Help! FF 4mo teething and refusing to feed

[Meandacat]

DD is 19 weeks old and the last 24 hours have been awful. She's teething... has been for weeks, and feeding her has become steadily more and more of a trial. But now she is just screaming and thrashing as soon as the bottle comes near her. She'd only take 3-5oz at most yesterday before having a complete meltdown (compared to the usual easy 7oz), early this morning she took only 2-3oz and the last few attempts, she won't take a thing.

Don't know what to do! She's a good weight so I'm not worried about that too much but surely she'll become dehyrated? Naps are also a struggle because, I'm guessing, she's hungry (last nap she basically cried herself to sleep).

I've tried two brands of teething gels, two brands of teething powders, calpol, rubbing her gums... nothing seems to make any difference.

She is hungry - I know she is because she seems eager at first and then just howls within seconds of the bottle being in her mouth, and sometimes as soon as she sees the bottle in my hand.

Please... I'm at a loss. Do I ride this out? For how long?

PS. I should add that she'll take a dummy absolutely no problem!

Hi ya, didn't want to leave unanswered

This is tough, there's a section on the kellymom website on nursing strikes due to teething here.

I've read that you shouldn't use numbing gels before feeding as it numbs the tongue as well, making feeding tricky. How about feeding her in the sleep, or maybe a sippy cup as she's 4 months. Maybe numbing the area with a ice cube, try feeding and repeat, or give her a frozen wet cloth to chew on first.

If it goes on for more than 48hours maybe consider ringing a GP just to check dehydration.

Just noticed there are 3 or 4 threads about 19 / 20 week olds suddenly not wanting to feed as much. They do all drool and chew at that age - not necessarily teething, just increased saliva production in preparation for starting to eat. Maybe their growth is just slowing down a bit at this age and they are going through a period of needing less milk?
Whatever - just thought I'd point out that this seems normal. I have a 19 week old who is doing the same thing and I remember my first baby was similar. The trick is not to worry about it - they sort themselves out as soon as they are hungry again.

Hi my dd is 16 weeks and her gums are sore. I'm breastfeeding. My dd has struggled feeding and tries to get her fist in her mouth at the same time as feeding. I give her ashton and parsons, then dentinox gel before feeding if her gums are particularly bad. This combination really helps my dd. You say you have tried alot so you have prob tried what i'm doing but just thought i'd pass this on as its been helping us.

Just bumping in case anyone else is going through the same thing.

I accidentally double posted this question so I tried a recommendation in the other thread which was to try a faster flow teat. This seems to have helped enourmously. I think the sucking was hurting her gums so the less effort she's had to put into it, the better. I know this won't help any BFing mums but if, like me, you ended up having to FF, give this a go as well as all the Ashtons & Parsons and Calgel!

When my daughter was teething at that age, I found she preferred cold formula than warm (as in made up and chilled) - I think she found it nicer on her gums.

Just adding to this as am having the same prob with my 5mth old. Have just ordered the level 3 dr brown's teats but am a bit worried that they'll be too fast, but i guess if they speed up the feeding and therefore minimise time spent with dd being uncomfortable that's got to be a good thing!

I hate teething!!