Help, please! DD STILL not eating properly, no weight gain for 6 weeks, keep being fobbed off...

[designerbaby]

I know, I've posted o this before, and you're all probably bored of me by now... but DD (almost 6 months) is drinking bugger all, every feed is a battle and takes and hour or more, just to get 4 oz into her. Today she did 3 paltry little feeds (2-3oz) and one giant one of 8oz...

She's not gained an ounce in 6 weeks and is seemingly constantly constipated...

Doctor prescribed lactulose for the constipation and said "if she's hungry she'll eat". HV are concerned about weight gain and keep telling me to "feed her more"...

No-one seems to have any useful advice about HOW I should do this...

I'm reluctant to continually battle with her at feed times, and stop when she gets red in the face and starts screaming, put the bottle back in the warmer and try again in 15 minutes or so, but each feed literally takes an hour or more, before I finally give up, by which time I'm usually in tears myself, although I try and hide it from DD lest she pick up on my anxiety.

But I feel it's my responsibility to get SOMETHING into her, so don't feel I can just let her have 2oz a feed and leave it at that.

I've tried feeding 2 hourly, in the hope that "little and often" would help - but she just took half as much, so that didn't work - plus we had twice the tantrums.

So, in short, GP was unconcerned and unhelpful, HV were concerned and unhelpful and I'm at the end of my rope.

Gave up BF when she started rejecting the boob, in the hope that FF would be more successful, (which it was in the short term) but things seem to be getting steadily worse, not better.

I don't know if I should crank up the solids to try and compensate for the lack of milk, or whether this will make things even worse.

My friend reckons it's just teething, but this problem has been getting steadily worse for 3 months or more... it can't just be that, can it? Tried using gel before feeds - seems to make no difference.

DD is happy and alert the rest of the time, rarely cries (apart from at feed time) and is a little sweetheart - but my goodness, she's skinny and seemingly living on air...

Should I go back to the GP and try and get a referral to a paediatrician or am I just a neurotic first time mum?

I'm just SO worried...

db
xx

DB, I am probably a neurotic first time mum too but I think you should get a referral because at the very least a paed should
a) reassure you as to how DD is
and
b) offer some advice!

I can't help you - have no advice - but just wanted to send you lots of hugs. She is probably fine, but I definitely think you should go back to GP and ask for the referral a) so you are reassured and b) in case there's anything that can help.

Hugs!

Thanks choc - hug much appreciated. Just feel like I'm going slowly bonkers...

db
xx

have you introduced solids yet??

DB, poor you, I would definitely go and get some help. I don't think it can just be teething, poor DD - sounds like maybe some pain for her when feeding in which case however much you try it's not going to be very nice for her. Couldn't tell if you have started solids or not from your post but in any case I would get thee to your GP on tuesday and say YOU NEED A REFERRAL TO A PAEDIATRICIAN. ASAP. Good luck, you have my sympathy and sure there will be someone along soon with more advice.

I really don't know what to say! I think after 6 weeks of no weight gain I would ask for a referral, presumably if she starts to lose weight then that would be an urgent referral. Is she interested in taking water because lactulose on milk alone I'm not sure is enough fluid IYSWIM?

What centile is she on now and what centile was she on 6 weeks ago? You say she is constantly constipated, how do you know this e.g. hard stool, straining to pass stool etc. Did she start doing this when you introduced formula? If so, have you thought of changing the formula to another type? Does she take solids? If so, does she readily accept solids or is it a fight to get them down her like the milk? Sorry so many questions, just trying to ascertain what point you are at. It can be very frustrating when professionals suggest that something is wrong but offer no support or advice in return.

Hi K999 - we started DD on some little bits of solids (baby rice, a few purées) about a month or so ago - only after she'd taken as much milk as I could get into her - figuring that any extra calories I could get into her would be a good thing. GP ok'd it. She took with gusto (only small amounts tho') to begin with, then went off them, so I stopped, not wanting solids to become a battleground too.

Reintroduced some recently (when she started grabbing food off my place, basically) and get mixed reactions - some days with gusto, some days practically nothing. Just trying twice a day now, at around 11.45ish and around bedtime, and again, only once I've got as much milk into her as I can.

Reluctant to move them to before her milk, as I don't want her to cut down on her milk any more than she currently is, (I reckon she averages about 20oz a day at the moment - some days a little more, some days much less).

