3 month old refusing milk

[Rxy99]

Hello guys.

It's 4am and I'm writing this because I really don't know what to do. My son sometimes only drinks 2 Oz of milk out of his usual 5oz and starts pushing out the teat with his tongue and turning his head side to side, completely refusing it. Even if I wait a bit sometimes he still doesn't. Sometimes he will drink the full 5oz or is okay 1 day but then another day he will do the same, just like now!

He was born prematurely at 36 weeks gestation and at 14 weeks and at 13 weeks he weighed around 11lb 9oz. He has apparently dropped down a percentile. I'm just waiting to see the GP on Wednesday, on the phone they said it doesn't sound too serious because he seems happy and sometimes drinks 5oz or more.

What shall I do in the meantime? I'm so tired and I don't know what to do when he's like this :(. I sort of don't want to force feed him if he is completely refusing the bottle in case he genuinely is full and hurt him.

He has silent reflux which has improved but he sometimes doesn't cry when refusing it, doesn't seem like it's a reflux issue but I'm not sure.. it was easier to get him to feed although there were a lot of cries when his reflux was worse before and he was gaining weight perfectly fine.

My little one was what drs called a bottle refuser. She would be great for a while but then suddenly she would refuse to drink any milk. We found changing the flow of teats helped and would change bottle brand as she sometimes just got fed up with the bottle and tear altogether. I would have a bottle ready for most of day when she was really bad with it and would try feed her small amounts more regularly.
could he have a tongue tie? It’s goof you’ve been in contact with dr to get him checked over. Do you have a health visitor or an infant feeding team in your area that you could contact for support?

@Hiddenvoice Thank you for your reply! Really appreciate it. I actually already use timmee toppee bottles and mam bottles and he refuses both of them at times, and they are number 2 tests, I've tried number 3 but it's way too fast for him and number 1 is too slow unfortunately :(. I have checked for tongue tie but there is none. I'm on aptamil 1 and I'm now considering changing the milk but the Dr said there's no need. Last night I managed to get the teat in his mouth and follow his initial head turns and got him to start drinking. It's taking an hour now each feed, it's so tiring! And if he doesn't drink it he gets hungry after the hour

Sounds like he's full. If he doesn't want it then don't force him. When he's hungry again give him some more. Formula is ok for 2 hours after being made I think, so if he's hungry in an hour then you can offer it again. Babies that young feed little and often, they aren't designed to have huge feeds and then not feed for hours, that's not natural and you shouldn't force it.
I'm sure if you feed him on demand as he wants them he can guide you. It's so harmful to override their natural fullness and can lead to issues later in life.

Thank you for your reply! That's what I also was thinking so sometimes I don't force it but the weight loss is the thing I'm worried about and that's the reason I started forcing him more. He used to have 4 to 5 Oz straight and now it's changed recently which is why I'm also confused why he's having less all of a sudden. Also sometimes for instance he had his feed at 4am last night. He woke up at 7am and I offered him milk and he completely refused it and wanted to sleep. He went then another 5 hours without feed and drank his milk in the morning. That was 2 Oz and then I waited about 30 mins before he finished it. It's just so confusing :(.

You're right about less milk more often so that's probably what I'll do now

@zurala

Ah it's a worrying time being in charge of growing a human! Your doctor and health visitors will keep an eye on growth, you can look out for plenty of wet and dirty nappies, and growing out of clothes. It does sound like normal baby behaviour, I hope you feel less anxious now ☺️

Hi,
I would love to know how things progressed for you with this as this currently describes exactly how my DD is behaving with feeds, as you say it is worrying and she has dropped in her weight so our health visitor has advised we speak to GP.
Would love to hear back about how things are going for you.
Thanks!!

Hello

Just searched for my worries at the moment and your thread came up! I’m so happy to read that someone else is going through similar to my baby! My baby was 30oz a day 6 x 5oz bottles was great. After his second set of jags we have been reduced to 20/23 ounces a day and I am so worried about the weight loss side of things. My son sleeps from 10pm til 6/6.30 in the morning and worry more because he is eating less and sleeping more. Apparently for a 6kg baby I’ve been told 20oz is minimum but I know he’s slightly heavier than that. I have tried less and more often sometimes works but wasting so much formula. Another trick is I give him 2oz and have a jug of hot water sitting as he’s taking the bottle warmer so can sometimes get another 2oz after that. It’s so stressful and I just feel like I’m going off on one. We also had a dry nappy for 13 hours and hospital weren’t concerned as he appeared “the picture of health”. Thanks for your reassuring post though.

Hello! @Rsd16 sorry I just noticed there were comments on my thread!

My baby is now 5 months and he drinks 6oz milk bottles every feed, sometimes a bit less and now a lot more in the mornings after a while night sleep. The health visitor weighed him and wrote the measurement on the red book wrong. The GP had a look and told me that he actually didn't drop any percentile, that he was on the same one and not to force him. He said he may just be full.

At that time he was only having 2oz a bottle, I would be feeding him more regularly. My health visitor visited shortly after the GP visit and weighed him again and said he was on the same percentile and to just trust him. She also told me to track his intake a day. Since then, I made a note on my phone and every day since then I track the time and how much I offer and how much he has drank. For instance "4.45. 6oz(offered). 6oz(drank). I did this and realised he was having around 30oz a day and I realised I just needed to trust him.

She came a month after again to weigh him and during this time, he improved greatly! He was having full bottles again and he actually went up a percentile. I don't know what it was, maybe it was just a phase. I make a lot less bottles now and it's 6oz bottles. He still sometimes takes an hour to feed, sometimes very quickly drinks it. Sometimes he just wants a break to play, which my health visitor said was absolutely fine.

Good luck and sorry for the late reply! If you have any more questions, do let me know

@KWalker13 sending you hugs! It's very stressful thinking your baby isn't having enough! I think it's just a fussy phase. Your doing absolutely great though! Your baby may just improve but I'm sure if your baby is gaining weight fine, he will be fine :)