime bottle...

so in total she has had 9 oz. i totally realize this is not enough to hydrate her not is it enough for growth if we keep up like this??  i mentioned to doc on thursday that she was un-interested eating/formual...he said she is above and beyone her weight expectations so not to worry about it??
i have tried giving her formula in sippy cup but still not drinking it....


help? or should i just "not worry about it?""

[busymomof2]

hi! thanks so much for your support calum's mom and gabriel's mom!  nice to know someone else having same problems..
things are still the same..so maybe it is teething?  she has never slept through the night at all so her being irritable throught the night is nothing new but i guess it's been a little more than normal?? (she does not get up to eat but is generally restless from 4-6am, i have tried feeding her, even months ago when she was taking great bottles but she certainly is not hungry in the night)...anyway, she does not have any teeth at all where as my son had his bottom two as he turned 5 months..so as far as i'm concerned she is really due for teeth any time now???  will wait and see i guess? maybe next time she is refusing formula i'll try rubbing orajel on first?  could the bottle bother her teeth but not a spoon???

[LŠuren]

Yes, the suction created when sucking the bottle hurts them, Calum has taken 1oz again from his bottle, 1oz under duress from his sippy and I 'hid' some milk in his readybrek.    I have left the milk in the sippy and he knows its there if he wants it.

Yesterday he only took max. 2oz at each feed, except he woke at 2130 screaming so i thought I would try him with his bottle again and he took 6oz half asleep. 

Just to clarify Calum has no teeth either, it is the fact they are pushing up through the gum and the gums harden and its sore for them. He is fine the rest of the day just feeding.

[Missy Lou]

I posted this somewhere else but I forget where.

My lo is 12 weeks old and has recently cut down on her eating also.  I see that our babies are months apart in age but I'm having the same problem.  She has been eating 4 or 4.5 ounces every 3 hours for about 10 days or so.  Then five days ago, she would only take 4 ounces maybe twice a day and the other times maybe only 2 or 2.5 ounces.  Plus at the cluster feed, she'll only take .5 or 1 ounce and maybe 2 ounces at the DF.  I thought about increasing the time between feedings to 3.5 hours.  I tried that Friday and Saturday and she wasn't acting super hungry which I expected and she still only ate 4 ounces after not eating for over 3 hours.

I thought maybe she could be teething (I know she's young for it) because she keeps chewing on her arm or hand or my shoulder and she's drooling like a crazy woman.  I tried giving her something to chew on like a teething toy but she makes a face and won't take it.  She is chewing on her pacifier a lot too.  I've felt her gums and I don't feel anything.

I make myself sick worrying about her eating habits also.  I swear - I find something to worry about every day.

[LŠuren]

mlee my HV said Calum was teething as young as 8week, my sister works in a doctors surgery and she also see mums all the time bringing in their LO's and it is teething issues. So you can't rule it out.

[Missy Lou]

I went to the doctor today and he said she wasn't teething.  I am so worried. 

She was eating 4 ounces every 3 hours for the past several weeks.  Last Wednesday, she slowly started eating less.  Sunday I fed her every 3.5 hours and she only took 4 ounces and sometimes 3.5 ounces.  Last night, she ate at 9 but only 2 ounces and then I fell asleep and missed her dreamfeed.  She didn't wake up until almost 4 and then only ate 3 ounces.  Today, she only took 2 ounces after 4 hours!  She just has no interest in eating at all and doesn't act hungry and when she does eat, it's never more than 4 ounces. 

My husband says no big deal but how normal is it for a 3 month old to last 7 hours at night and 4 ounces during the day on only 2 ounces? 
She's also a lot more irritable and sleeping weird (I have to wake her up after 2 hours to eat or she's up for 3 hours straight). 

Any other ideas what could be wrong?

[busymomof2]

hi there...as a fellow "worrier", i have to day, i think our husbands are most likely right...i would just let her be, i know how hard it is....they change sooooooooooooo much, even weekly and i bet whatever she is going through right now, she'll likely snap out of it shortly...i have a son who is 3 and as you know, an almost 7 month old daughter...i can tell you, the pair of them were like night and day as babies, my son ate so much more and slept so diffently...ALL babies are sooooo different and i think we just have to stop comparing them, even by age because they will all do things differently.  my son slept through the night at 6 weeks and was eating 10 oz bottles...my daugther does not eat much nor does she sleep through the night at 7 months...
go with your gut....if you truly think something is "wrong"....maybe investigate a little more..but keep in mind growth spurts throw babies off, teeth, mild illnesses, allergies, all sorts of things..
hang in there!

[LŠuren]

Calum is still not eating, will refuse all milk during the day then have what he needs at bed time for about 1hr  I have been offereing pureed soup and jelly, as he is still not well.

[busymomof2]

oh dear..maybe a bug or something??  brooke definitly back to normal i'm happy to say..back to 4 bottle a day of about 7 oz each...i'm thinking maybe it had to do with her vacination but she's never reacted like that before...

[LŠuren]

thats great news 

[Missy Lou]

Addison is slowly getting back to  normal but it's been over a week.  She is at times eating 4 ounces every 3 hours again.  But not always.  I'm trying to be patient.

How is Calum?  Any better?

I'm glad Brooke's back to normal.

[LŠuren]

no change to report   

[Missy Lou]

Sorry to hear that.  I wish I knew what to do.

I'm at a lost with Addison.  We had such a great routine and her little personality had changed for the better so much.  Now, she's eating crazy, not napping, fussy, crying, screaming and now, it's 8:30 at night and she still isn't asleep. 

[LŠuren]

We have progress;

His penicillan must be working for his chest infection, his his milk intake going up slowly everyday again. From struggling to get an 1oz in him, he upped it to 2.5oz then 4oz, finally he took 7oz milk and 2oz in his ready brek this morning 

 

[Missy Lou]

I am so happy to hear that.  What a HUGE difference!  No wonder you were so worried.  I'm glad he's doing better.