Really worried now.

[belindarose]

DS (14 weeks) has been dropping through the centiles. I've posted a lot on here about all the difficulties we've had and the lack of real life support.

Anyway, he's now barely feeding at all. I'm expressing to maintain supply but he won't take a bottle.

I don't know what to do.

What is your RL support like?

With something that sounds like a serious problem there is little we can do online. Have you been referred to a paed? And if so are they pro keeping you bf? Have you been able to speak to your local infant feeding coordinator? Is there a local La Leche person you can speak to? www.laleche.org.uk/.

If he won't take a bottle can you cup feed or even spoon or syringe?

Sorry about the questions afraid I've not seen your back story.

Hi I know this sounds silly, but have you tried different teats? My son was breast fed and wouldn't take a bottle, I ended up having to give him fluids from a toddler training cup. They use different sucking techniques for bottles, and it can be confusing for a BF baby. Is there a la leche league near you?

x post. Great minds think alike

belinda, sorry to hear this.

You need to say more about 'barely feeding at all' - when did this start? Could he be ill?

Belinda sorry to hear this, just dealing with what's happening right now ....expect you have tried... Skin to skin, biological nurturing, different positions.... If you want to persist with bottle have you tried different types/different temp/someone else giving it/trying before or after offering breast. I know you said you had mastitis I wonder if this can affect lo? What is happening when you try to feed?

Also have you heard of a supplemental nursing system, a way of getting milk into your baby while hey nurse. Not sure if it would help your situ, it's a bit of a faff, but just thinking of as many ideas as poss .... I know you have mentioned a shield before so not sure how it would work with that. As you know I am no expert!

Thanks, I'm too worried to express myself coherently. DH is away and I have 3 year old too.

By barely feeding I mean he's having a few sucks and giving up. Or just screaming and arching away when I put him to the breast. Maybe 3 or 4 feeds in a day are 'okay'. He can't be staying on long enough to get much milk (if any) and to stimulate production.

It's been worsening for a week, with mastitis as well.

How is he generally? Is he content between feeds?
What centile was he born on and where is he now?

Perhaps Silent Reflux? Sounds like my DD. Go to Dr as soon as possible with a video (do you have a smartphone?) of baby trying to feed. In meantime spoon feed or use of 20ml syringe. Baby should be having wet nappies every 3 hours.

Your instincts are telling you something is wrong. In this situation I went to A&E which was the right call for me and my dd.

95th to 2nd. Content and smiley between feeds.

That is a big drop OP. I would be going to an emergency doctor TBH.

My ds is 28 weeks and has droppe from 75th to 2nd centile.
I have been back and forth to hv and doctr trying to understand why. He's never been a great feeder. It's like he can't b bothered. Happy and smiley otherwise.
6.5 months and he's crawling already.

I hav no idea if o should hav pushed for paediatrician appt. Maybe.
But just wanted to post to say you are not the only one. And perhaps it's just the way they are.
But do go with your instinct. Mummy instinct tends to b right.?

It's so worrying though isn't it? I spent a lot of time worrying.
and so confusing how they can be so content otherwise.

belinda, my recollection is that you have been all round the houses with this....you have asked for a lot of help and no one has shed any real light on what is making your baby gain weight so slowly.

Seems to me there are these possibilities, which you should discuss with whoever in real life you trust to be knowledgable about infant feeding:

• your baby is fine - he's what they call an 'outlier' in 'chart research land', a healthy baby whose weight gain is so out of the ordinary researchers did not include it in the final dataset. There are babies like this, but you'd never know :)

• there is some unusual condition that is affecting his willingness to take in more breastmilk - this would usually show up with other symptoms by now, and would not usually be the case with a baby who is happy and healthy and developing well in all other respects, but I think it should still be considered (I am taking it that your baby is not miserable or grumpy or lethargic)

he may just want to feed infrequently* and the back arching and fussing and resisting you are seeing are all a response to you fighting him to 'make' him feed, and the fighting is actually making things worse as it leads to him associating feeding with a struggle

• there is some form of oral anomaly (tie, cleft) that has not been spotted and which is making him find feeding uncomfortable....but this would be consistent and he is fine for a lot of the time, so this does not stand up, either

• there is some stress and tension that he is responding to, sometimes (may go with the fighty resistant behaviour I mentioned before)

What do you think?

Are his nappies wet and is he pooing OK?

I would say that if you take him to doc to see if all is ok, you might get the same reaction as me. He sits there smiling at the doctor. Doctor concludes no immediate concern and sends you away to see how things go over the next few weeks. I think your average doctor doesn't have much experience in bf issues.

Thanks everyone. He has been seen by GP who thinks he's fine but wants to monitor. Asked me to express to increase supply and intake.

Since then (last week) feeding has got much worse. It could be, as you say Tiktok, that the increased attempts to feed are making him upset.

HV is coming tomorrow to weigh. I have a lactation consultant coming at the weekend.

Utterly exhausted.

He got two teeth through at the weekend. I'm trying bonjela before feeds.

Wrt what Tiktok said about tension and maybe fighting etc because he just doens't want to feed. I know the general rule is feed on demand for bf BUT if you are stressed, worried, unsure and having trouble with feeding and fighting feeds perhaps try a little bit of writing down feed times and routine to see if it helps you to get things a bit more settled.

I don't mean start going all GF but when you get up in the morning write down his first feed. Write down how long he fed and if it was a good feed or a difficult one. Next time you feed do the same. Have a look at the end of the day, is there a pattern? Are the fussy fighting feeds between the good ones? If so perhaps he just doesn't want to feed as often as you think he does?

As tiktok said some babies are slower to put weight on. If nappies are fine, he is happy and meeting milestones and he is not actually losing weight then chances are he is fine but all your stress is stopping you from seeing that.

Teething is surely going to make a difference. I remember when my first baby had teeth in at 7 months and he hardly ate/ drank anything during that time.

Is your GP SURE it is not silent reflux?