Baby not feeding more than 2oz

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Hi, my little girl is 12 weeks old and literally it is a battle to feed her more than 2.5oz. She just stops when she gets to this point. And it is KILLING me.

Some background to us, she was jaundice for the first month, just under the phototherapy line so it took ages to clear again due to poor feeding/lethargy. All that is cleared. I’ve had her tongue tie cut twice now (1 week old and 11 week old). I’ve seen an osteopath. I’ve been to the GP who gave us some infant gaviscon. And I still cannot get more than 2.5oz into her. I ring the health visitor every week and they just don’t seem to care because she’s gaining weight, weeing, pooing etc. She weighs just shy of 13lbs now, she was 8.7 at birth. But believe me getting her to put that weight on is very much an effort from myself to make sure she achieves it. I’m currently on the MAM bottles but I just don’t know what else to do. We were on Dr. Brown initially but she seemed better on the MAM for a good seal and less leakage (which pains me because I really liked the De Brown with my first baby).

I just don’t know what else to do or think. I’m quite a resilient person, I never cry (my husbands the crier) but I have cried every day this week out of worry/frustration so much so it’s starting to affect my appetite and I can barely eat.

Has anyone else experienced this and have any pearls of wisdom? I didn’t know if it was a feeding aversion? It’s not a bottle aversion as she doesn’t cry or stress at the sight of the bottle. The only way I can get 4oz into her is during a dream feed. I would love, love, love to be able to get 5-6oz into her at some point, awake.

What teat size are you using? Has she been checked properly for tongue tie?

She’s on the size 2 teats. Yes I’ve gone private both times for the tongue tie cutting. It was an anterior and posterior tie 😕

Are you feeding too regularly though ? If she is getting 2oz say every 2 hours she wouldnt want more but if you could get her to 3-4 hours between feeds would she take more ? Mines only 8 weeks and still taking 2 oz but if she sleeps longer and is overdue a bottle will happily take 3oz

You sound v stressed and it’s understandable. But the facts are that your daughter is gaining weight and is weeing and pooing. That shows you she is taking what SHE needs. Earlier health issues are probably contributing to your anxiety.

Be watchful of your anxiety as it will detract from this very special time and infants can pick up on it. If your baby is alert and putting on weight, it sounds like it’s all good.

Take care 😀

She does feed every 3-4 hours and still only takes 2.5oz. Believe me I try stretch it out to encourage hunger (safely, of course!) but it still doesn’t get any more into her 😕

She'll get there, my baby was similar. Even at six months she 5oz was a good bottle. If she's gaining weight, please try and relax. I know it's easier said than done, but in hindsight I wish I worried about it all less!

Currently going through the exact same issues with my 12 week old. Born a chunky baby and putting weight on, but is dropping on her centile growth chart. We were told she doesn't have tongue tie but I may look into this - got her on infacol and size 2 Teats for tommee tippee bottles and still no joy. No real advice, but I feel your battles as we never had this with our first either!

I can imagine how frustrating it must be but she is gaming weight. Is she bright and alert at times too OP?

Which milk is she on?

Also going through this so i really sympathise, OP. In fact i have my own thread about a very similar tale. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/5116436-at-my-wits-end?reply=136855242

We have been assessed by SALT. I was surprised at first but its because they also deal with the mechanics of sucking and swallowing. They have identifed some issues in the structure of my DD's mouth, which may be causing issues (in addition to a 90% tongue tie which wasnt identified until 7weeks), and so have referred us to paeds. Were currently waiting to be seen. My HV referred us to SALT, so it might be worth enquiring about this as well?

Im sorry you are going through this as well - its unbelievably frustrating! The only thing that has worked for us whilst we are waiting for paeds is literally doing 30ml then a 5-10mins burp break, then another 30ml, then 5-10mins burp break etc. Spreading the feed out over an hour tends to get us to around 100-120ml, which is allowing us to maintain her centile line at least (16weeks and she is around 5kg at the minute).

She is gaining, and i do take comfort in that, but like I say it’s very much a conscious effort from my husband and I. Oh yeah when she’s awake she’s beautiful.. honestly, her smile absolutely melts me. It is the best. So cheeky. We do tummy time, she’s so good at tracking and observant. Coo’s and what not. It literally is just the volume of feed I’m struggling with and the unsettledness after. She should be having around 810-840ml/day for her weight and yesterday we had 580 😳
Literally my husband is trying to wind her in front of me as we speak and she’s crying, won’t bend on his knee to wind, she’s better upright so he’s just popped her over his shoulder and she’s settled.

Shes on cow and gate. She was on Kendamil at first but it seemed to constipate her? Which was a shame because I’ve heard so much good stuff about Kendamil. We tried HIPP yesterday but she wasn’t a fan..

