Hi all,
My DD (5months, 1 week) has always been tricky to feed - after a good start (breastfeeding came quite naturally, no pain or anything, good initial weight gain) by about 2.5 / 3 months she has been very difficult to feed, sucks for a couple of minutes, (5 tops), pulls off, won't be coaxed back on, wait a bit, try again, another couple of minutes... but just recently she's been getting a lot worse. It feels like every meal time is a battle, and I keep trying for about an hour each time before giving up.
She rarely cries for food - I just feed her 31/2 to 4 hourly anyway... I tried just leaving it until she asked once, but after 5 1/2 hours without her being even remotely bothered I gave in and fed her. She fed for about 3 minutes...
She has been gradually dropping down the centiles for weight - at a 9lb 8oz birthweight she was on the 98th centile - now she's on the 10th.
I spoke at length to my HV about the problems I was having getting her to feed - she just nodded, said "well lets weigh her and see where she is", did so, noted that her weight gain wasn't great and helpfully said "hmm yes, she's dropped down a bit - er, you should probably try and feed her more."
WTF?
I've tried replacing the 2.30/3pm feed with a bottle of formula to try and see if it was a problem with my milk/letdown. On a good day she'll take 120ml, om a bad day only about 60ml. Yesterday she took 160ml and I did a dance around the house for half an hour I was so happy... but then she wouldn't feed at all at bedtime which kind of canceled it out.
Because she's not feeding properly I feel like my supply is getting less and less - should I go over to bottles entirely to rule out at least one variable? (ie I know then it's nothing to to with the supply/taste/letdown) At least then I know that it's there if she wants it and there's nothing stopping her from getting it (she takes a bottle no problem). Also I've been told that formula is more calorific...
Father in law, who's a GP, suggested trying her on some solids about 3 weeks ago, which I did, she finds the whole experience quite fun, and initially took to them with gusto, but now the amount she's taking of solids is getting less and less too, and I feel like I've f*cked it all up even more by giving her solids too early.
Otherwise she's a dream baby, sleeps well at night (has been sleeping through since about 3 months of her own accord). She has a dream feed at 10.30/11pm where she will regularly take 120mls - TBH this is the easiest feed of the day.
She's perfectly happy and contented, so long as I'm not trying to get food of any kind into her... it's the only time we have tears, really. People say, "well don't worry, she'll take what she needs" but I can't help but think this is rubbish, because she's clearly not gaining as she should.
I just feel like we should be over this erratic behaviour by now... I get so envious when I see friend's babies feeding contentedly for 20 minutes or so, while I'm trying to wrestle my little girl onto the boob to get her to feed for 5 minutes...
It's been months of this now, and frankly I'm at the end of my tether. I dread each feed time.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
DB
xx