Help with bottle feeding please

[Debs3013]

Looking for some pearls of wisdom, sorry this may be a bit long.

My ds is 12 weeks old, weighs 11lbs 2 and up until about ten days ago was draining 150ml bottles. He was having 5 bottles during the day (last 2 being a split feed), so he'd have about 600ml before bed with 2 more smaller feeds during the night - all good.

Then for no apparent reason the feeds have rapidly reduced, started off as taking 120ml then 100 now down to between 60 and 90ml.

He was on the 9th centile but had slipped at his last weigh in - the health worker said it wasn't a problem but when I tried to get some advice about his difficult feeding, she just said don't worry about it.

I've tried him with no. 2 teats but it just all goes down his chin, I've tried comfort formula with no 2 teats as I thought with the formula being a bit thicker it might help, it made no difference. I've tried the ready made formula as i thought it might be smoother - made no difference. I'm just at a loss what to do.

The upshot being that yesterday he was up to ten feeds and took 700ml but that was a struggle with 45 min to an hour feed times. He's never been like this.

Any advice anyone??

Ignore health visitor and see your gp if you feel he is struggling to feed and losing weight.

Sorry if that seemed terse, not intended

Always follow your instincts. My own experience is that health visitors are useless. You sound worried and you know your baby better than someone who sees him at a clinic once a month or whatever. I can't think what else you could do, having tried different formula and teats, so I would book app with gp and explain your concerns.

see gp!

Don't apologise, not terse at all! He had gained weight but only a small amount so slipped, he had previously been following his line perfectly since birth. He's only wee, so I don't think he can afford to have his weight gain slowing down.

I tried to explain to the HV but all she said was that if I try to get him to drink more then he'll just be sick. She then said he'd sleep through the night when he's ready! I didn't say anything about him sleeping through- this is not about getting him to sleep through, she didn't seem able to fathom that I'm not increasing his feeds, he's decreasing them!

He's fine in himself and is his usual happy chilled self but just won't drink. He starts off fine and I think, great it was just a blip. Then he hits 60 or 90 ml and he's done. I can usually get him up to 120 but its a fight with him shaking his head, poking the bottle out with his tongue and then eventually just pursing his lips and we're done.

My dh says to persevere with the no 2 teats but if its all down his chin, then I'm guessing he's not ready for a faster flow.

You're both right, I'm going to get a gp appointment and at least get him checked over, make sure there's no physical problem.

Have u tried a variflow teat??

My DD fed like this to start with, she had thrush on her tongue, HV told us to start with it was just a milky tongue and would go away.

No, not something I'd heard of. I'm going to look this up, thanks

Hi Debs, if he is still putting on weight (albeit not as much) I wouldn't worry too much, sometimes babies slow down or speed up with their feeding as they grow. See your GP anyway as HV are pretty rubbish and it might be worth trying him with a bit of baby rice mixed with his milk. I know current guidelines state 6 months to wean but it can be done from 17 weeks as long as you see a GP about it and take it really slow and steady. He might want solids as a bit of variety and they have the added bonus you mix his formula with them so you needn't reduce his milk intake. See what your GP thinks though. Good luck!

Thanks to everyone - I'll say this quietly in case he's listening (ha ha) but I think the variflow teats may have sorted the problem. Took some really good feeds late yesterday and this morning took 160ml, so I'll keep an eye on him today but hoping things will now get better.