baby not feeding

[thedrap]

hi first time here. but very distressed. baby 13 weeks - bf but now sucking a little and then screaming sucking screaming - he has always been spirited but has put on weight - however last 2 weeks he only put on 2 ozs

[SpacePuppy]

Has anything changed? Has he always been like this or is is something that came on suddenly? Its hard to give advice if you can't see what could be the problem. I would think that if he normally has a good feed and this has come on suddenly it could possibly be an ear infection. Usually teething starts at about 6 months, however, teething is hereditary so he is likely to teeth at the ages when you or dh teethed as babies.

Sorry I can't really help, but if anything else maybe this will bump your thread and bring someone else around that knows more.

[rubyshoes]

I'm not an expert but with my middle baby he got very lazy when I introduced expressed milk in a bottle. He decided he didn't want to work for it, bottle feeding is less effort for them compaired to breast, not sure if this is relevent to you ?

[Brangelina]

My DD used to do this but when she was around 8-10 weeks. Burping her used to help sometimes, but then went back to being fussy at the next feed. It lasted for about 2 weeks then she stopped doing it, so maybe it was just a phase. Could he have wind or have you changed something in your diet recently? (some babies can be fussy about certain flavours in the milk).

Is he otherwise healthy? If so I wouldn't worry about the weight gain as they do plateau sometimes. The important thing is that he doesn't lose weight.

[SenoraPostrophe]

does he do this at every feed? all of mine went through phases of screaming at some feeds. I coped by feeding earlier and/or calming them with a dummy before putting them back on. But all feeds might suggest an illness (a cold? reflux?)

[SenoraPostrophe]

ps the 2oz in 2 weeks thing is probably nothing - could have been a full nappy at one weigh in and an empty one the next.

[thedrap]

thanks for the reply he has sometimes been like this but usually when we have had busy days so i just took it easy and feed him and made sure he napped well in the day - he needs his sleep but fights it every step! i think that the worry for me is that he has only put on 2oz and that i am starving him - his behaviour - screaming and crying seem to have made me put 2 and 2 together - along with my mum who cant seem to understand why i dont just give him a bottle. so many feelings tied up with bf i want the best but i feel that at the moment i cant give it.

[SpacePuppy]

Oh just had an aha moment, is it possible that he is going through a growth spurt and maybe your let down is a bit slow, so he is more anxious about getting his millk? Kelly mom site is a good reference for info on this. www.kellymom.com/

[thedrap]

i do think laziness has something to do with it, rubyshoes because he seems so quickly satisfied with a bottle of either em or formula but i am in a catch 22 if i give in and feed him the way he seems to want i will lose supply. have tried expressing but only get 2 oz. i just want to feed my baby but i also want that way to be breast i didnt know how much until this way has been threatened

[bookthief]

This was a difficult age for me and ds as well. He was very fussy for a couple of weeks. Didn't get him weighed between 10 and 16 weeks though so don't know about weight gain (slack mummy..).

It didn't help that he cut his first tooth at 12 weeks but it was 2 weeks of screaming, refusal but obv hungry, waking more at night. I couldn't feed in public because of the flailing and screaming. General hellishness! And then it went back to normal.

Hang in there if you can, but it would be worth getting checked for good latch, reflux etc if it doesn't get better fairly soon.

[SenoraPostrophe]

ah - OK. dd did exactly this and it did end up with her going on to bottles earlier than planned. I fixed it briefly by cutting out bottles entirely but then I gave her another few bottles and that was it. I could also never express much, but it turns out (having had two more babies since) that this has no bearing whatsoever on the amount of milk you actually produce.

If you want to keep breastfeeding it'd probably be a good idea to cut the bottles and feed more often for a few days. Once you've re-established breastfeeding for a couple of months (this is where I went wrong), then you should be able to give some formula feeds. But 2 months is a long time with a 13 week old baby. maybe you could try feeding more often for a week and see how it goes?

[rubyshoes]

My baby is 4 wks old and I spent the first 2 doubting myself because of my dp and mother in law, everytime I complained about being tired or house being a mess etc. there reply would be if you would just let us give her a bottle! and in the eve when she wants to feed constantly I was starving her because she obviously wasn't getting enough. Then stumbled across mumsnet and it has given me the confidence to know that I am doing the best thing for her. Don't let anyone make you feel bad you are doing something amazing for your baby it's not an easy option!x

[thedrap]

thanks spacepuppy just read the link - i feel better - and tomorrow is another day - need to go to bed and hopefully be able to bf him later

[thedrap]

thanks everyone i will try again tomorrow in fact i feel like trying the next feed too (which husband usually does) you have all given me hope - it just disappears when faced with my beautiful baby boy screaming and the voice in my head saying feed him you fool! it is hard but it was in the beginning and i managed it so i will try more