Hi
Have you looked into silent reflux? My friends baby had it and all sounds a little similar. Although if they are gaining weight? Every baby is different - my little boy was on 6/7 oz every 2 hours and the one day had 36 oz.
If your baby has silent reflux then you can get special milk from the doctors x

Thank you for messaging, I do suspect it. Sad it’s taken this long though for any health professional to suggest it. I went to the GP yesterday with this as my suspicion and he gave us the infant gaviscon and referred us to paeds. He didn’t want to though I could tell (he’s relatively new).. he thought it was an aversion but I kind of had to use my position (I work in the NHS and I am pretty good at what I do) for him to recognise I’m half clued up with what I’m talking about.

Honestly, I’ve had HV tell me that she might be just a grazer, I’m worrying over nothing because she’s gaining, lots of things to make out I’m neurotic but you know when you know somethings not right?

Op, just another thought after your comment on my thread. In the last week, my DD's feeds have got slightly better and it has coincided with her starting to poke her tongue out more. Her tongue tie division was over 8 weeks ago now and whilst we did all the stretches and exercises and things, i wonder if its just taken loads longer for improvements than the 4-6weeks all the information said? Maybe she has just needed to build up tone in her tongue to become a more effective feeder? Could it be the same for you? Especially if she had anterior and posterior ties?

I think there could be something in that, I genuinely think the tongue needs to relearn and develop strength following the division, so I am trying to be patient. We’ve ordered an O ball today as well as our tongue tie practitioner recommended to get one as they love to poke their tongues through the holes.

I have no real advice, but that was my DS at that age, everyone else's baby seemed to love milk and drink a whole bottle - whereas we ended up feeding little (and tried to do it more often, even if it just meant an extra 0.5oz!).

It was a tough time and our day was tracking how many oz's he'd have and tracking. He was also dropping centiles which didn't help!

When he started to enjoy solid food more it all got better and he now still loves his morning and evening cows milk at 2 years old.

Oh this is lovely to hear. I know you shouldn’t wish time away but this is making me look forward to weaning to a degree because at least she’s having something different and can get some calories from elsewhere.
I’m the same. I track every bottle, count every ounce. Just to make sure we’re OK.

OP not much advice but my DS is similar, he is 14 weeks and will only take about 3oz at a time. He also hates cold milk so feeding little and often is a pain as I have to keep warming it up! He was born on the 2nd centile and is still just below it so we do get a lot of support from the health visitor. I suspect he might have CMPA and have another thread on it.

Is she fussy at the bottle or just full? Does she seem in pain afterwards? We have infant gaviscon but that does make him constipated if we use too much, not sure if that coincided with your use of Kendamil?

My DS also loves the readymade formula, it’s so expensive we can’t afford to feed it every time but I give a bottle of that per day, he drains it and it keeps him regular too. Not sure if you’ve tried that?

I hear you with the temp, my other little girl was like this, still is tbf and she’s 4! 🙈

She can be fussy at bottle at times, just plays around with it or snubs it/turns her head, tongues it out. She can seem unsettled afterwards, so I always try to make sure she winds and keep her upright but winding her is difficult at times. She does not want to part with it 😩
the infant hacks on has been whilst she’s on cow and gate but already the texture in her stool has changed so I know it’s going to bung her up even more which is then another battle to face. It’s like a viscous circle.

it’s funny you should say about the pre made formula, my sister has literally just been saying this to me! Her little boy loves it too more than the machine (Baby Brezza) made milk!

You can get the benefit of the gaviscon without giving a full dose. My DD1 had awful reflux but just half of one sachet was enough to settle her without causing too much constipation. If I'd given her the full amount as per the instructions, then she def would have been very blocked up!

@Pinkstuffs have you tried using the 1litre bottle of ready made formula? I know C&G definitely do one. We use it when we go to stay with family for ease, and whilst its more expensive than powder, it works out cheaper than the little 200ml bottles. I think its about £4 for 1l?

I’ll be honest, if the 2 sachets settle her I’d be tempted to try scale it back at some point in the foreseeable if I could. She can only have 6 doses a day but because we make THAT many bottles a day it’s hard to know which ones to put the gaviscon in because she might only have an oz out of it 😳

I only use 3 sachets of gaviscon per day, if was trial and error to see how many we could get away with before he was too constipated. It seems to settle him a bit. @Slowfeedingbaby my baby has Kendamil and they don’t seem to do a big bottle yet which is frustrating! If another brand does one cheap enough I might switch as he really does enjoy the premade.

Just wondering if you e tried a comfort formula?

My DD did this. It was reflux. I would speak to the GP again. In the end I would just do tiny regular feeds. You could try thickening the milk with carobel - this helped a bit. I think you can use it instead of rather than as well as Gaviscon amd you need a variflow teat. We ended up needing special formula, carobel and reflux medication.

Don't put her on side two the flow will come out too quick she might not like it coming out so fast

Sounds like reflux

Try thicker reflux /comfort milk

Also I tend to go up a size teat each month so at 12w /3mths I wouid try size 3

She may get bored /tired of sucking hence the smaller amount

She may dribble slightly to begin with as learns how hard she needs to suck to get the flow right for her