5.5 month old doesn't like drinking - help!

[tinks27]

my LO is taking an hour ( sometimes more! but cut off after an hour usually!) to drink 7/8oz. is this normal??!! other babies seem to wolf it down in 1/2 bursts in about 15mins!! she is a formula only btw.

She has always been a slow eater and took three bursts to finish a bottle, but i have kept putting it down to teething ( she now has two little ones at the bottom popping up) as she would cry off the bottle.but it has been going on for about 3 months!! now i think about it so it cant just be that!

she doesn't do the crying thing anymore but still takes ages.

changed teats but think the fast flow is a bit too fast, so changed back to stage before. spin her out for 3.5/4 hours so she is really hungry, wind her loads - nothing works!! even in the morning she only takes 30z in the first hit!

do other babies do this? is she just not a big eater?? should i be doing something different? any advice appreciated

3oz - obviously not '30oz' !!

have you tried a variflow teat? 7/8 oz is a decent amount for a 5 month old.. what about offering 4 oz and then another 4 oz and do a split feed rather than sitting waiting ages for her to finish...?

don't make her wait for the feeds , if she is hungry , feed her.. being distressed /full of wind from crying will also stop her feeding as efectively

once she pulls away from the bottle and wont' take any more, get up and do something else with her.. she might feed again quite soon, but you won't just be sat there trying and trying and trying

My son has always taken up to 2 hours to finish a bottle. He just likes to take his time. Eat a little. Play a little. Eat a little more.

He's 11 months (today in fact!) and its just in the last 2 months or so that he would drink an entire 180 ml in about an hour or so.

I really wouldn't worry about it.

hi

thats the thing she doesn't cry for food.EVER!! maybe if i left her hours and hours!!! but obviously i don't bless her. she sucks her fingers which is always my cue.

i feed her when she wants it ( usually about 4 hours) and do like you said, just, give her it in bursts. but it can mean she feeds every hour, which can't be right!! plus she is a good little day sleeper and night and want to make sure am getting enough in her!!

My DS when he was bottle fed was a little and often feeder - every 2 hours or so

DD who is breasfed fed 2 hourly and then 3 hourly max at this age (day and night)

they are all different

7/8 oz is a lot of formula - maybe 3 oz at a time is fine for her

it can be right for her

so many books suggest a strict feeding timetable that if your LO deviates in anyway you think there is something "wrong"

gosh is 7oz alot? thought was supposed to be drinking at least 28oz (7x4times) in a day by now??

presume she is just a grazer ( like her mumma ) so maybe i shouldn't be surprised!!

thought maybe am doing something wrong??!! tried vari flo and she didn't like it much.

I also meant to say, I've tried variflow nipples and my son hated them. Refused to drink from them. He's still using the same nipple he's used from birth.

I really would just relax and take your cues from her. My son never cries for food either. He makes this little sucking motion with his mouth and that's how I know he's hungry.

Of course he's on a lot of solids now that he's nearly a year, but it can still take him a while to finish a bottle.

4 feeds a day is IMO not enough, for a 5 month old, who's only source of nutrition is milk

little and often might well be best, babies rarely stick to a schedule

respond to her when she is hungry, it might she does not cry, but gets fussy or fidgety or gives otehr cues

if she takes 4 oz 7 times a day, and is content, that is right for her

but only 4 feeds a day is not that much.. i need a drink more frequently than every 6 hours

she doesn't feed every 6 hours. every 3.5 to 4. 6-7am/ 10-11am/2-3pm/ 5.30-6.30pm i thought that was pretty standard!! and reasonable ( to not be feeding every hour or 2 hours) at that age.

my doc said between 24-32 oz is want they should be getting. obviously with ff its easier to judge so you can get hung up on quantities and worry if not enough is going in.

but hey - its really like 8 mini bursts isn't it!!

sorry, tinks i misunderstood , i thought you were aiming for
' was supposed to be drinking at least 28oz (7x4times)'