Bottle fed baby being started weaning fussy with milk..advice please?

[Janos]

My DS, who is 24 weeks old, is really fussing when I give him his bottle - he is on Aptamil Extra and was usually having about 8-9floz at every feed, 4-5 bottles a day.

I've also just started weaning him - he is having very small amounts of baby rice, as much as he'll take - which is usually 1 or 2 tsp, although he's rejected it completely today.

However, he's just started fussing, only taking half his bottle - has got to the point where he's spitting it out, pushing it away with his hands etc. This has really just started. He's not showing any signs of being poorly - diarrhea or stomach ache (he's had these in the past). He also seems to get very 'zonked' during his feeds, almost as if feeding is tiring him out.

Any advice? I'm worried that he won't get enough milk.

[Janos]

bump...any suggestions?

[alexw]

Books seem to suggest that the minimum a child of that age needs is 21oz a day, so if he's having at least that then I wouldn't worry...He'll eat when he's hungry. My daughter recently had cut back really hard on her bottle feeds - 2 weeks of her pushing it away after about 4oz.. Since this morning we are more on track. Remember with the rice he may not be as hungry. Try not to worry - I know it's hard when food seems so imp and such an issue.

[nailpolish]

hi janos

have you checked his mouth? maybe he is getting a tooth! get some teething gel just in case.

or maybe his mouth is a bit sore? have a look for thrush or something.

21 oz (a pint) is enough milk, i am led to believe.

have you tried other things apart from rice? try a little petit filou, put a bit on his lips and let him get a taste -

also i think some babies find it difficult to master the opening of the mouth for a spoon - maybe he is not quite getting the hang of it yet, wee pudding!

re the tired out - my dd2 im sure is teething just now and she is more sleepy than usual. dont worry too much about that

best of luck x

[Janos]

Thanks for your advice nailpolish & alexw!

He is having at least 21oz a day and does seem quite happy so I'll try not to worry about it too much.

DS is teething ATM I think..one trick I tried to get him to take more milk was to put a tiny dab of Calgel on the end of his bottle which helped initially (he loves the taste) but now I think he is wise to it as he sucks off the calgel and spits the bottle out! I only try this after he has had about 4-5oz and spits the bottle out.

I will try the petits filou Nailpolish - some days he eats happily others not. I've only just started so don't want to push it.

Just thought - could it possibly be that the teats are too slow for him - he is on medium flow, might fast flow help?

Anyway, thanks again and thanks for your good wishes x

[nailpolish]

oh yes get the fast flow. they get fed up sucking and just give up

feeds will be quicker and you will both be happy.

[alexw]

Definitely get fast flow. DD went onto them at 15weeks and things were much easier!

[Janos]

I tried DS on the fast flow teats last night but he didn't seem to get on with them unfortunately - maybe he's not quite ready yet.

Holding him very upright did seem to make a difference - I'm also wondering if he is just too interested in everything that's going on around him cos when I feed him somewhere quiet he takes his feed with much less full.

Anyway, he seems fine so I will just keep an eye on him and see how it goes. Thanks again for your help x

[Janos]

That should be less fuss!

[JillMLD]

Hi Janos,
Just to say we are having the exact same proble. I started my dd on solids 3 weeks ago to try and help with reflux. She is now about 20 weeks old (I hav elost count!) and on 3 "meals" a day, and she has cut WAY back on her feeds. We were getting 3 good feeds of 6 or 7 oz into her plus another one or two of 4 oz each so approaching 30oz a day but now like you said we're lucky if she takes 4oz per feed over 5 feeds, and we're lucky if she gets to 20 oz per day. I know this is enough for her calcium intake etc but she is still taking smallish amounts of food, we still waken her at 11pm for a feed so I worry that she will waken in the night (she did last night and I fed her at 4am aaarrggh).

She does exactly what you described, pushed the bottle away with her hands or tongue, looks all over the place at other stuff or just lets it dribble out of her mouth. She's on fast flow teats, and I am sure she just is more interested in solids than limk. So I've decided to try and get milk/calcium into her by other ways - sauces, chees, yoghurt etc. Pain in the butt, I wish she would just drink the blomin milk! I can't feed her somwehre quiet as ds (2yrs) is alwas there and hes anything but quiet!!!

I hope your ds gets on the right track soon
Jill

[Surfermum]

I had the same thing with dd. Once she started on solids she just wasn't fussed about having the milk. Like Janos I would make sure she had petit filous and cheese sauces etc to make sure she got enough calcium and I used to cook a lot of her food in milk, and I always made sure I put 8oz of milk on her weetabix in the morning. I just worked on the basis that as long as I got the recommended minimum into her I wouldn't worry. Not long after she was about 1 she dropped milk as a drink altogether, and I think she's just not a big fan of milk.

[Surfermum]

I had the same thing with dd. Once she started on solids she just wasn't fussed about having the milk. Like Janos I would make sure she had petit filous and cheese sauces etc to make sure she got enough calcium and I used to cook a lot of her food in milk, and I always made sure I put 8oz of milk on her weetabix in the morning. I just worked on the basis that as long as I got the recommended minimum into her I wouldn't worry. Not long after she was about 1 she dropped milk as a drink altogether, and I think she's just not a big fan of milk.

[blondie14]

Hi janos.
I thought it was only me that was having this problem! My son is 18 weeks old and started weaning just over a week ago. Since introducing solids he takes between 3 and 4oz then wants winding. After that he wont take the bottle, screaming and pushing it out with his tongue. Very stressful and frustrating. I end up then either giving up or mixing the remaining milk with baby rice. Its reassuring that its not just me and that im not doing it all wrong. When is it best 2 give the solids, b4 milk, during or after????? Does it make any difference???????