Firstly, sorry this is sucha long post.
I don't really know where to start. I have posted on here several times about the fact my ds is difficult to feed.
He is now 10 months old, the last time i rememeber him feeding without a problem was when he was about 2 weeks old . He's had some really good weeks here and there but then it just goes wrong again.
In the begining, I tried to bf him. I had a lot of problems getting him to latch on so it didn't hurt and briefly gave up at 5 weeks, I then decided I shouldn't hav given up and build my milk up enough to mix feed him until 5 months.
Once I did get the latch sorted through the help of a bf counsellor I thought feeding would be sorted and planned to build up to fully bf again and phase the bottles of formula out but this never happened.
He was very fussy at the breast and most of the time would scream and go red in the face as soon as I got my breast out and then if I got him to latch on he would come off the nipple and keep going on and off constantly then stop all together after about 5 mins. I would then give him a bottle of formula or ebm.
It got to the point where I would try and bf him every time he was due a feed but end up giving a bottle 90% of the time as he would get so upset.
The other problem I had runnig along side this was that he wasn't too keen on the bottle either! It's not like he would refuse the breast and down a bottle. He would also fuss at the bottle. He would take 1 -2oz then pull off then pull away if any more was offered so we would have to burp him, wait about 20 mins then warm the bottle and offer it again. He was stuck only drinking 4oz a bottle for soooo long and the hv would keep asking if I was sure he wouldn't take any more.
He eventually got to the point of occasionally drinking 5oz a bottle but still with several breaks and time in between starting and finishing the bottle.
At 5 months he was fussing and refusing so much when I tried to bf him that my milk supply had dropped dramatically and I no longer had enough hours in the day to keep expressing as I was busy warming bottles and trying to get him to take more etc etc. I stopped bfing at this point.
From that point, bottle feeding him was still a struggle. He was still only taking 4 oz a feed most times and getting him to drink enough milk each day was a real battle.
Dh and I had to really concentrate on not getting stressed whilst feeding him as this only made matters worse. We did manage this and would only give him what he wanted, then we would wait half an hour and offer the feed again. If the milk was refused or if he started puling away, arching his back or crying whoever was feeding him would just stop. We didn't want him to develop a further problem associated with being pushed in to drinking more.
We started letting him taste baby rice, carrot, pear, apple and things like that at 5 and a half months. He was moderately interested for the 1st week then less so after that.
He has been kind of on and off with the weaning. He definately prefers sweet things to savoury but I think that is normal of most babies. I also think he's quite fussy on general.
The one thing that worries me about the weaning is that a lot of the time he just eats tiny amounts. He has started eating more 'proper' food now but will take about 5 mouthfulls then just stop dead, he'll just clamp his mouth shut and take no more, no matter what you do. I never try to force him to eat more but I do offer a bit more on a spoon or sometimes just off my finger (someimes he prefers this). He plays with the food himself but rarely feeds himself more than one bite unless it's something like an organix baby crisp or a biscotti - something that dissolves quite easily.
Anyway, on top of all this we also have the problem that he is slow to gain weight. We have been refered to the paediatrician who said he seems fine and is all in proportion, he said he can't see anything that would want him to do further tests at the moment (the appointment was back in July). He asked if we had any concerns and we mentioned that he is very fussy/difficult to feed and he didn't really seem to be bothered by this and just movd on to the next question.
We have also been referred to the dietician. She said that he is 0.4th centile for weight but 9th for length so has prescribed him high calorie milk to try and build him up a bit and get his weight matching his length. She also gave us tips on how to include the milk in his diet. Again, we mentioned that he is fussy but she also brushed over this as if it was not a problem.
Since being prescribed the new milk (has been on it about 7 weeks) he has been easier to feed in terms of the milk. He has consistently taken the recommended 18oz a day (dietician said this was a good amount along with his food). He still has breaks half way through his feeds quite a lot and never drinks more that 5oz but doen't need to s he has 4 bottles a day. He usually drinks 2 4oz bottles and 2 5oz bottles a day in what ever order he wants.
I think he prefers the taste of the new milk and this is the reason. He was on aptamil before.
He is a constant worry with regards to his food and I would feed him everything the dietician has suggested if only he would take more than a few mouthfulls. Sometimes he takes one spoon full and thats it. He does however like a fomage frais but I can't feed him that all the time!
I have been searching the internet to find any other reasons I could for his poor eating/weight gain and I found information on silent reflux. I will admit he doesn't display all the symptoms of this but does display some.
I've read that babies with this will sometimes only eat small amounts as they know the reflux gets worse if they eat more - Ds does this. That they fuss when you try to feed them - Ds has always done this. That they can cough - sometimes Ds does this. That they can get hiccups quite often - Ds does, sometimes a few times during a meal. Also that they can suffer from poor weight gain - again, Ds has this.
Just today he was sat in his highchair and he burped then a bit of white stuff came up in to his mouth and on to his tongue and he swallowed it again. I've never seen this happen before but was wondering if it is happening more often than I had thought and therefore that he might have reflux?
He used to be difficult to burp when younger and was on infacol for a while which seemed to help. If we didn't burphim sufficiently he used to be sick if we layed him down.
Again, he's not sick when we out him down anymore but I have noticed lots of little white patches on the sheet in his cot as if he is having little bits of milky sick coming up and going on the sheet?
I mentioned reflux to the hv when he was about 4 months old as a possibility when his feding was really bad and it was a cse of only getting an oz at a time in to him. She simply asked 'is he being sick?' and when I answered no she said 'well he can't have reflux then, don't worry yourself reading things on the internet'.
I should mention that when i'm not trying to feed him he is the happiest baby you could ever wish to meet, full of energy, plenty wet and dirty nappies and is bright as a button!
I'm sorry this post is sooooo long, I just didn't want to miss any information. I'm desperate to know whether he's just fussy or whether there may be another problem, something i'm missing.
I've got another appointment with the dietician and paediatrician in the next few weeks so want to know whether to mention my concerns or not.
Any advice appriciated greatly, TIA.