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

[Lippy Chick]

We've decided not to give Alice the gaviscon at all, because we're just not sure she needs it.  Also as a result of preparing to give her the gaviscon she is now not taking the colief either.  Today has been a bit more difficult, but then it's Sunday and we've been to church in the morning and that's always a challenge as it's very stimulating in the baby creche. Then we had a friend back (who is going to be her godmother) for lunch, then did a video conference with her grandparents.  By the evening feeds she was just not coping with being awake.  So fed her as much as we could get into her and put her to bed.  So we'll see how she sleeps tonight.  She has taken slightly less overall today.  I think the lesson is that we can't do a great deal on a Sunday after church and keep things relatively calm for her.

We'll see how we get on tomorrow, hopefully things will be improved.

On a positive note, she is now going to sleep on her own without any help from us.  I put her in her cot, swaddle her, give her the dummy (which she smiles at), close her curtains, kiss her forehead and say "see you when you wake up" and leave the room.  She can go over first time, but I do have to go back a few minutes later, re-swaddle and put the dummy back and by the time I'm walking out the room she's nearly asleep.  Not quite sure how that has happened.  However, I do have my friend's words of wisdom ringing in my ears, that everything is a phase, good and bad.

Hoping you've all had better weekends.

[grahamsmama]

We DF but usually she doesn't take much.  But everytime I plan to drop it the next day that night she'll take a full feed!
Right now it's turning into more of a chance to top her off before I go to bed, maybe 9 or 9:30 at night.

[Lippy Chick]

We had an interesting day.  I think yesterday was just because she was overstimulated.  She seems to take less in her second and third feed if she hasn't pooed.  Her second feed she took 125mls and then pooed in the middle of the next feed and took 185mls in about 30 mins.  Unfortunately we have ordered the liners for the playtex bottles (you can't buy them in the shops in the UK only on the internet) and we have one left for tomorrow, the liners haven't arrived yet!!!!!  So tomorrow we have to use the tommee tippee bottles again.  Which will be interesting to see if it makes a difference to how she feeds.  Apparently there's a postal strike going on in certain parts of the UK, so not sure when we'll see those liners.

Also bizarrely, today I thought I would try re-swaddling her and putting the dummy back in when she woke up after 45 mins.  The first nap she slept for an extra 10 mins, the second nap I forgot (doh!!), the third nap, she went back to sleep and I had to wake her for her feed an hour later.  She then fed nearly 4 hours after the previous feed.  So I'm going to try it again tomorrow and see how we go.  It would be really great if I didn't have to go in after 45 mins, but if she goes back to sleep with such minimal effort, then fabby.

Anyway, off to bed.  How are the rest of you getting on with your feeding/non-feeding wee ones?

[grahamsmama]

We took Meghan to her 4 month appointment today.  Her weight is down to the 75th%tile from the 90th, but she is still quite big (15 lb, 6.5 oz).  The nurse practitioner said to start giving her cereal for breakfast and dinner and to mix it with formula to try to get her enough.  She's taking about 24-26 oz a day now.  They said 28-32 oz was "normal."  But, she's taking about another ounce with the two cereal feedings, at least today she did. I did buy new bottles to try, but with the fast flow nipple and she refused it.  So, I'm going to go get the slower flow nipple tomorrow and try that.  I have spent so much money on bottles!!! 
Fortunately, her sleeping is ok.  She will do a long nap once a day and fill in the rest of the day with catnaps, probably because we're out and about so much with her siblings.  All in all, she's happy and healthy, thank goodness!

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

DS has been on and off with the feedings.  He will be fussy for at least 2 of them, but seems to make up for it at other feeds (thankfully). 

Pauline - sorry to hear your liners haven't arrived!!  At least you have a back up and hopefully Alice won't have too much of a problem going back to the other bottles for a short time. 

Lyn - I have ds's 4 month appointment today.  Should be interesting to see how much he weighs!!  At least you know Meghan is healthy :-)

[Lippy Chick]

Lyn, glad the 4 monthly check went well.  Interesting they're recommending you start her on solids.  Interested to know how that goes for you.  I wouldn't worry too much about Meghan going from the 90th to the 75th, my health visitor said that they can drop one centile range and it's nothing to be concerned about.  Alice was born on the 50th and is now just below the 25th, but that seems to be where she is stabilising. At 4 months (18 weeks) Alice was 13lbs 1oz, so Meghan is going really well.  Which bottles did you buy?  That's interesting that she didn't like the fast flow, I was waiting for Alice to choke on them and she didn't at all.  Glad she's doing well though.

Anne, hope the appointment went well today for you.

The liners arrived today!!!  Hurrah!!  We gave her first feed today with the tommee tippee, because she takes that one no problems, then the next was playtex, then the liners arrived, so have been able to make up the rest of the day's bottles with the playtex ones.  We've managed to do a 4 hourly routine today and she actually seems hungry.  The 2nd bottle she took 165 mls (6oz) before she pooed and she took it in about 30 mins!!  So we'll see how she goes later.  I've managed to get her back to sleep both sleeps today, first one took 50 mins, the second she went right back to sleep, all I did was put the dummy back in.

Must go and wake her for her feed.

[grahamsmama]

Well, we tried the playtex Ventaire bottles because that's what my other two liked (I hated these because of all the parts so that's why I didn't try them with Meghan).  She took the first bottle wonderfully.  I thought "ah hah, we've figured it out!"  LOL  But after that bottle, she will only take her usual couple of ounces.  So, I'm going back to the ones she liked before.  The store I was at didn't have the Playtex drop ins, but I think I"m not going to go searching for them because it jjust doesn't seem to be a bottle thing.
I did give her a sippy cup yesterday and she was totally excited about that! 
She's taking a few little spoon of cereal in the morning and evening.  She does pretty well with these.  She's sleeping really well and still seems to be taking about 24-25 ounces of formula.  So, I think she's doing ok.  She is definitely stretching her feed times, though.  I don't want her to drop a feed, but she seems to want to eat every four hours.  So, that's what I'm doing, with the solids an hour after the first bottle and around dinnertime. 

