Feeding problems - 5 month old baby

[EmC1983]

Hi all,

I hoping someone might have experienced what we are currently going through with our 5 month old baby girl. It's been going on for a while now and I'm pretty much at my wits end:

She's really fussy about feeding; she rarely takes bottle or breast unless tired or asleep, or she'll take it, have a few ounces of formula or a few minutes on the breast and then pull away! When drowsy, she'll take a full 8oz bottle or about a 30 minute breast feed. I've been back and forth to health visitors and doctors for weeks now, but not really got anywhere. They suggested teething, too easily distracted (she's very alert and very active!!) and possibly mild reflux - she has Gaviscon, but it doesn't seem to make a different and she's not a particularly sicky baby anyway.

Any advice would be gratefully received! Thanks.

Is she losing weight? Perhaps when drowsy she is comfort sucking rather than feeding?

My almost 5 month old has 3 big feeds ( 10 mins maybe?) a day and the rest are maybe 3-5 min top ups. At night or before a nap she uses me as a dummy.

No she's not losing weight, she's putting about 4-6oz a week on. She doesn't use a dummy and she's not comfort sucking because she sometimes pulls away crying or spits out the bottle or breast.

Are you feeding on demand or by schedule? Just wondering if she's showing signs of wanting milk and then refusing, or just not really wanting it?
If she's putting on weight and is healthy then perhaps try to relax a bit and feed a bit less frequently, and only when she shows signs of wanting it (within reason of course). I have a 5 (nearly 6)mo ds who does a few big feeds a day (morning, middle of the day when tired, bedtime... Ok and a couple at night too!)and a few quick too-ups in between (just a couple of minutes off one side). If I offer milk when he's not hungry (eg in the vague hope it might stop him whinging) he will refuse and wriggle away - I just give up and try something else to settle him then. Some babies are just efficient feeders. Are the health visitors etc happy with your dd's weight?

Yes she shows signs of hunger - crying, rubbing her mouth/searching/rooting. As I say, she sucks for a few mins and then comes off. Having said that, she's done two feeds today (big ones) quite close together and not fussy at all. So maybe it is teething, because she was much more unhappy and unsettled yesterday and Saturday.

P.s. Yes health visitors are very happy with her - she's following her 91st percentile line as she has from birth. Weight gain isn't the problem. They're happy she's a healthy and happy baby most of the time and so aren't too concerned bout her fussiness, they've basically said it'll get better and for the time being we may just have to help her to be calm and relaxed for feeds.

Sounds like teething to me, my 5 month old ds is similar and so were his sisters when teething. It will pass.

My DS was a bit like that. It worried me because he was below 25th percentile, but he just seemed to be a snacker!

Actually it was quite ironic because I began to fill the bottle to just 4 oz and whenever I did, he seemed to guzzle it and yell for more!

He's a year old now and had lovely chubby legs so looking back I can see it was just his eating style. At the 91st percentile you really don't need to worry about it!

She's still a slim baby, she's on the 75th percentile for a 9 month old for her length! She's huge!! 73cm! (Off the chart for a 5 month old by a mile!) she's been better again yesterday and today, I think she's just troubled by her gums. We shall keep battling! Thanks for replies peeps. X