Quaranta I think I will try the GP again, although it'll be my third attempt now. She smiles at him, tries to grab his stethescope and eat it, so I think he just sees 'happy baby with neurotic mum' and doesn't pursue it... Maybe he has a point, I don't know...

What confuses the heck out of me, is how today she can only take 2oz at one feed and then go ballistic, and then take 8oz at the next relatively easily...

Hi CarGirl She refuses water from a bottle (think it confuses her) so I've got her a little tommee tippee cup - she seems to get the principle and finds it quite a nice toy, but I don't think much goes in TBH. I've taken to offering her some water after her solids and between feeds to try and help the constipation. I don't know how successfully though...

I really don't want her to have to get to the point where she's LOSING weight (as opposed to not gaining) before someone will take it seriously...

db
xx

Sounds to me that she is actually taking to solids....dd2 was BLW and only ate little amounts but the main thing for me was that she was trying......I basically put out loads of different bits all throughout the day and let her take what she wanted....I was not too fussed about set meal times tbh......

does your lo take yoghurt, toast, cereal etc?

Sorry CJ... x posted with you...

7 weeks ago she was on the 50th centile - up until about 3 months ago she was tracking the 75th. She was on the 9th - that was two weeks ago, and I just had her weighed today and she hasn't gained at all so I imagine she's dropped down again.

I know she's constipated because she's only pooing on average every 3-4 days and when she does it's a real strain for her and it's a really solid little lump. She used to be a 3 imes a day girl.

She started on SMA, but when she became constipated at first I was advised by friends to change to Aptamil, which have done, but is no better. Tried the Aptamil easy digest but she wouldn't take it... Reluctant to keep switching around too much for fear of making matters worse...

Thanks everyone for your replies too...
xx

it's hard because my youngest was bf so I can't talk about quantities but once she weaned she dropped feeds at an alarming rate compared to my older 3. I don't think weight plateau around 6 months is particularly rare but you need to speak to an infant feeding advisor, even a bf counsellor would know how unusual non-weight gain is around that age.

Sorry CJ - tha was confusingly put...

at birth she was on the 98th
at 3 months she had been happily tracking the 75th centile for some time
at just under 4 months she'd dropped to the 50th
at 5 1/2 months (2 weeks ago) she was around the 9th
two weeks later (now) she hasn't gained at all.

Hope that's clearer...

you really need to get the constipation sorted asap, perhaps you need to speak to the gp solely about the constipation issue and explain that she isn't drinking enough fluids for the lactulose to be effective.

You could try to get small amounts of red grape juice into her, or califig - very tiny amounts of that though and it will take a few days to be effective.

Couldn't let this pass without lending my support my LO followed the same pattern and it was very stressful - so hugs for you. Here's a great support thread little acorns lots of experience on here.

I give a bottle of warm water for constipation. You could perhaps put a little drop of prune juice in, or, make a dried fruit compote (boil up prunes, apricots, apple, peach) in a little water, blend and give either as a puree or in babyrice or porridge.

Would you give BLW a go?

Good luck

Agree. Think you need to sort constipation out asap as this could be responsible for her feeling crappy and bloated, hence not wanting to eat. Once that is sorted, you will have a better idea. Go back to GP and discuss consipation - there are other medications that she can have. Also put the centile book in front of his/her face and point out centile drops. Suggest to him/her that constipation needs sorting so urgent referral to paediatrician please if GP unwilling to take any further action!! I know of parents who have used 'activia' yoghurt as an aide to constipation and sworn by it but these kids were fully weaned and over 1 yr old so wouldn't advocate that - discuss with HV/GP.

Thanks foxy - I'll check out the acorns thread...

I made a prune purée the other day, mixed it with her baby rice she wasn't that keen... but maybe mixed with some apple too will be a bit more tasty.

I am considering doing a bit of BLW - probably in tandem with some puréeing. I've started just offering her a bit of whatever I'm having (within reason) just to see if I can tickle her taste-buds with something, and because she seems interested...

Hi K999 - she's mostly on a bit of baby rice and a few basic purees, pear, apple, sweet potato, carrot etc. Like I said we're only just getting going again, and she's not taking very much... plus, as I said a little taste of whatever I'm having. She sucked a strawberry to death today...

db
xx

Hi designerbaby

Both dd2 and dd3 are exactly the same as your little one. I just posted a response to a similar thread.

