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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

8mth old refusing solids, weight plumeting, do I give up bf? Ill with worry...

27 replies

magic123 · 30/08/2004 21:49

Hello I am having a nightmare and If anyone could shed any light or could offer advice I could really do with it. My baby girl has had a low weight gain since introducing solids at 4mths. I have been worrying about it but just putting it down to being fussy and teeth etc. She has gone off loads of my food and likes the odd jar and things with cheese in (which my HV said would be good to give her as it would build her up. I have also been trying to get her to take a bottle or cup (have tried them all) of formula everyday to no avail - the odd ounce thats it. (I start back at work 3 days a week next week). about 5 wks ago she started refusing solids alltogether for about a week, ended up ill with temp, bf all the time, diorrea and the odd vomit. Then she got better for a week and ate well, then it happened again same thing then she started eating a bit but not as well. Doc thought she might have a urine infection so when I dropped the sample of at the hosp they weighed her as part of the booking in formalities. She had lost 1.5 lb to my horror. Now weighing the same as she did when she was 4 mths. We ended up there all day and they said they would admit her if it wasnt for the risk of infection. They have done loads of tests etc and referred me to a paed. She ate quite well yesterday and then today it has happened again, refusal of solids. Obviously this has been accompanied by about 3 hrs of screaming in the night and crying in the day so I am very sleep deprived now. I cant cope with another week knowing she is loosing weight so quickly.

She looks so skinny and pale it breaks my heart to look at her. She just wants to bf all day now and all night and I am exhausted, stressed and depressed. My appetite has completely gone and I am worried my supply is just not enough. They mentioned the pos of Lactose intolerance at the hosp, I have been using dairy to cook with and formula for breakfast etc, so it could be that. Stopped now. She is also slightly anemic.

So - I really feel like she would be better on soya milk maybe but I dont know how to stop and if it would be really bad to do it now cold turkey when she is so thin or better in the long run for her. I know she will put up a fight as bf is such a comfort to her but just feel like I cant cope any more, I'm just crying all the time, I have loved bf and hate the idea of it ending in such a miserable way but just feel like such a failure. Cant go to work like this. Sorry to have such a rant but it all just came out. Do you think I should demand to see a pead straight away? Need some help

Magic

OP posts:

Lisa78 · 30/08/2004 21:52

Oh Magic, poor you, it sounds horrendous. I'm sure someone wiser than me will be along to give you some help, but all I can say is breastfeeding isn't all or nothing is it? Just cos you are going back to work doesn't mean you have to stop completely, you can express for those three days if you want, or do the morning and night feeds for example. And get some food down you, even if you don't feel like it, you need to keep your strength up to help her

moomina · 30/08/2004 21:56

Oh, magic, am so sorry. It's such a worry when they lose weight like that. My best friend went through the same thing with her dd although at a slightly earlier age. She lost loads of weight and it was down to a bad intolerance of lactose. She was given a special formula which helped massively and dd is now thriving beautifully but I'm really sorry I can't remember any more details. My friend did have to give up bf'ing but this may not be the case for you. Definitely see a paed and get your dd tested for lactose intolerance. Sorry if this is not much help - good luck xx

Original poster

magic123 · 30/08/2004 21:57

Thankyou Lisa, I know that was what I was planning to do morning and night and hopefully she would have taken a bottle from someone at nursery during the day but I am worried that she needs something more to help her put on weight. Even when she has been well she only takes about half a 4mth jar.

Thanks for the support
Magic

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twick · 30/08/2004 21:57

Poor poor poor you magic 123, you must be so worried. My dd is now 22 months and has always been a small eater, skinny little thing. It took her ages to get into 'solids' (hate that word!) so I b/f her as much as she wanted. She also had a cow's milk allergy so a lot of the things you can give like yoghurts etc. to 'fatten them up' weren't possible for her. I found that goats formula in some cereal with a bit of fruit was quite liked by her and seemed a reasonable addition to her meagre diet, also she loved those little vanilla soya desserts which are very high in protein and calcium, don't need to be refrigerated either so good to take out. My dd didn't have sickness and diarrhea at all though so it's worth getting her checked out. Otherwise be confident that your breast milk will be the best thing she can have.

How is she otherwise in herself and in her development? Is she a happy baby or does she seem unwell and uncomfortable? Although my dd was always little, because she was developing on cue that allayed a lot of my worries and she only had to see a paed because of her allergies.

Original poster

magic123 · 30/08/2004 21:59

Thanks moomina, its just such a hideous concept at the moment. I can imagine she is going to go mad for a couple of days.

