My 4 month old is disinterested in her bottle :(

[Katekate77]

Hello Everyone

This is my first post so I hope this is in the correct location...

I am a new Mum of twin girls. They were born at 31+4 weeks on (8th April this year) so are now 19 weeks old, 4 1/2 months ish.

One of the twins is feeding like a trooper but one has suddenly become totally disinterested. I should tell you she is about 11lb and bottle fed aptamil. I was solely feeding them expressed breast milk but I couldn't cover them both as they got bigger so gradually had to mix with more and more formula- my milk diminished and they've been on just formula since about 3 months old.

So, when Millie is hungry she laches onto the bottle like she's never been fed, takes an ounce of so and starts looking around the room, at me, smiling, putting the teet in the corner of her mouth....meanwhile her sister is crying with hunger. If I give up and put her down her hands will be straight in her mouth... and don't get me wrong, she'll eventually get so hungry she crys and sinks the bottle but ends up giving herself wind and reflux.

So their Paediatric Consultant said to introduce some baby rice at 4 months, my HV says absolutely not!! Of course.

In your experience ladies, irrelevant of how old they are and when I SHOULD start weaning, is this a sign that weaning is needed?

One other thing I ought to mention is, they have various vitamins in one of their feeds each day, this makes the milk taste sweet and strawberry like (I've sampled it), she LOVES this.....

Thanks in advance for your responses :)

I can't understand why the Paed would suggest baby rice, it has less calories than the milk and will just fill her tummy up with a product that basically has the nutritional value of wallpaper paste. Did the Paed give any reasons why they recommended early weaning? Afterall, as I understand it there is evidence that weaning before 17 weeks can be harmful.

Have you tried her with a different teat? Maybe a juice spout or a sports bottle?

Hello thanks so much for replying!

The Consultant explained that as they were premature, early weaning can benefit them. I have also read this on NHS websites and on the Bliss guidelines. I'm not sure why but for premmies it's 5-7 months they reccommend. I'm not too sure why.

I've tried a variflow teet which are supposed to be good? :-/ She has always had a teet that is for a slightly older baby...when she came home she had a 3 month teet, from 3 months she started on a 6 month+ teet. I haven't even thought to try a juice cup...with them being premature though she is still not sitting up (although she will be soon). Shall I grab a spout cup next time I'm out?

Thanks again.

It says on here too actually....

www.mumsnet.com/babies/weaning

"Honourable exceptions

Premature babies: The Department of Health weaning guidelines are for term babies and do not apply to babies who were born prematurely. Experts at special care baby charity Bliss recommend that babies who were born prematurely should be weaned between the ages of five and seven months (calculating from your baby's birthdate, not his corrected-age date).Very occasionally, a premature baby may benefit from weaning before five months but this should be discussed with your healthcare team first."

Sorry, shouldn't post in a hurry, missed that they were premmie.