3 month old feeding suddenly gone to pot

[brucebogtrotter]

Hi all
My little boy is bottle fed and has been on anti reflux milk since he was 4 weeks old. Great, putting on weight nicely. Just in the last week though, he's had real difficulty feeding - giving all his feeding cues but absolutely refusing to take a bottle, giving it a few gulps at best, wriggling, batting it away with his hand. Very often appearing hungry though. I'm going to get him weighed on Wednesday and if he's plateaued or lost, that'll be my cue to really worry.

In the meantime, any ideas?

Could he be teething, or getting a cold?

I can't see any signs of teeth in his gums. He's my first baby though, so I don't know - does it sound like teething? He doesn't seem otherwise ill.

It could be teething as sore gums can make the bottle uncomfortable in their mouths. You could try a numbing teething gel before a feed and see if it makes a difference.

Also, maybe try a different teat size?

Ahhh ok. I'll try a numbing gel then. I didn't think he'd be old enough yet to teethe. I can't change the teat size because the reflux milk is so thick. Fingers crossed!

I think the pp meant a bigger teat size...is he already on size 3s?

He's on the variflow teats because they're the only ones that would work with the reflux milk.

Is he getting nosey and distracted? DS2 is 3 months and BF but he's just hit a really distractible phase- gives feeding cues but then mucks about looking at anything and everything. He feeds best in quiet rooms where nothing else is going on. Might be worth a try.

Yes, he does like to look round actually. Thanks for that - bought some numbing gel today so I'll try that and the quiet room.