12 wk old reducing amount at each feed

[BlinkAndMiss]

My 12 wk old has never been a great eater, my first DS wasn't either. He's been on 5oz bottles pretty much since birth and has had between 3-5oz of formula at each feed. Over the past week he's had no more than 3 oz at each feed, sometimes it's less than this even when he's screaming for a feed. I've been giving him gripe water incase it's wind and I wind him several times during but he gets to 3oz and pushes the teat out or just moves it around. When I've thought he'd been actually drinking, he spits it all back out again. He's also not very regular with his nappies, poos are always dark green which the HV tells me is due to wind.

Can someone advise? His feeds are 7am, 11am, 2pm, 6pm plus either a midnight/4am bottle. I'm feeding pretty much on demand and don't try to feed him unless he's looking for food, he just seems to fall asleep after such a small amount and I know he's not getting enough. Feeds can take 2 hours so although he's in a good routine it feels like he's feeding round the clock. He's stayed on the 25th centile so I suppose that means he's fine but surely he should be having somewhere near 2.5xhis weight (about 12lb)? Does it sound like I need to see the GP? Or change milk or something?

Yes I really think you should see the GP. it could be his teeth, in which case, that's quite normal around 12 weeks but because he is already on a low percentile, I'd just take him to double check him over. Babies, unlike adults, can go downhill very quickly if they become dehydrated. Is he having lots of wet nappies?

I wouldn't have thought it would normally take two hours to feed a bottle fed baby. Has he ever had reflux? Can you look at his tongue to see if it's tied? A good indication of tongue tie is if the tongue tip looks heart shaped (as though a string is pulling it back a bit). That isn't always the case though so try and look underneath as well.

I would see the GP tomorrow morning. Don't worry you're wasting their time....they won't mind seeing a baby who isn't feeding well

Agree, he should be having roughly 2.5floz per pound of weight. So if he's 12lbs, that's 30floz in a day. If he's not taking roughly that, and has green poo, he needs checking

There is some information on tongue tie here. Have a read and see if any of it sounds familiar.

Colief is supposed to be good for wind, maybe your gp could prescribe some?

Does he have any other symptoms like mucous in his po or eczema?

Does he need a faster teat? Feeds shouldn't take as long as that so maybe he us having to work too hard while using a slow flowing teat