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Original poster

magic123 · 30/08/2004 22:03

Most of the time she is a wonderfull happy laughing cheeky girl, but has been a bit fractous recently and not very energetic understandably. She is now on the 2nd centile for weight and the 99th for height. Do you think it sounds like a lactose intolerance? - if so annoying it hasnt been picked up as I have been going on to doc and HV for months now and they just say the same thing - fussy eater, teeth...

Thanks for the help tho
Magic

OP posts:

moomina · 30/08/2004 22:03

It may not be that at all, it's just the only thing I have any experience of Please try to keep in mind the old chestnut that if you have bf'ed for this long already then your dd will have had loads of good stuff from you. But it is the comfort thing that's so hard to break, for you and her, isn't it?

I really would recommend seeing a paed, and then once you have a better idea of what exactly is happening, then you will be in a better position to make a decision and hopefully it won't be too awful for you both. I do feel for you.

twick · 30/08/2004 22:03

p.s. it took AGES for my dd to drink any kind of milk from a bottle. I went back to work 2 days a week when she was 7 months old but she stayed with dp and he used to bring her into town (from South to North London!!) for a lunchtime b/f we were so worried about her weight. Fortunately at 9 months she would accept expressed b/m from a bottle and then went on to drink goat's formula so by 12 months old she was down to 2 b/f a day which I continued until she was 18 months old with no problems.

It will be hard going back to work, especially the first couple of months. But once things have settled down you will probably find it's quite a welcome break to your week. So long as you don't have to do a hideously physical job of course! I always treat going to work as a bit of a rest. Lunchbreak, sit down, chat, coffee when I feel like it, etc. etc. .

Original poster

magic123 · 30/08/2004 22:06

Thanks for the advice, I feel like I should be cutting down because of return to work but just want to feed her all day. Maybe I should try her on a bottle of expressed. Its good to hear other people have small eaters. All my friends babys wolf down their food and bottles! Cant leave her at the nursery like this tho - think I will try and postpone going back.

OP posts:

twick · 30/08/2004 22:07

Well, my dd's lactose intolerance never led to her vomiting or having diarrhea. It was immediate and quite severe. As soon as cow's milk had touched her mouth her lips would swell up and she'd get a raised bumpy rash on her chin. Her eyes would run, she'd sneeze madly and scream her head off. The first time it happened was at about 5 months old when I tried her with a spoon of yoghurt. I was at my mums and we were terrified and had to take her to A&E for an antihistamine jab which eased it instantly. When she had the allergy tests it showed she couldn't have milk, eggs, fish, nuts. She's fine with milk now but still can't have any of the others.

twick · 30/08/2004 22:09

If you can postpone then I think I probably would until you've got her a bit more resolved food / milk wise. The nursery would probably appreciate that too.

twick · 30/08/2004 22:09

twick · 30/08/2004 22:10

Agh!! Sorry for those repeats, I've NO idea how that happened.

jamiesam · 30/08/2004 22:18

Magic
Sorry to hear how much your little girl is struggling. As Lisa says, some of the Mumsnet experts will advise you better (than I can) but from my experience;

My eldest son developed a mild lactose intolerance after period of bad bad diarrohea (spelling?). Dr not keen to advise soya milk, and hv recently advised me that this is mainly because soya not nutritionally as good as formula. However, at least you could talk to Dr or similar about using it for a short period of time given your circumstances. However, believe intolerance to your milk due to your own diet is pretty rare - maybe someone else could advise if you're better to eat dairy to keep bm production up (my own view) or cut out to test for intolerance.
Do talk to someone about expressing at work, or just lots of bf when you are at home. I did expressing at work, but does take lots of support from boss/colleagues as quite time consuming. However, I've also read lots of threads where baby won't take a bottle, and gets all the milk needed in evening/night/morning. I know that sounds really hard work, but maybe if it came to that, it would give you and your baby time to sort out whatever the main problem is.
Agree, you need to press to see Dr/paediatrician to sort this out. Must admit, my personal experience is that Drs tend to want to 'give it a bit more time' to see if things sort themselves out. Guess they probably often do in the end, but doesn't really help when you want an answer and a healthy baby now.
Second son remains reasonably healthy weight, but only put 1kg on since Xmas. Lots of issues around different stages of weaning for us. He absolutely refused bottle until cold turkey at nursery - fine with a bottle since then though, so good luck. He is currently going through stage of only eating finger food (freezer full of purees no bloody use then) Wish you loads of luck as it does sound like you're having a really hard time at the moment.

frogs · 30/08/2004 22:23

Poor you, magic.

Just to reassure you on the small appetite front, my dd2 is 8 months, and on the small side despite being 9lb 5oz at birth. Half a 4-month jar is pretty much her standard intake unless it's something she really likes, and often she'll only take a couple of spoonfuls before losing interest.

