Drinking less since move to 4 EASY?

[Wiki]

Hi there,

I moved my 20 week old to 4 EASY three days ago, following some advice on the sleep forum to help with his night wakings/early wakings. I have also reinstated the dream feed as of last night to help with this.

My question is, my son seems to be LESS interested in some of his bottles now than he was when we were on 3 EASY. Can it take his body clock a while to get used to the new feed times?

For example today we had:

(10.45pm - DF 7.5oz)
6am - wake - yay better than 5am before now
7am - offered bottle, would only take 6oz by 7.30am
A
8.40-9.15am nap (he seems to be doing a 30 min nap at this time on his own recently)
A
10.15-10.45 napped in car (we happened to be out today)
11am feed 7oz
A
2.15-3pm nap at friends house
3.30pm feed, 6.5oz
A
Bath, bottle (9oz), bed at 7pm

Its been hot today so not sure if that's been bothering him, but I thought he'd want more?
He drinks/opens mouth for a while, then turns his head away, sometimes fussing, sometimes seemingly full.
I wind him and keep trying every 10 mins for a while, then give up if he seems OK.

Could it be teeth/hurting him to drink?
Need a faster teat (tried fast flow a few weeks ago, he got lots of wind/too fast for him)?
Just not ready to eat at the new times now on 4EASY yet? Doesn't explain 7am though?

Yesterday before the DF, he woke at 3am for 7oz, and had the same at 7am, so he was fine to eat then?

Anyone got any ideas?

Vic

[LŠuren]

Vic
Here are a few ideas;

I can see from another post you have tried a faster flow teat and it didn't go well, if you find it is still too fast - put another small pin prick next to the existing hole and try your Lo with that.

Also try and give him a 5 - 10 min break between feeding and try again.

Is your LO teething?
If he is teething he may pull off after a few oz's this is because the suction created from sucking on the bottle really hurts their little mouths. A tip would be to rub his gums with teething gel BEFORE you go to feed him.
Does your LO display any of the following symptoms;
* restlessness, irritability and disturbed sleep patterns
* sore, red gums
* flushed cheeks
* loss of appetite
* a slight rise in temperature (but not above 39oC, which indicates a fever)
* dribbling (which may cause a rash or sore, chapped skin on the chin)
* a sudden desire to chew anything they can lay their hands on!
* an urge to bite. This should not be perceived as a sign of aggression or anger, more of a means to ease the pain.
http://www.teething-babies.co.uk/easing-teething/index.html


Does he ever let you know when he is hungry throughout the day? Or do you feed on the 4hr mark?  I personally have to feed Calum every 4.5hours with a fast teat or he isn't at optimum hungriness.


Lauren

[Wiki]

Hi Lauren,

Well, he had 5oz at 11pm and 5 oz at 4am today, so that made up for the 10oz he didn't drink yesterday...
Unfortunately he's been up since 3.30am today and so have I...

Does your LO display any of the following symptoms;

* restlessness, irritability and disturbed sleep patterns - yes, I think so

* sore, red gums - don't look redder than normal

* flushed cheeks - no

* loss of appetite - yes

* a slight rise in temperature (but not above 39oC, which indicates a fever) - TBH, I've never taken his temp, I don't even know what his normal range is. Maybe I should do that as a benchmark...

* dribbling (which may cause a rash or sore, chapped skin on the chin) - yes, not lots though

* a sudden desire to chew anything they can lay their hands on! - well, he does this anyway, but he has been trying to get his whole hand (3-4 fingers) in his mouth

* an urge to bite. This should not be perceived as a sign of aggression or anger, more of a means to ease the pain. - he did bite down on my fingers yesterday, normally he won't suck on them at all, prefers his own hand

I've always tended to feed him at the 3 and now 4 hour mark. Right now its been 4.5 hours since he fed at 4am, and he is whinging, but not crying crying...I guess I should try anyway as we'll get off track otherwise. If he pulls off, I might try the teething gel, wait 10 mins and try again.

[HeatherC]

Just a quick note about his short naps:  Have you tried putting him down sooner for the first nap?  At his age, you might want to aim for him being in his crib by the 2 hr mark if not sooner.  If he is able to able to get a longer morning nap his other naps might improve as well.

[Wiki]

Hi Heather, his naps were a little better yesterday. Because he is getting up so early (5.30am) I've only been letting him sleep 30-40 mins first thing, so it doesn't cut into his night sleep (as per the sleep forum). Yesterday he did have a 1.5 hour nap later in the morning, so that was better...

Yesterday he had 6oz, 7oz, 4oz during the day, then 10oz at bedtime and 8oz at 2am.
Hopefully once he adjusts he will take more milk in the day, he did have 9oz this morning at 7.30am
Its so weird to see him drink much less per feed than usual, but still be totally happy and smiley!