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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

25 week old refusing bottle

12 replies

WhiteHeartRed · 31/08/2017 15:30

I am absolutely at my wits end. My LO has always been a very good feeder. She has FF since she was little but had reflux and colic which we managed.
She had up until recently been on 8oz every three hours until 7pm which was her last feed. Sometimes we would cry for more at the 7pm feed and would have 12 oz but would settle through the night. I was told due to her teething and waking up in the night to feed that I should introduce the dream feed back and solids which we did very slowly. She stopped wanting as much milk - fine - so her routine went out to every 4 hours.
She now won't have anything like her normal amount at 7am, 11am or 3pm and just screams, it's a total thrashing nightmare to get more than 3oz in her per feed. She is clearly very hungry but just can't seem to settle into drinking.
Her bottom two teeth are in, I have tried anbesol and calpol before the feed and all this is impacting her sleep I think. She won't nap - no more than an hour and a half all day if I am lucky spead out across three naps and she's waking overnight but totally refusing milk. What can I do? I just want it to be ok for her, I feel like I'm failing so fundamentally with her and I just don't know what to do. GP and HV have nothing to add - just a phase, will pass, but how am I supposed to feed her?!
Please help - and please be gentle. I am really not in a great place at the moment and I know I'm doing wrong, I just need advice to make this right.

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WhiteHeartRed · 31/08/2017 19:16

Anyone?

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NerosFiddle · 31/08/2017 19:20

Sounds like teething. My ds went off the bottle for every teeth that came through. As soon as the tooth broke he went back on the bottle.

usernameavailable · 31/08/2017 19:43

Where exactly do u thing your doing wrong? Your not.
Have you tried using various types of cups instead of bottle? Straw cup, tommy tippee beaker? Xx

usernameavailable · 31/08/2017 19:44

*you're

usernameavailable · 31/08/2017 19:45

Also, if u dont mind. What are her sleep, solids and milk times?

WhiteHeartRed · 31/08/2017 20:03

I just feel like feeding is such a fundamental part of caring for a baby and it has always been so wrong for us that I have to be failing massively.
We've tried one of the TT straw cups and that didn't work. We've bought some other sippee cups to try tomorrow as well as some Dr Brown bottles as we were told she could be associating our bottles with the stress she's had with her reflux and colic so we are going to give that a go.

Her schedule is:

7am bottle (massive battle)
8am solids - baby rice or porridge with some of the milk she's leaving over
9am nap (half hour if I'm luckily
11am bottle
12pm solids
1pm nap
3pm bottle
4pm solids
4:30 nap
7pm bath and bed bottle
11pm dreamfeed

She's cut two teeth. I can't see anymore. We use anbesol just in case however. It's just so hard going as she's waking through the night again, which wouldn't be a problem but she isn't hungry and will then only take 3-4oz at breakfast and even that is an massive struggle.

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usernameavailable · 31/08/2017 21:19

I can't see anywhere where I would change with routine. My daughter point blank refused milk from 9 months. She is fine. Instead of bottle i gave yoghurt/fromage frais and calcium rich puddings. She used to take 3oz of milk in the morning sometimes so i always offered it to her. At bedtime I gave her half a weetabix and a 3rd of a banana. This was mixed with 2oz of milk i think.
I know its not ideal but i needed to get calcium in her and to be honest I selfishly wanted a decent nights sleep. She slept through. I don't know how recommend this is by health visitors. But as a zombie Mummy who was tired of having a hungry baby I just did not care. She still won't drink milk now at 3 years old. It is something she can't stand. Yet she has grown perfectly. Im not sure how the weetabix will effect your dd with reflux.

usernameavailable · 31/08/2017 21:21

Oh and hang in there. We all feel crap sometimes. My 3yr old DD is still up because my 18 month dd is point blank refusing to go to sleep. She keeps getting out of bed and literally laughing at me when ai put her back in. Today as a Mum I have totally failed and not sure what the blinking heck I have done wrong

Robots1Humans0 · 31/08/2017 21:29

Could it be silent reflux ?? What's her tummy/poos been like, maybe an allergy? Xxx

WhiteHeartRed · 31/08/2017 23:15

Thanks User. It's nice to just get a pair of eyes over the routine even to confirm I'm not epicly messing up somewhere.

Robots - poos are normal. Tummy always rumbles and she has that awful thud sound in there sometimes when she drinks. She has been on ranitidine and it didn't seem to do much to be honest. Also gaviscon.

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usernameavailable · 31/08/2017 23:22

Its pretty much the routine I had for all 3 of mine. The nap times were different though with each child. My 18 month old still needs 2-3 naps per day and still sleeps through the night (except tonight she wanted to play instead)
Replacing milk feeds with fromage frais was amazing for us with DD. It doesnt work for everyone and obviously giving milk is much better.
Go get some rest, I hope you get a good nights sleep.
From one Mum to another NEVER feel like you are doing something wrong! Being a mum is a learning curve. I have 3 DDs and thought with my 3rd Id pretty much know it all! However she wants to let me know that I know nothing. I am constantly on phone to my Mum asking her for more ideas to resolve a problem.
I always say I love my kids more than anything but I honestly believe they are sent programmed to mess our heads up and confuse the crap out if us! 😂 xx

WhiteHeartRed · 01/09/2017 10:46

Thanks user. You have really helped me not feel like a total bloody failure - which is something I've felt a lot since my daughter was born. I'm trying hard to put all this in perspective and to realise that it won't last forever!

Another bad night - she wouldn't go down until after 9 and was unsettled all night. Woke at 4 and wasn't hungry, and was solidly awake until 6:30 when she went back to sleep?! Was an absolute fight to get anything into her - didn't want solids, didn't want milk. Eventually my husband gave her a sippy cup to try and got 5oz in her that way. Going to give the sippy cup a go with the next feed, or the new bottles if they turn up beforehand!

I think it's a lot to do with sleep as she ends up yawning her head off but won't nap for too long. She used to sleep through the night and wake lovely and hungry but doesn't now, and wakes up crabby, not hungry and generally difficult. Starting to think it's all related but exacerbated by her new bad sleeping patterns. Not sure how to fix them!

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