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

[mumtoevie]

My DD is now 16 weeks and has been having feeding issues since 14.5 weeks. She had been taking 6ozs every 4 hours so 5 bottles a day and sleeps through. Now she's all over the place. She will take 6ozs occasionally but most of the time takes between 2 to 4ozs. I took her to be weighed yesterday and she's still on track with her weight gain at the moment so I don't know whether I should be worried or not. I changed her teats but that doesn't seem to have made any difference. The other thing is that she had her 3rd lot of injections 2 days ago and seems to have been sick more the last couple of days (not after every feed though) has anyone else's LO reacted like this? as she was fine after her first 2 lots of injections.

[* Paula *]

Can you post your routine including A and S so that we can have a look?

E
A - how long
S - how long including wind down routine.

[mumtoevie]

Ok well it's generally as follows:
she wakes usually at 7 or 7:30am so
E - 7/7:30
A - 7:20/7:50
S - 8:30/9:00
She's always ready for a nap once she's been up for an hour and a half. She tends to sleep for at least 45mins (not enough) but I can quite often get 1.5 - 2 hours out of her.

She will then have a bit more A time until her next feed.

E - 11/11:30
A - don't tend to stick to rigid A times but do look for tiredness signs and put her down straightaway
S - varies as some days she's more tired than others but approx 1:30/2pm this nap varies in length depending on if we're out or home as she sleeps in her cot at home so sleeps better.

E - 3pm
A - again until shows tiredness signs
S - she will quite often want another sleep of about 1 hour from about 4:30 - 5:30

E - 7pm then straight to bed

Dreamfeed 11pm then sleeps through. If she wakes she self soothes and sends herself off again.
Wind down generally just consists of watching her musical toy while getting ready for bed and then cuddles with daddy who then gives her the 7pm feed. We don't do a nightly bath yet as she still hates them so it gets her far too worked up.

I haven't been doing anything differently recently so I'm not sure why she would go from happily taking 6ozs to being fussy. My health visitor suggested feeding her every 3 hours instead but she's not hungry enough for that. Maybe she's decided she doesn't need that much! She actually hasn't been too bad today as she's had 20ozs so far and we have one feed left.

Any advice appreciated.

[* Paula *]

Is your lo showing any signs of teething?  It is not uncommon for them to be teething at this age.

Have you tried rubbing some teething gel on your lo's gums a few minutes before a feed to see if this helps ease the discomfort?

[mumtoevie]

She might be. I'll try the gel and see.

Thanks

[* Paula *]

Keep us posted.

[wyrdweaver]

I'm getting very concerned with my LO refusing to feed for the past 10 days. He is 16 weeks old now, and would normally have 5 oz bottles every 3.5 hours. Since the last 10 days, he will only take between 20z and 4oz. And that too is a struggle. He'll drink the first 2 oz quickly and then has to be distracted with toys, etc. Other times he'll just cry and I'll stop feeding him. I'm getting very worried, and I don't know what to do. I changed his teats to medium flow, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference. His total intake is now anywhere between 19oz to 22oz which is not enough for him. He weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces. I tried the teething gel, in case that might be the problem, but there's been no improvement. I've even waited to see if he'll gave more if he's hungrier.  I hope its a developmental like mentioned on this thread. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[* Paula *]

Hello wyrdweaver,

Welcome to the BW Website.

Have you tried feeding your lo every 4 hours to see if that helps?

At this age the move over to a 4 hourly routine.

Can you post what your day currently looks like so that we can take a look?

E - How much
A - How long
S - How long

[wyrdweaver]

Thank you Paula, I was so distraught the other day I didn't even properly introduce myself. My name is Sharon and my LO is 3.5 months, Zach. Our day looks like this:

815am - wake up

E - 845am 5.5oz - 6oz (these days its more like 3-4oz)
A - 915am - 1015am
S - 1015 am - 1215pm

E - 1230pm 5oz (these days more like 3-4oz)
A - 1pm - 2pm
S - 2pm - 4pm

E - 415pm 5oz (again more like 3-4oz nowadays)
A - 445pm - 615pm
S - 615pm - 645pm (cat nap)

A - 715pm Bath/Massage/wind down
E - 730pm 6oz (again, less these days with a lot of fuss)
S - 830pm (down for the night)

DF - midnight around 4oz but these days not more than 3oz
4am wakes up for a feed but doesn't take more than 2oz, has it in his sleep and goes back down immediately.

He's been following this routine consistently for about a month and a half although over the last couple weeks his evening nap has become a cat nap. Earlier he used to take a longer nap then. Also, we've ruled out reflux and teething. He does drool and chew on his hands sometimes but the doctor said he doesnt really seem to be teething. Also DH and I both teethed very late.

I hope this is a developmental thing. He takes the first 2-3oz within 5 minutes, and then he gets so distracted. He doesnt really cry, just wants to do anything but eat. Sometimes I get someone to show him a magazine or something and he'll feed. Sometimes I give him a 10 minute break. I really don't know what to do. The last two days have been a little better though.

[wyrdweaver]

Also, regarding feeding him every four hours, I can barely get four meals into him when he's awake on the 3.5 hour schedule, so I'm a worried about delaying to four hours. Also, I tried waiting until he was more hungry to see if it made a difference but it didn't really. In fact, when he's up in the morning and he's hardly had much milk in the night, he still makes a fuss. I would have thought he'd feed better considering but no such luck:(

[* Paula *]

If he is getting distracted, have you tried feeding him in a dark quiet room, so that there is nothing else that can gt his attention, and has to concentrate on feeding?

As they get older, they get a lot more inquisitive, so they want to constantly see what is going on.

Also with regards to teething, your lo may not actually be teething, but his teeth could be moving up in his gums and this may cause him some discomfort.

Hugs I know how hard it can be when they are not feeding as much as normal.  Things will get better soon, I promise.

Also at around the 4 month mark there is a big growth spurt, so he may start taking more soon.

[wyrdweaver]

Thanks Paula, I tried feeding him in a darkened room and he did much better. I don't know if he's just getting over whatever it was that was causing him to not eat, or if blocking out distractions helped. I will continue doing it and see how it goes. This forum has so much information, its wonderful. He's also got sleep issues, so will be posting in the sleep forum soon.

Sharon

[* Paula *]

Great news that the feed went better.  They do get so nosey when they get older 

This website is fantastic , I joined when my DS was about 6months old and have become so addited.

Pop over to the Sleep boards, you will get some fantastic advice.

[wyrdweaver]

Just wanted to say he's back to feeding well. Don't know if he's hit the 4 month growth spurt. His sleep pattern is all over the place though... Sigh, if its not one thing its the other...

[* Paula *]

Fantastic news Sharon.  Keep us posted.