My dd2 was very difficult to feed from the onset. Like you, it would take an hour to get 2 ounces into her and I was convinced she was starving herself. Paeds thought she was silent refluxing and that she had made a connection between feeding and pain. She was admitted to hospital where everyone had a go at trying to feed her but to no avail. She was eventually tube fed and given a hypoallegenic formula and it was hoped that she would learn to associate a full tummy full of food and no pain. She fed well for a week and then once again began to refuse the bottle. At 13 weeks her consultant told me to wean her. As you can imagine it was pretty difficult but we finally got there in the end. Granted she is extremely tiny now, 2.4 months and weighs 23lbs. However she is energetic, bright and a total joy.

Just recently my dd3 has started to behave in the same way. She is 11 weeks tomorrow and starting to behave like her sister did. I am worried about the lack of food and each feed I dread. She simpy wants 2 ounces and that's it. Obviously as her mum I want to see her eat and thrive and look like a big, healthy baby.

We're off to see the paeds in 2 weeks time, where I will insist they check for allergies, reflux etc. This time I want a diagnosis and a reason as to why she behaves in this way.

Just wanted to add that my LO (now 10 months, started weaning just after 6) has never been that keen on purees.

So I gave her what I give the other children, finger food for her in the shape of brocolli, carrots etc, then I'd mush up a bowl of it and spoon feed what I could get in. We did a few purees, but she just wasn't that interested. So I sort of did a BLW/spoon feeding combo.

Sitting up at the table with the others or us made a difference too.

have you tried giving her some unsulphured apricots to chew on? that always did the trick when dd was bunged up.

by the way, is 20oz a small amount of milk? what is the recommended at that age? somewhere in the dim and distant recess of my memory i thought it might be 18-30 oz per day, but i may be mis-remembering that and it may be for children of 1 and over.

and i don't know much about centiles and weight gain etc as i didn't track dd's (although my feeling was that she gained and plateaued and gained and plateaued) but i would ask for a paed referral just because you are worried and because of the constipation problems. no poiint the HV saying she's worried and then not actually giving you further help with it.

and i don't know much about centiles and weight gain etc as i didn't track dd's (although my feeling was that she gained and plateaued and gained and plateaued) but i would ask for a paed referral just because you are worried and because of the constipation problems. no poiint the HV saying she's worried and then not actually giving you further help with it.

hi there - i would have thought you need a referral to paeds now - i think she's actually dropping weight since she's crossing centiles downwards - likely to be something simple but since GP not being helpful i would insist on a referral now

good luck i know it can all be very worrying but since she's smiling and happy in between likely to be nothing serious

dropping centiles doesn't necessarily mean losing weight, but not gaining it as quickly as the chart says it should. The suggestion is a pound a week but that is a lot for a bf baby, bearing in mind weight gain ebbs and flows, growth spurts or not.

The current charts are being revised, they reflect the projected growth of ff babies in the '70's I believe!

Another MNer on our PN thread had the same issues as myself. Her HV told her to stop weighing the baby, mine told me to give formula.

We were referred as a matter of course. My GP said "As a mother I know she's fine, but my training as a doctor says I have to do this". Off we went, Paed took one look at her and said, nothing wrong here. It was a formality.

Thanks all for your help... Some brighter news today: after a paltry 100ml feed at breakfast, she did an enormous poo at about 10 (the lactulose seems to have finally worked) the cried for food at 10.45 (unheard of in itself) downed 180mls in one go with no whinging, then ate some sweet potato with gusto!

Now I know that 180mls isn't loads and a bit of sweet potato isn't going to fatten her up overnight, but for her it's really good, and SUCH and improvement on the last few days in particular.

Maybe it's just the constipation casing all this, and if we just keep going with the Lactulose things will be better? While I'm reluctant to give any medication long-term if it's avoidable, I'd rather that than the extended non-feeding we've been having. Anyone know anything about Lactulose and long-term usage?

Keeping everything crossed that it continues...

db
xx

fabulous! i love lactulose when i'm, er, backed up, i think it works really well. as far as i know it's just sugar that makes the poo softer, rather than a medicine to get her pipes moving iykwim? please try the apricots, though, i suspect they work on the same principle tbh, as a stool softener. if your baby likes sweet potato, btw, you should try these, they're really nice.

Bugger. Back down to 4oz.
Hoping it's just that she's still full of sweet potato...

Maybe she'll be good and hungry tonight...

db
xx