Really difficult 5 month old HELP

[BumWad]

Please tell me to get a grip.

My 22 week old is becoming intensely difficult to feed and it is really stressing me out. Even more stressful in that he is just shy of 12lb as he was born at 32 weeks so 14 weeks corrected.

I posted on here when he was 4 months old as that's when the fussiness started, I thought it would have passed by now but it is getting worse. He is combination bottle fed as he stopped latching at around 14 weeks. I am pumping 3 times in 24 hours.

The problem is he is just not interested in feeding. Even if he is starving. Plays around with the teat in his mouth, chews, plays around, chews, will suck a bit then cry. I've tried feeding in the dark, feeding in the quiet, feeding when he's starving, feeding when he's not so starving but he is just not interested.

I'm scared to go and get him weighed now. He is such a skinny baby. But he is also a happy baby, alert, non stop babbling and will not take his hands out of his mouth.

This morning I spent 1 hour feeding him 120ml for him to cough and vomit it all out (he has reflux). I actually started crying.

I am exhausted as I seem to spend all day trying to feed him. There is no forcing him either he will just not have it, and I do try to make it a nice environment for him.

I don't know what to do, I'm finding this really upsetting. When will this pass? What can I do? I need to get a grip don't I?

For the last few days he has probably had around 500ml in feed. How is he going to put weight on like that?

That should read 500ml in 24 hours

Do I need to start weaning early? I can't even go out anywhere as I can't feed him and if I do manage to feed him it takes me over an hour to get half a bottle in him

I early can't advise you but will say one thing, when my ds was losing weight and slow to gain, I was told to look at the baby, not just the scales. He too wa and is happy, gurgly, smily and very active. Good colour and skin.He too is skinny. 91st for length and 25th for weight. What I'm getting at is your baby doesn't sound unwell or unhealthy. Have you considered
going to a bfax support group?

Please try not to stress too much. (I know easier said than done!)

I think it would be a good idea to get ds weighed asap so you can see if there really is a problem to be worried about in the first place. You may be worrying unnecessarily.

Is the 500ml you are getting in ds formula or breastmilk? Formula and breastmilk are very different in calories so a baby doesn't need as much bm vs formula.

You mention latching problems that happened around 14 weeks? Would this be 6 weeks adjusted? Was ds ever checked for tongue tie? Sometimes things like posterior tongue tie can go undiagnosed. This can cause bf as well as bottle feeding problems.

You say ds has reflux. Has this been diagnosed by GP? Is he on any meds for this? I think you should definitely see your GP to get ds checked over if you feel he isn't feeding and putting weight on.

My baby is also a tricky feeder and always has been. He has phases of feeding well and then other times when he is also disinterested in it. It's hard to have a routine as he calls the shots. He also has reflux and only likes drinking laying down flat, which is bizarre considering that he has reflux! He has always drunk around 500ml a day and consequently dropped percentile. However we put him on infatrini, a high calorie milk, and it helped so much as it's double the calories of aptimil (our previous one).
As for the stress I feel for you. I still panic about his weight. He's 7 and a half months and on the 9th percentile. Was 9th at birth too. What reassured me is that babies will not starve themselves. They will take what they need. If he hasent been gaining get a referral to a gastrointestinal pediatrician, we did, and they will check for any other issues.
Ranitidine and gaviscon are great fyi. Helped my bub lots.
Good luck x

Oh goodness I forgot about this thread! Thank you for your replies. I am much calmer today.

I got DS weighed today and shockingly he has put on 10oz in just over 2 weeks - I am so so releived.

But I also don't get how he has put on when he barely feeds? mint he has approx 300ml bm and 200ml formula. Is the breast milk more calorific?

He is still so so fussy. I have upped his ranitidine a bit to see if that helps but I really don't think it's due to the reflux. I just don't think that he is a hungry baby. It is so bizarre though, how come some babies feed feed feed and mine is satisfied on small amounts?