[grahamsmama]

Today was so weird.  I've switched Meghan to a 4 hour EASY and she's doing beautifully waiting that long to eat and napping well.  But she doesn't really seem hungry after 4 hours.  I fed her at 7, did her solids at 8ish and then offered her a bottle when she woke up from her nap around 12.  She took 1.5 ounces.  I waited another hour and she took 1.5 ounces again.  She wasn't in pain or anything, just didn't want it. 
Oh well, at least she seems happy! The next bottle was around 3:30 and she took 6 ounces because she was in the carrier and drowsy and I was walking her around.  The next two bottles, she took 3-4 ounces and then she wolfed down her cereal at dinner.  She does seem to love her sippy cup and her solids, I wonder if she's holding out for them because she doesn't like the bottle as well. 

[Lippy Chick]

Hi Lyn,

Sorry haven't been on in a while, we've had visitors staying and well you know that it takes a few days to get sorted before they come too.  That's interesting that Meghan seems to want anything other than the bottle.  I guess if she's eating and drinking other stuff and is still taking formula and is sleeping through the night etc then it's probably OK.  We can be very neurotic to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to at exactly the right time.

Alice is feeding fine now, is taking her four feeds a day at four hourly intervals and is still sleeping through the night.  Still needs help sleeping longer than 45 mins during the day, I think we're going to try to get her through those jolts next weekend, as it's a bank holiday here in the UK next Monday, we can do it over three days and share it out. We'll see how that goes.  We see the health visitor to be weighed on Friday, so we'll see if her gain has remained steady.  I've also found that when Alice hasn't pooed, she tends to take less in those feeds and then takes more in the feeds post poo.  Don't know if Meghan is the same.

By the by, what a gorgeous picture of your children.

[Lisel]

Hi all!
My LO is the same as everyone elses. Just doesn't seem to want to eat. Except for me it starts with his very first feed of the day. I don't know what to do. If I wait until he actually wants to eat he will be so off schedule for the rest of the day. I DF at 11 pm. He would usually sleep until 5 or 6 sometimes 7, now he's not sleeping as long, but if I feed him, he won't eat at 7 for sure. I set my alarm for 3 am yesterday to feed him. It seemed to help a bit, but how long do I keep doing that for? Should I even bother?

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

lisel - how old is your lo?

[grahamsmama]

I'm so sorry- I thought I responded here a while ago.  I know I typed the post, but I must not have actually posted it.  Duh!
Pauline- I am so glad you posted about the Drop In bottles.  I went to another store and found them and Meghan loves them.  And she will take a fast flow nipple on it with no trouble!  She hasn't increased the amount she's eating, but she is taking it faster.  I tried weaning the Zantac and she's been fussy while eating again, so we're doing that again.  Really, things are about the same, but I'm a lot less stressed about it all. 
Lisel- Meghan is sometimes hard to feed at 7am too.  It does kind of throw off the whole schedule.  When will he want to eat if you just wait?  Is it consistent?  Some babies are just slow starters in the morning.  How often are you feeding him?

[Lisel]

Well, my LO is 4 months old on the 29th. He'll eat maybe 2-3 ounces at 7. If I let him wait I'm not sure when he would want to eat. Maybe 9 am. I was trying to move him to a four hour schedule, but since he won't eat first thing in the morning I have to keep him on a 3 hour schedule otherwise he won't make it the 4 hours. And because he's not eating enough during the day, I think that it is affecting his night time sleep. He keeps waking up at around 4 instead of 5 or 6 like he used to. Plus he's a 45 min catnapper. So a 4 hour schedule makes the day even harder. I'm not sure what to do with him!!!

[grahamsmama]

I can't put Meghan on a "true" four hour schedule yet either.  She doesn't want to eat first thing in the morning and she goes to bed too early at night.  If it were me, I would try just waiting it out a bit in the morning, maybe 8 or so and see what he does.  It's ok to have some activity time before the eating time, just try to feed him early enough that he doesn't fall asleep for his nap while feeding.  You may have a hard time doing an acutual EASY like this because, like you said your schedule for the whole day will be off.  But it's ok to do a AEASY schedule and as he gets closer and closer to the 4 hour routine, you start solids, and his naps start to lengthen it will probably correct itself. You can switch him to a 3.25 hour or 3.5 hour schedule first and see how that goes, you don't have to go straight to the 4 hour.  I say cut yourself some slack and just follow his cues.  Don't worry, this will all work itself out!
I leave a lot of flexibility in our schedule so that she can really be hungry when I feed her.  Even with that, I do think she's pretty predictable.   Our routine is something like this (on a good day  ):
6:30 wake up
Between 7 and 7:30 bottle (usually the smallest bottle of the day)
7:30 cereal
9ish- nap (anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours)
11 or 11:30 bottle
1-3 nap
Between 3 and 4 bottle
4:30/5 cereal
6:30 bottle
6:45/7 bedtime
9:30 DF
HTH!

[Lisel]

It would be a little better if he would at least sleep for more than 45 minutes. Otherwise I will end up having to feed him to sleep at least once. But I just read the "obsessed" post and I know I need to just go with the flow a little more and not stress so much and just enjoy this time with him.