7 week old Gd won't take enough food

[Saramel]

My DD is terribly worried because her little baby won't take enough formula. Although she gained 3 oz's last week, she has fallen from the 25th percentile to the 2nd in the last 3 weeks so my daughter is getting really concerned. At her current weight, the recommended daily allowance is 5 bottles of 5 oz a day but she will only take 4 bottles and will only take the full 5 oz's once a day - the rest of the time she will only take 2-3 oz's.

Some people would probably say DD is very lucky because GD is very settled and will sleep from 8 at night to at least 8 in the morning but it is worrying my DD sick. I've suggested that she might like another milk (she's currently on Aptimil) and she did try waking her up more but to no avail.

Can you help?

Will she take less milk more frequently? 2-3oz every couple of hours maybe.

has your dd tried a faster flowing teat? my ds1 needed a faster teat at about that age or he would loose interest. alternatively how about a different bottle? i know how anxious she must be had all sorts of issues with ds1 and feeding, in the end his was wind related and Dr brown bottles and comfort milk sorted it but doesn't sound like that's the problem if little one is settled well between feed's. has she spoken to hv about it?

What have the HVs said about weight gain?

Thank you for your replies. I thought she might be a bit bored with Aptimil because I know that bf babies get a range of tastes from the food their mothers eat. I hadn't thought about her being bored from the teat size aspect.

The HV is concerned but she has said to take her back for weighing in 2 weeks to see if things have got better. My daughter is worried because it seems quite a long time in the scheme of things. I did have similar problems with her but she screamed all the time and turned out to be milk intolerant but my DGD is almost too settled!

my dd was the same and stayed like it for months, she eventually built up to 4oz at a time, occasionally taking 5oz, but never more than that really.

can your daughter give her a dream feed in the night to get an extra feed into her maybe?

i would say moniter her weight, try a different teat but if she is gaining and is content it may well not be an issue, the amount on the box is a guildine and some babies will take less, my dd always did :)

they dont recomend changing formula brands unless the one she is on is not agreeing with the baby btw :)

I am sceptical about this "don't change formula" thing - I think it's a marketing ploy more than anything to ensure your brand loyalty! I changed formula brands twice with ds for taste and cost issues with no problems.

well i guess they are all much of a muchness, i mean they have to be, but it was the hv that told me.

we always just bought hipp as its the only organic one and its fairly cheap compared to some of the other brands!

i would suggest trying to give her smaller amounts more frequently.

there is no reason not to change formula as far as I'm aware. but I am not convinced this is necessarily a formula issue.

this might just be the way she is supposed to be.
Are they plotting her weight on the correct chart for a formula fed baby?

aside from the weight is she happy and healthy? weeing and pooing? meeting other milestones? has she grown in length a lot recently? has she been ill?

She could be milk intolerant and had silent reflux (heartburn but no vomiting) - DS was via my breatmilk but it didn't become obvious until he was 2-3'months old. So do keep an eye on it - he gradually stopped wanting feeding

thisisyesterday - there are no UK charts in use for solely formula fed babies, AFAIK....all charts except the UK/WHO one have been withdrawn by now (maybe there is some unique local pilot study taking place???). All babies, bf, ff, should be plotted on the same chart.

OP - the easiest way to deal with this sort of situation is to give the milk little and often. Has your daughter tried this?

some babies just dont want any more tho even little and often we tried that with dd and she still didnt take any more over a 24hr period, its worth trying but sounds like the baby is otherwise happy and content and sleeping well, so i would moniter weight, try little and often and a different teat, but it may well be that she just doesnt have a big appetite.

also is she maybe coming down with something as soon as my dd gets poorly the first thing to go is her milk intake she just doesnt want it, right from a little baby this was the case.

watch the babies cues would be my advice, you cant make her take more than she wants, offer whenever she seems hungry not by the clock, you could also try varying the temp a bit? my dd likes her milk slightly warmer than the recomended body temp, obv not too hot but warm maybe?

Thank you for all your advice. My DD has tried waking DGD, but she just doesn't want to know. When she wants to she drinks the full 5 oz's however, when she doesn't want it, she just chews the teat and spits out any she doesn't want! This morning she slept from 1 am to 10 am and then my DD woke her for a feed. She took the full 5 oz's before bringing the whole lot back up (she has done this infrequently before) so I suggested that my daughter should take her to the GP to put her own mind at rest. Despite having 3 babies of my own, I don't feel able to churn out good advice just in case I get it wrong!