DD (3 MO) hardly feeds

[vtiredmummy]

Sorry this is long winded...

DD is tiny! Weighed in at 9lb 15oz at 12wks, so down between 2nd and 9th percentiles. She was 6lb 15oz at birth, so on 25th ish percentile. She only takes tiny feeds and nothing has made any difference, so I am tearing my hair out with worry.

She was diagnosed with silent reflux at a few wks old so has Gaviscon at each feed. One GP also prescribed her a special formula in case she was intolerant to cows milk. First was Cow and Gate pepti-someting. On this she took 2oz (60ml) every 4 hours max. Then tried Aptamil Pepti and she took 3ox every 4 hours max. Then different GP at 6wk check said to go back on to Aptamil normal because of very poor weight gain.

Back on Aptamil she took 4oz (every 4 hours max. Then she got a cold and bronchiolitis and took 2oz every 4 hours max. Hospital said she was not dehydrated so did not need to be admitted.

Then she got better and for one week after Christmas took 4-5oz every four hours - hooray!!!

Now she has gone back to 2-3oz for the last week, coming off bottle, then screaming when I try to put it back in her mouth, getting incredibly fretful.

I don't think it is the silent reflux as she will lay down for a nappy after she comes off the bottle and kick happily. I think(?) if the acid was hurting her, then laying down would make it worse.

I don't think it is teething as I cannot feel or see any hard lumps on her gums.

I have tried a few different size teats and brands of bottles which make no difference, so I don't think it is the bottle.

GP seems a bit mystified and has nothing to suggest, but I am sure this can't be right. She has only fed well for 2 of her 12 weeks!

DS (4YO) never refused feeds so this is all new to me. Does anyone have any advice or reassurance? I am so worried...

Didn't want your post to go unanswered.

No experience of ff but at that age my ds started becomming very distracted and would pull off, refuse to feed - scream, turn head away etc. Seems it was because he was getting more interested in the world, so would probably be the same however they were being fed (for some babies).

Can you try feeding when she is sleepy? This really helped with ds who has a feed after he wakes up from a nap.

We also had reflux suggested but it seems more like he is a fussy or 'high needs' baby. That is about more than just feeding tho, he is very intense, needs a lot of holding and entertaining.

Has she lost any weight or is it just slow weight gain? Is she tracking a curve still?

Hope some more experienced people will be along soon.

Hi Albrecht I will try feeding her when sleepy to see if that helps, it is definitely worth a try.

She's never lost weight, but has never put on a good amount of weight on a weekly basis either (on a good week just 3oz )

It makes me so sad when every person who sees her and asks how old she is always then say "Isn't she tiny?" which makes me feel like a big fat failure of a mother!

My 17 week old is a terrible feeder (FF) and rarely eats the daily minimum amount for her weight. It does cause me some worry, but she does somehow follow the line for her centile. Sometimes she will barely eat 200 ml between getting up (730) and 1230, and then go and down a bottle in one go about 3pm. Sometimes I feel if I did not make her eat she would never cry with hunger. So, you are not alone.

I agree with the sleepy idea - if I catch her when she is nice and relaxed she will doze and slowly drink a large amount.

Sorry you are feeling that way. Why do people make stupid insensitive comments like that? As if you hadn't noticed her size yourself?

I think it is def positive that she has not lost any. Esp with being ill.

And you sound like you are working really hard to chase up medical opinions, trying different things and seeking advice. That is what being a mother is about - doing your best. Someone else on here said ages ago that we are raising children not growing prize winning giant vegetables!

How is her development? Think ds started trying to touch and grab things around that age. They change so much between 3-6 months and that should reassure you that she is doing well.

Have you tried offering feeds more often too? She may take more over the day that way.

I know - I fret about her size all the time!

She is starting to reach out and grab, gurgles and smiles lots. I am lucky that she is such a contented little thing (when she is not feeding that is!) and she seems to be developmentally ok.

She set herself into a roughly 3.5 or 4 hour routine very early on. So each time she takes too little milk in her feeds, my cunning plan was to trick her into eating more by feeding her twice as much. What happens? She takes half the amount! I suspect she is more shrewd than her mother

hi has your DD feeding improved at all?

I am in exactly same boat, my DD who is 15 weeks takes over an hour to take 4-5 oz every 4 hours. Sometimes she will even miss out a feed altogether. She has 3 oz at 10:30 1oz at 2am but at 7am when you would think she would be hungry wont take anything. She fusses around so now I leave her till 8:30 and she will take 4 oz then and fall asleep on bottle ready for nap.

I also have a young dd who wants attention and I am finding it very hard to manage both of them at feed time.

I hope you find a solution and when you do can you let me know please :-)

My DD had the same weight gain as yours. No HCP has ever worried as in herself she has always seems fine.

Took her until 9 months to double her birth weight (born 6lb 12.5oz) and was just on the chart. Still no one has said anything.