Baby not crying for feeds

[Theresa1988]

My 7 week old doesnt cry for feeds or show much interest in them. Only taking 2-3 oz 3 hourly does anyone else have this problem? X x

Can see why that would be concerning....what has the Hv said and what is your baby's weight history?

HV agreed its not right but doctor said they will just monitor it as she is gaining weight. Born 8.3 now 10.2 and 7 weeks. Was taking more before but now isnt x

One friend who has three kids told me that in her experience babies don't cry when exhausted due to being hungry. Mine is 7 weeks old and if I don't hear his cry immediately during the night I realized his cry gets weaker.

If that is a fairly smooth weight gain over several weeks I can understand why gp says monitor it - and at her weight now you'd expect her to take something like 25 oz of milk in 24 hours....how close is she to that?

Well as the last few days shes only started to take 2oz 3 hourly she would only be having 18oz for the 24 hours which i feel isnt good but gp wasnt too concerned.
Shes happy in herself and its like shes just not hungry and therefore doesnt cry.

Hi OP, can't remember amounts but my baby always took small feeds except during a growth spurt, i think if she's gaining weight and having wet/dirty nappies then it sounds fine, just worth keeping an eye on.
Though mine did yell when she was hungry.
Does she like the milk? Mine got started on Aptamil, got changed to Nutramigen at 8 weeks old (to rule out an intolerance) and while on that her feed amounts plummeted to around 13oz a day as she hated the milk.
Soon got her back on Aptamil!

I havent actually tried a different milk apart from the comfort one which was no diff. Do you think a diff one might help? X

How long has she been on her current milk, i know i was told not change too frequently as it can cause a tummy upset, if been a few weeks a change could be worth a try, i used Aldi Mammia and baby loved it plus o found it less bubbly than Aptamil which meant less wind for baby

Yes she is very windy and dont feel the bubbles help. She is currently on aptamil 1 i may try a diff one to see if it helps x

Don't change the milk! If your baby is content and happy with the amount she is having then that's fine. The guidelines on the box are just that, guidelines. And they usually over-estimate because at the end of the day they want you to buy more formula.

If baby is having regular wees and poos and isn't distressed or difficult to wake then she's probably fine.

That may have been why baby didn't take much, might have been full from the gas x

Are you winding properly? Have you tried infacol?

Yeah infacol did help alittle will keep using it x

My DS never took large feeds. He had silent reflux and hated feeding but always gained really well and was healthy. I think the largest feed I ever got in him was 7oz and that was at 13 months! When he was small it was always 2oz, then 3oz an hour later etc. Once we got to 16 weeks he only ever dreamfed then I could get maybe 4/5oz in him at a time. I basically had a bottle on the go pretty much constantly (binned after 2 hours and a new one made - the waste!) and just fed bit by bit. Exhausting.

Does your DC have any silent reflux symptoms? It's surprisingly common. Fussiness during feeds (coming on and off the bottle a lot, turning head away, feed refusal) crying and needing to be upright after feeds, twisting legs up, spitting out little mouthfuls of clear liquid, foul smelling mouth, being quite snotty/mucousy? How are his nappies? Cows Milk Protein Allergy is also common, often runs hand in hand with reflux and results in sludgy/explosive green nappies.

Also, if you're having trouble with wind, Dr Brown's vented bottles were a game changer for us. A million miles better that the TT ones we were using. A faff to clean but brilliant and come in packs of 2 to try so not too expensive to give them a go.

Yes shes being treated for silent relfux so i think that is most likely whats making her not great at feeding. She was on gaviscon but got bunged up so noe just on ranitdine. She hates feeds but just have to keep trying... she does all the signs you say with the feeds.

Oh ok that explains it then. Completely normal for a SR baby to feed this way annoying and exhausting as it is. They either take small, frequent feeds as it hurts or guzzle loads as in some cases the milk soothes the burn.

Ranitidine only worked for us for a few weeks. It's very weight sensitive so make sure you get her weighed weekly and he dosage amended accordingly. DS ended up on Omeprazole suspension with the ranitidine which helped no end. My DS grew out of his almost overnight at 7.5 months. It was a long 7.5 months though!

Good luck, it's hard work with a refluxer. I wouldn't change the milk, unless advised by a HCP.

Ok thanku she does feed 3 hourly so not too frequent but still only 2-3 oz at the minute x

My baby is on ranitidine and I saw results for the similar symptoms after 1 week and much better after 2 weeks. I read it may stop working after a while. I'm interested now on trying hypoallergenic formula to make sure allergy or intolerance to milk is not contributing. He has a few symptoms suggestive of possible allergy.

Small frequent feeds are actually better for her reflux.