I'm going insane with 3.5-mo hardly eating, HELP!

[grahamsmama]

This gives me a lot of hope.  We've been dealing with this for about a week and a half.  So, maybe it will start getting better soon!

[Lippy Chick]

The beginning of the day has been much better and this last feed, she's not taken much, not wanted it and been quite grizzly.  So we're hoping that tomorrow will be better and it might take a few days for her to be OK again.  We think it might be linked to her sleep too and when she's really tired she just can't be bothered.  So not quite out of the woods yet.

[lauri]

Thanks all, it seems this is a phase...sorry I havent replied earlier, I am on holiday where the internet is slow as a snail, so have been avoiding having to logg on..

We are doing slightly better as well, but still not superb, guess we have to ride it out! Glad to read I am not alone, haha!

Laura

[* Paula *]

Pauline,

I am pleased that she has done better today.  Did you try the comfort or did you stick with your original formula?

[Lippy Chick]

She didn't take a great deal as the day went on yesterday.  She woke slightly earlier today and has taken an OK amount so far.  We changed the formula today to Comfort.  She doesn't seem to mind that it's a different flavour and smells disgusting.  So we'll see how that goes.  She does seem to be taking it slightly slower than the Farleys and she hardly makes any noise whilst eating it.  Also it's interesting, but when I shake the bottle up to mix the formula there are barely any bubbles at the top, whereas with the Farleys the rest of the bottle was taken up with bubbles.  Don't know if this make a difference.  She has seemed calmer again today, but seems to become more grizzly as the day goes on.  We'll see how it goes.  We have also bought a training cup, called a Doidy cup.  I think they're only registered in the UK.  They are an open rimmed cup which is slanted so the baby can see inside.  I guess if you google Doidy cup it'll show you what I mean.  Apparently they're really good to use instead of spouts or teats because of tooth decay and mouth development etc.  The Health Visitor suggested it.  Haven't tried it yet.  Don't want to introduce to many new things all at once.  We're still trying to work out what type of baby she is.  We've been convinced she's an angel, then touchy, but the fact she didn't mind the change in formula would suggest differently.  So we think she is an angel but maybe spirited too.

Will let you know how we get on with the comfort formula.

Thanks for asking.

[lauri]

Well, we seem to be doing better since  2 days, could also be that she's settled into the new environment (we are on holiday in the mountains, completely different environment than the city one she is used to), in any case, I have noticed an improvement since 2 days now, hopefully we are back on track! After reading some more postings on this subject, I have also turned the eating time into something she (I think...) recognizes: I tell her its time to eat and show her the bib which I then tie around her neck and then show her the bottle and slowly put it on her lips: when she doesnt want anymore, usually after the 80-100 mark, I take of the bib, put away the bottle, burp her and do a change of scenery - I now always feed her in her room, otherwise she's way to disctracted - then after about 10/ 15 minutes, I pick her up again, take her to her room and we repeat the bib/bottle ritual, and since 2 days she usually finishes the entire bottle...I'm keeping my fingers crossed, also, no more nigh-feeds. She still wakes up around 5 but I read in BW book that most babies wake between 4 and 6 am and then fall asleep again, so this is normal I guess. My pedeatrician also said I could give her 1 spoon of cereal in her 7PM bottle, which I tried the other day and was amazed when she finished the entire bottle in about 10 minutes, no stopping. I tasted it, and it does taste better than the regular milk. Ahh, this reminds me: I also changed formula as she seemed not to be interested in the one we had before, so I changed and she drinks more.

Strange little beings! It just seems how sometimes you need to take 1 step back to advance 2...or the opposite sometimes rings true as well.

Laura

[* Paula *]

Pauline, you say she gets grizzly as the day goes on, do you think she may be starting to teeth?  My DS's gums would always bother him more in the late afternoon, early evening than they did in the beginning of the day.  If you think she is teething, may be worth trying some teething gel a few minutes before a feed to see how she goes.

Also let us know how you get on with the Doidy cup.

Laura I am pleased that you have found a routine that is working for you and your lo.

[Lippy Chick]

You are not the first to suggest she might be teething.  In fact quite a few people have.  The Health Visitor said she thought she saw her doing a wee movement with her lips which can sometimes indicate teething.  Do we have to go this every time a tooth comes through!!! ;-}  I may well get some tomorrow.  Today at one point she was lying on her changing mat, quite happy, then put her fist in her mouth and immediately starting crying hard.  It's so unlike her.  I guess only time will tell if she is teething.

If she is, I hope this tooth comes through soon, for all our sanity.

Thanks again.

[* Paula *]

It definitely does sound like she is teething.  It may not be that the tooth is ready to cut through, but it is still very painful for them when the teeth start moving up in the gums.

Unfortunatley teeth are not very nice, and some teeth will affect them worse than others.  My DS seemed to be really bothered by most of his 

Give the teething gel a try if she seems fussy, then give it a few minutes and offer her the bottle and see how she does.

