7-8 week old eating much less

[clingon1012]

I've posted a similar post previously but just seeing if anyone can advise. My LO is 8 weeks old tomorrow but since last Monday he's been eating noticeably less than usual. Currently combination feeding, but he has been refusing to nurse so mostly giving expressed milk plus formula. He was 4.8kg the Tuesday prior to the monday where he started feeding less and he is probably taking 350-450ml a day which is nothing, plus an hour or two total a day of breastfeeding (I try to offer for each feeding and he latches on for a few minutes on each breast before crying and refusing anymore so it adds up) - not sure how much he is getting from breast feeding, of course. Each feed can vary, he may take 30ml only or 90ml. Sometimes very fussy and a feed can be spread over half an hour.

I took him to the paediatrician on friday (so after 4 days of feeding badly) and he said he is eating about half the amount that he should (which I knew). He did some checks, no mouth issues like thrush, chest and lungs all clear. LO has had reflux so we thought may be the acid making him uncomfortable so we have been given a proton pump inhibitor to see if it helps. We've given it once daily for three days now but his appetite still hasn't returned, and he's still crying at the breast.

He is napping more than usual but he was a horrible napper before so even though he's napping more, he's still on the lower end of sleeping hours for a typical newborn (around 13-14 hours a day of sleep now compared to the 10-12 average before), and when he's awake he's alert and smiling and chatting. No fever. Have wet and dirty nappies (at least one big poop a day, often two). He also gained 200g weight and 2cm length over that time.

Has anyone experienced anything similar and when will it end? I'm just anxious he'll start losing weight or becoming dehydrated at this rate... he's really barely eating 😭 Of course I will go back to the paediatrician if it gets worse or no improvement after 5 days of the medication (apparently full effect is roughly 3-4 days) but I am hoping to have some advice from fellow parents who have gone through this too.

Hey @clingon1012 dud things get better? Or did you get any answers? Going through the same with my EBF seven week old

@SoOver Hi do you mean same as in crying when nursing? Asking as I noticed my son drinking less as we combo feed but if you exclusively breast feed you wouldn't know how much baby is drinking, so want to give you the correct reply rather than a long winded one !

Crying after a couple of minutes and unlatching at the breast, been told baby might have reflux but surely she’d still be eating a good amount so she isn’t hungry. I’ve tried giving a bottle but she’s refusing that too

@SoOver Have you tried different nursing positions? There's a sitting position which is good for reflux babies. If she has reflux its likely causing her discomfort when in a lying position nursing so she is crying?

For me, I think his appetite was partly affected by the 6 in 1 vaccine he had at 6 weeks old... I assume your baby just had that vaccine too?

My paediatrician did suggest I do some weighed feeds just so we can see how much baby is actually taking in during breast feeding. Basically weigh them before breastfeeding in a clean nappy, then weigh after in a clean nappy. Supposedly its roughly 1g = 1ml so you can work out how much baby drank. But its stressful so only do it if you are ok 😵‍💫

We stayed overnight in hospital to see why my baby was refusing feeds, such as checking O2 levels whilst feeding and urine infections but nothing was wrong, just found he was rubbish at nursing as he can take in like 20-30ml only when nursing for 30 mins. Then he's super tired so can't drink anything from a bottle. Doctor told me to express milk to feed for a few days and I've done it ever since. Thank goodness he is feeding well now... but no more nursing for me... he still cries 🥲