help 6mth old refusing all formula!

[4madboys]

dd is 6mth, almost 7mth, she has always been a fussy feeder, for a long time she never took more than 4oz of formula but has gradually since 5mths built up to 5-6oz 5 times a day.

but the past week it has been reducing down to 2-4oz if i am lucky! the only feeds she takes okish are her 11pm dream feed and sometimes a feed at 5am but this 5am feed resulted in her having 2oz.

she then went back to sleep in my arms and slept till 8am, offered her a feed at 9:15 and she refused it totally! lots of crying and fussing and she eventually had maybe 2oz tho lots dribbled out etc.

she started on solids at 6mth but only has one meal a day of 2 cubes of mashed fruit or veg and some finger foods, doesnt alway eat all the two ice cubes and isnt that interested tbh. she will sip water out of a cup.

i have tried the formula in a cup as she drinks water that way but as soon as she realised it was milk she cried :(

when i am not trying to feed her she seems happy enough, will suck on her dummy and has had wet nappy and a big poo today.

she is currenlty playng with her elder brothers and giggling away, she should be starving, but has never really been a baby that gets hungry and cries for milk.

she will have nap soon and is due a feed at 1:30-2ish, i shall just offer it as normal i guess and then if she doesnt have it i though i could make up some organix baby porridge with 2oz formula and a bit of fruit ( i did this yesterday when she only had 3oz at lunchtime)

she seems well in herself, a bit of a cough, but nothing much and its mainly at night.

any ideas and how long can this carry on for, its been a week of fussing and the total refusal today.

i am seeing hv on wed due to the fussing and regarding weaning etc.

she is a big baby, about 19lb? despite never having huge quantities of milk.

it doesnt seem to help to offer her little and often, tried that, have let her sit and play wiht te bottle in her bouncy chair but as soon as any milk comes out she throws it away, tried feeding her in her carseat, she chewed on the bottle for a few minutes.

have tried walking round and singing to her whilst offering the bottle, that used to work... ditto getting her to suck on dummy and then doing a quick swop but that doesnt work at all now.

she either plays with the teat, clamps her mouth shout and refuses or cries :(

i guess i can always just try and see what happens when i defrost it?

anyhow she has been fine this afternoon and is now having her usual nap and is due to feed about 6is, i may try an dfeed her when she is sleepy again to see if that helps!

thankfully dp is home tomorrow so he can have a go!

and if no change by monday to the drs we go, who will probably look at me like i am some paranoid mother when i present them with a chubby, smiley happy baby and say she isnt drinking...

well i just picked her up from her nap to feed her, at first she screamed when i tried to give her the bottle :( but then all of a sudden she stopped screaming and drank 6oz!! i had given her calpol before her nap as i thought she felt slightly warm, and tho she had her eyes open when she had her bottle they were kind of dozey eyes ifkwim? anyway she drank it thats the main thing!

so i dont think the problem is the milk or the bottle but maybe she is coming down with something? she has had two long naps today and still seems tired and maybe slightly warm, so perhaps a bug?

fingers crossed the next feeds go ok, but her 11pm feed is normally ok as she is half asleep, it will be tomorrow that we see what she is like and at least dp will be home to help :)

Great news! :) could it just be teeth or something like that?

i am wondering if its teeth or else a bit ofa bug, she has gone down for the evening now, and will hopefully stay asleep till her next feed at 11ish, she is generally very good in the evening, sleeping inthe pram, its just the rest of the night that she is in bed with me! not that i mind, they are only little one :)

the main thing is she seems happy still but maybe does have a bit of a temp, so if need be calpol in the night and depending on how she is tomorrow a trip to the drs on monday.

thanks alpine :)

its daft she is my 5th baby and you would think i would have it sorted by now, but they all like to throw a new curve ball at you adn give you something to fret about

bump, not a great night, she took half what she would usually have, so 3oz at 11pm, then 3oz at 5am :(

and then this morning at 9:30 she seemed hungry and excited to see the bottle but cried when i offered it then fed and had an ounce and now wont take anymore and she is a bit grizzly, have tried teething powder, will give her calpol as well and see if that helps.

drs tomorrow to check ears etc.

any ideas anyone?!!

ok this is still going on!

17oz on saturday

15oz on sunday.

then last night she refused her 11pm feed totally, took 2oz at about 5am.

then took her to the drs at 9:20 where she was given a clean bill of health! and basically told she wont starve herself, or dehydrate herself! and to keep offering and speak to the hv...

hv coming wed, but am going to ring and see if i can see her before then!

bascially carry on offering milk and rather than only offering her solids at lunch to start offering three meals a day and make meals as milk based as i can but babies 'dont need milk' arghhhhhhhhhhhh i cried at the drs, he probably thought i was a loon and helpfully pointed out to me that she is my 5th baby and so i can see she is healthy etc and not to stress!

oh we offered her milk at the drs as she was due a feed, she took an ounce and then refused but has since had a bit more, but she isnt suckign the bottle properly, just chewing, half sucking, playing but she wasnt crying and would have it in her mouth, tho she keeps shoving it out and then opening her mouth for it again...

little madame!

so any ideas anyone?!!

They need about 18-20oz a day at this stage don't they? So she's not drastically off that. Shouldn't be too hard to get a few oz into food.

but she isnt really having food rita thats the issue as well!

started weaning at 6mths she was totally not interested, its only in the last two weeks that she has fairly consistently eaten two ice cubes of fruit or veg at lunch! i was about to start offering her some dinner as well, but dont know whether to start offering her more food when she is so drastically off her milk?

will speak to the hv and see what she thinks.

but yes 20oz a day once they are on three solid meals a day which she is not!

and thanks for taking the time to come back to this thread rita, i appreciate it.

she has had 7oz ish since 6pm last night, thats from three bottles, i offer 5 in a 24hr period, so if she takes a reasonable amount from them, say 4oz each time that will gi0ve her 14oz today and i have offered her water from a cup she will take a few sips but not much really.

she has weed and pooed, the poo was firm but not too hard and she didnt strain anymore than usual or seem upset at all so that is good :)

i think i just need to recognise the fact that she seems fairly happy and healthy and offer milk but dont make an issue of it and offer more food and see how we go... but its hard as instinct makes us want our babies to eat/drink etc.

thankfully she is a chunky thing, despite never really having huge quantites of milk, most ever being 30oz in 24hrs but generally more like 25oz and it wasnt till she was 5mths that she was ever over 20oz a day! and yet she was 8lb at birth and is about 19lb now so she is doing well on it!

just spoken to hv who says offer three meals a day and bottles four times a day and water and see who she goes and she will come and see us on wed.

well she had her lunch feed okish, in that she took 2oz with me holding her and then i sat her in her carseat and held the bottle and she happily took another 3oz, why she will take it in her carseat but not when held i do not know!

She's clearly messing with you as of course number 5 should've been plain sailing! ;)

Mine is fromage frais mad, can you try her with a petis filous?

dont want to give her petit filous as they have about two teaspoons of sugar in each little pot!

but once she is eating a bit more i am going to give her natural yog with fruit in :)

anyhow last night she refused her 11pm feed totally, then at 5am had 5oz in her sleep.

9:30am she took 4oz with me holding her :) and then another ounce in the car seat.

then at 1:30 3oz with me holding her, then she coughed and refused, popped her in the carseat and she then took the other 3oz, so she is having it now, but being fussy in how!

she is now having two meals a day of three ice cubes of fruit/veg and chewing/sucking on finger foods :) so progress and we see hv tomorrow :)