Keep us posted.

[Lippy Chick]

Paula, I got the teething gel (dentinox, probably a UK equivalent to something else in the US) and as soon as I put my finger on her gums she started to cry.  Then cried for about 5 mins afterwards.  Let her settle down, tried to give her some milk, she just cried even as I lifted the bottle.  So I figured that I'd put her to bed as she looked really tired and was falling alseep.  She settled down, so I tried her again and she took 50mls and fell asleep.  Put her to bed and she woke up, so I brought her back downstairs and fed her again and she seemed happier to take the bottle this time and in total took 120mls.  I changed her nappy and put her straight to bed.  I can't feel any wee lumps and her gums are a nice light pinky colour.  So I just don't know.  She's doing what she did last week and it is a struggle to get the food into her again.  I think I'll try giving her the gel 15 mins before the feed next time and see if it makes a difference.  Again, could be this ride it out developmental thing. 

Thanks for your support, from half way across the world.

[grahamsmama]

Most of the teething gels are made with benzocaine, which works best when it's applied to broken skin (like once the tooth starts breaking through).  So, if the teething gel doesn't work for her, you could try some Tylenol before a feed and see if that helps.  Also, letting them chew on cold teethers and washcloths can help. 

I thought Meghan was getting better but now it looks like we're still stuck in the same old pattern, just taking a few ounces.  She seems happy though.  But she hasn't started to wake more at night, unfortunately. 

[Lippy Chick]

I'm not sure we have tylenol in the UK.  The last two feeds were better.  I put the gel on her gums about 10 mins before 4th feed and she seemed happier to suck and chomp on my finger.  Then she took 70 mls!!  I waited about 5 mins, she took some more.  Then I tried to give her some more about 25 mins into the feed and she cried. So I put more gel on her gums and she settled again.  In total she took 170mls at that feed and was much calmer.  Went straight to sleep with the dummy in (didn't cry when I put the dummy in her mouth either). Last feed. We bathed her first.  Put gel on her gums.  She took the first 60mls, then stopped.  Put more gel on her gums and she ended up taking 130mls.  She was grizzly, but she was tired too.  So the last two feeds were 300mls in total, last night was 220 and the night before 180mls.  So, don't know whether we have an answer, we'll see how tomorrow goes.

We want her to take more in so that she doesn't wake at night.  We don't want her to get into that habit.  So far, so good.

[Lippy Chick]

I feel like we've gone backwards today.  She's taken less today again and just screams every time the bottle comes anywhere near her mouth.  Unfortunately my HV isn't working until Thursday, so will have to wait until then to speak to her.  We'll see how she goes the next couple of days.  Might end up taking her to the GP again, although I doubt he'll be able to help.

I gave her some water from the doidy cup yesterday.  She took to it quite well, seemed to enjoy it even.  Not sure how much she got, I guess that doesn't matter, she'll get the hang of it eventually.

[grahamsmama]

I'm glad the gel seems to be working Pauline!  Is a doidy cup a training/sippy cup? 
Meghan only took 23 ounces yesterday (I think that's somewhere in the 690ml range), which for a baby her size isn't too much I don't think.  She's about 15.5 pounds.  But she slept through the night!  So, maybe she just doesn't need so much food.  I am trying to just follow her lead, but it's hard to not obsess when her intake seems to be plummetting!

[Lippy Chick]

We changed Alice's formula a couple of days ago, on the recommendation of the Health Visitor.  She has started pooing later in the day now and they have got a bit darker (she did say there would be a change for a few days). I noticed when looking through my records, that she is taking less in the mornings now, but when she poos takes larger amounts afterwards.  So not sure what to think about that.  We have re-read the stuff in BW about reflux and think it could be that now too.  She is sick with every feed and sometimes quite a while afterwards, which looks cottage-cheesey.  Her vomit has started to smell quite a bit too, recently.  The HV suggested it could be reflux, I have been suspecting it since she was born really and keep coming back to it.  I just did a search on google and apparently although things seem to settle down for a while, it can flare up again as their wee tummies are immature.  Might have a chat with the HV this week about it. 

If you google doidy cup, I guess it'll show you what I mean.  They're open rimmed and slanty, so the baby can see what's in it.  She drank quite well from it again today, so might try putting a bit of formula in it tomorrow to see how we go.  A lot of it does end up down her front, but I think she drank more than was on her bib.  She is funny taking it, she lurches forward when it comes near her mouth and she kind of laps it than drinks it.

I know what you mean about her not taking as much in, Alice isn't either.  I also understand your need to get good quantities in to her as she used to do.  Alice is also sleeping through still.  I think she might come out of this when her next growth spurt hits and she decides she wants to eat again. 

Being a mum is hard, especially when something changes for what seems like no reason and is quite distressing.

Do keep me informed though about how Meghan is doing.