Does your baby have particular favourites wrt to solids? Maybe things where you could substitute expressed bmilk for formula, such as ready-brek or rice pudding? My dd will always eat banana, and when I get worried she hasn't eaten anything I do tend to go back to that.

It's brilliant that you can still bfeed her, I'm sure that will help get her back on track. Also it must be v. comforting for her, especially if she's feeling under the weather.

I would definitely see a paed asap before trying out drastic changes in diet like introducing soya or giving up bfeeding.

Hope things get better for you soon.

Original poster

magic123 · 30/08/2004 22:31

Thanks for all your advice, going to bed now as I know I will probably be up in a while. I feel better about carrying on bf now - I just wish I new what was causing these by weekly hunger strikes - she sounds in a lot of pain now when she wakes for a feed. I'll just have to be patient and see what the pead says.

feel better having chatted about it - horrible when you feel like you are on your own.

Magic

OP posts:

jamiesam · 30/08/2004 22:35

Hope you slept well
Just spotted lactose intolerance thread in allergies on the go tonight. Might include some advice of help to you

pupuce · 30/08/2004 22:39

I have no time to read any of the replies but my quick reaction is don't stop the breastfeeding if that is ALL she'll eat... it has many calories! Don't understand why you want to introduce soya??? There are babies who still only have breastmilk by the age of one... so it is NOT unheard of !
Have you tried finger food ?

honeybunny1 · 31/08/2004 00:33

Hello there. Just saw your msgs about your dd.
Have you tried using soya milk for cooking and breakfast and then using soya products for feeding. But keep the bf going because she is probably not feeling great and that would be a comfort. Also do you guys have "reflux" over there (ireland calling). My friend argued with doctors for a year about her dd. Your story sounds familiar - food won't stay down-poor appetite etc. Might be a long shot but when you are this worried I say rule out nothing.

Take care and mind yourself - she still needs you to be well while you sort this out. Also tip from another friend - the bf mother should not be the one to introduce bottles - dad should do it. he smells different !!!! and definetly no hope of getting a feed from his boobs!!!

Night night from ireland

tiktok · 31/08/2004 08:43

Magic, hope some of these replies help you.

To reassure you: your diet will not affect the availability of quality breastmilk for your baby. There are plenty of threads on this. Stopping breastfeeding seems an odd choice if you are concerned about her calorie intake...feeding all the time is likely to be a temp thing but it is something that will help her weight gain, not hinder.

Soya formula has risks, though it is obviously an option if a baby cannot take other formula or breastmilk. You can google on this to find more, or search on these boards.

But nothing in your post makes me think stopping bf will help in any way at all. If it's an issue of gettiing more calories into her, then there are several ways of doing this without stopping bf.

I hope you find reassurance and support.

aloha · 31/08/2004 10:08

How old is she now? It's perfectly OK for a baby not to eat solid food and rely on breastmilk, which as others have said is full of calories and she's clearly been fine on it up to four months so nothing wrong there.

Papillon · 31/08/2004 10:33

I exclusive bf until 8 months as dd was not at all interested in food unless it was abit of finger food.

Perhaps try her with abit of finger food and then attempt some food from the spoon. I give my dd porridge with fruit and flax seed for breakfast and if she needs some encouragement I give her a piece of bread to get the ball rolling.

Hope things improve for you and your dd soon

geogteach · 31/08/2004 16:00

I'd try finger food as others have suggested DD ate no spoon food until 10 months! Did eat some finger food but nothing compared to the amounts babies similar ages were eating. She is now 15 months and eats far better than her brother, having said that still refuses at nursery and survives there on bread and fruit she feeds herself!

Original poster

magic123 · 31/08/2004 21:21

Thankyou all for support and advice, I was at a bit of a low point last night! Feel much better now and am not going to give up bf. Went to the hospital this morning and too my amazement the origional scales reading that freaked us all out was a mistake and she is actually the same weight as before, not put any on but she has been ill.

What a relief. Different doc has diagnosed throat and ear infection after bad stomach bug and she is now on plenty of calpol, antibiotics and has eaten a decent lunch and dinner. She seems to like soya formula and drank about 2oz from a beaker. I'm going to keep to non dairy for 3 wks as aparently they can be sensitive to lactose after a virus. So I'm not going to give up bf thank god - I think that was one of the reasons I felt so down as I felt I might have to and it would be so sad.

Am trying more finger food and it does work - I can slip in some extra spoons when she opens her mouth - she seems to really love feeding herself so I think this is just a phase until she is able to become more independant. Strong minded little lady! Onwards and upwards,

Magic
tip for fussy eaters - she absolutely wolfed down the alpro soya yoghurts for lo's

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