Feeding difficulties - baby not interested?

[HopHopALady]

I've been solely bottle feeding my baby since he was 6 weeks old and he's now about 21-22 weeks. The last few days he's been having really small feeds in the day (between 2 and 4 ozs) every three hours or so and then taking nearly full bottles (6-7 ozs) at 10pm and 3am.

At my last visit to the baby clinic, the HV said I could consider weaning because he's now doing big feeds in the middle of the night (at that point, he was also doing good feeds in the day too) so I've tried giving him some baby rice and he doesn't seem interested in that either.

The stressful thing is that I believe he's hungry, he's just refusing to take it.

Has anyone else come across this?

hi hophop,
They are pesky aren't they. Re the feeds i can't help i'm afraid (though it sounds quite normal to me, my friend whos ff went through just this a few weeks ago, her ds was 6.5m then. It would be considered quite normal behavior in a bf baby, cluster feeding during the evening, and i can't believe it would be that different for an ff baby. .

But wrt weaning i'm afraid you've been given some poor advice by your hv . Taking solids is no guarantee that your ds will sleep better (i've even found people for whom the opposit has been the case) but certainly if your ds is hungry baby rice won't help as it has less calories than formula so will not satisfy him for as long. The idea that waking in the night indicates a need or readyness for solids is out dated. Current advice is that if your lo can sit with a little support, grab something and bring it to his mouth, then he is ready. You could have a look in the weaning forum for more info re this.

It is distressing whey they seem hungry but won't eat isn't it. I sometimes find ds will feed better if i can get him off for a power nap for a bit first. Either way i'm sure your ds will be back to normal soon...probably when you just get used to his new pattern eh?
Could he be teething? Sorry i can't help more, someone will be along shortly.

There is a growth spurt and sleep regression at 4 months. This is not an indication that bby is ready for solids. I would back off on that for a bit longer if I were you.

I know in a breastfed baby they can get super distracted as they become more alert etc and feed less in the day, making up for it at night. It therefore seems logical that this will also happen to bottlefed babies, so may simply be a temporary phase.

Try and feed in quiet, darkened locations during the day where possible; minimise distractions like TV etc.

Thanks MFM and JJB. Yes, I do think he might be teething. I can't see any evidence of this yet in his mouth but he is dribbling loads and shoving his fists/anything in his mouth as much as he can. He can sit with a little support and grab and bring stuff to his mouth so he may be ready for weaning. I might try a bit more baby rice in the coming days and see how we go.

I will also try feeding in a quiet place, although not always easy with a rampant 2 year old round the place! Let's hope a change in phase is just round the corner.

Like you say MFM, pesky kids!!

Baby rice is over processed crap. IMO if you want to start weaning already, you're best off with a bit of veg.

I agree with jemja re baby rice. It has no nutritional value or flavour other than that of the milk it's mixed with.

ds has been drooling for months and still no teeth. I keep thinking we'll wake up one day and he'll have a whole gobfull of the things.

We started baby led weaning early (5.5m) with ds cause we gave him a cucumber stick and he gummed all the soft bit off it. So figured he was ready! We just give him what we have without added salt and cut into shapes he can pick it up. Cauliflower curry, broccoli in cheese sauce and stirfried garlic courgette are his favs!

Thanks for the advice ladies. I'll try some fruit or veg in the coming days instead of the rice. He didn't look too chuffed with it today (poor little thing cried when the penny dropped ) so it seems he agrees with you!