and i am just paranoid.

[ray81]

Ok i havent name changed for this am tring to be brave !! i am NOT looking for an argument just want to point that out now.

Right anyway i have posted on Breast/bottle feeding re my 25 week old DD not drinking her bottles i am realy worried and as is the weekend thought i would post for some advise/support. I have had 1 response. I cant help feeling this is because i FF and i am being judged and other FF MNs are afraid to post incase they are judged aswell. When i posted when i was Bf i had lots of responses.

I have hardly had any sleep and this could all be a combination of that and the fact i do feel terribly guilty about giving up BF, i BF until 16 weeks and realy wish i hadnt given up but there is nothing i can do about it now.

So please tell me i am being paranoid and just overly emotional and i am not being judged for FF.

I would love to tell you you are not being judged for formula feeding, but there will always be people who judge for that - deal with it, and move on.

There will be people who judge you for telling your child off, not telling them off, telling them off to harsh/soft/medium.

You can't please everyone, therefore you have to do what is right for you and your child and hang what everyone else thinks. Its the first rule of sane motherhood.

Now, what is the problem with your 25 week old? Let me see if I can help.

too harsh, I mean

Found your thread on feeding.

There is a tummy bug doing the rounds at the moment which is mild in symptoms (doesn't really cause vomiting or much vomiting, and only a bit of diahorea) but goes on for a while - several weeks sometimes. We've had it in our house these past few weeks.

My daughter (who is older than yours) has been refusing her bottles due to this bug - but eating happily enough.

Babies go off milk a bit when they have a bug.

It could be that she has it too. Or that teething is giving her trouble. But unless it goes on for weeks and weeks, I think she will probably be fine and will go back to her milk. If you are worried or it is prolonged, see your GP and they can try and work out why she is refusing them because babies of that age generally dont refuse milk for prolonged periods unless there is something wrong, usually a simple health issue that is easily enough resolved.

Thankyou Tattydevine,

she just isnt drinking her bottles she is having about 10oz a day normaly she will drink 5oz 3 hrs apart i have tried doing 4 hrs but she is still only drinking about 2oz at each feed. I started solids at 22 weeks and she loves food and will eat that no problems at all but i know that solids will not get the calories into her so was hoping for some advise on how to get her to drink her bottles. She drinks water as well so no problems there.

I wondered about stopping the solids for a few days to get her back onto her milk but am worried about setting her back ifkwim.

x posts sorry

how much solid food are you giving? too much too fast can lead to babies reducing their milk intake

if she seems otherwise well in herself, could you try scaling back on solids for a while? weaning is meant to be a slow process, there is no rush to get to 3 square meals a day

I had similar problems with my DD and I tried lots of different things to help her but what I found worked was getting a faster flow teat, she improved almost instantly.

Tattydevine tankyou for the advise re the tummy bug hopefully it is just that and she will be back to her old self soon.

Chibi she has breakfast lunch and dinner, but 1 tablespoon and no more and she eats this all up and wants more but when i give her the bottle she refuses it, little madam.

Beckie222 I will try the faster flow teat and see how she gets on.

Also she keeps sticking her fingers down her throat and making herself sick. is this normal for her age?

has she got a sore throat?? That could be why shes sticking her fingers in as she knows its sore there and possbily wht she won't suck??

At 6 months my DS was having 3 'meals' a day but more than your DD as he wanted that. He would have milk but 5oz 3 times a day sort of between meals iyswim so mid am mid pm and before bed.

I agree with faster teat.

Best of luck.

Is your daughter teething at all? Could be that. It might be that the bottle is causing her gums to ache when she suckles. What happens if you give her a baby analgesic about an hour before her milk feed? Does she then drink more?

I really don't think the lack of response is because you're FF. It's probably because it's the weekend and people are out doing things. Honestly.

Can you offer her the bottle before her meal instead?

DD2 sticks her fingers down her throat as well. She's been doing it for a while and I'm fairly sure it's just one of those funny quirks. But in your case, could she maybe have a sore throat?

Sorry, x-posts with mumbar

mumbar- i have tried to see into her throat but she wont stick her tongue out lol. i will keep trying to check though. i always thought that the stage 3 teat was for 6 months plus or is this just a recommendation?

narmada, not sure re the teething, lots of dribbling going on etc will try your idea and see if that works.

re the lack of response you are prob right am i am just being paranoid i think its my own guilt tbh

Both of mine drastically reduced their milk intake even when they were only taking tiny amounts of solids - 1 was FF, 1 was BF at weaning age.

If they seem well, plenty of wet nappies and growing out of the clothes/gaining weight it sounds fine. If not, a trip to the GP or HV is a good idea.

what do you all think about cutting back her solids, should i do this or just keep going as we are?

does your surgery have a regular baby clinic? it would not hurt to pop by and have her looked over and get some advice

i use tommy tippie bottles and she is on the level 2 flow from 3-6 months i think it is, the milk seems to come out quickly and have to use bib as she dribbles some of it so didnt think it would be the problem but am willing to try anything tbh so will change it to level 3 and see how we go.

I did think she may drop the milk intake when she started eating solids but only drinking 10oz a day worries me as i realy dont think that is enough for her age ifswim. I know she gets the calories from the milk rather then the solids but she loves eating food and having finger food aswell, she would eat loads if i let her.

I have an older DD who is 8 and i had problems getting her to eat food at all she loved her bottle so this is all new to me. they are so different bless them.

i'm also worried about the fact she has just started crawling and they tend to use more calories when doing this so i dont want her to lose weight because she isnt drinking her milk.

Could she be teething? My DD refused to eat or drink anything for five days when she was about 7 months just before her teeth came through. I was beside myself and spent so long trying to get her to sip water and expressed from a cup just to keep her fluids up. It is very stressful so sending you lots of support - it will pass!

It's so worrying when their milk intake drops off- my DD1 was never keen on bottles, in the ed I used the cheap tommee tippee bottles form the chemist, with fast flow teats, so got a more milk into her.

Do you make her food with formula? This is what I did when I was worried as DD was only having 2 bottles a day. I made her breakfast and supper cereal with formula, but also added it into the purees she was eating.

I would personally take her to the doctors for a check up, as the sticking fingers in her throat makes it sound like she could have a sore throat.

Good luck, and I don't think people were judging you for FFing; maybe you were just judging yourself? I was heartbroken at people's reaction when I HAD to FF my babies, but now I've toughened up a bit and don't let it bother me.

Sorry, terrible typing!