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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

This is worrying me a bit, can you come and chill me out please??

11 replies

chunkypudding · 05/05/2008 20:49

My ds (who is a pfb I guess so that could explain my possibly over-anxious state) is pretty much refusing feeds for the bulk of the day.

I posted on here recently at the beginning of this when he was starting to feed less, but the past 2 days he'll only really go on the boob for a couple of minutes, and will go for hours on just this.

He's been having nasty teething pains and is also utterly distracted by the slightest thing (was a couple of minutes into a feed today when dp opened an envelope and that was it! 'ooo daddy what's that noise? hello daddy I got big smiles for you' etc etc. No more interest in food...)

He is pretty happy, though more highly-strung than usual and going from smiles to tears at great speed, and generally getting a bit more wound up than usual.

He seems to be waking more at night and having bigger feeds than normal then, which obv wouldn't be my choice but at least he's getting some food.

Wees and poos still happening, poos like bright yellow paint and not at all 'seedy' iykwim.

I know thanks to mn that there is a bit of a funny time for lots of babies round 4 months, ds is 16 weeks on wed and this has been going on for a couple of weeks now, though generally he'd just do it for a day at a time, with more 'normal' feeding days in between, but now its been 2 days in a row... resorted to calpol past 2 evenings as his teeth have really been bothering him...

any advice/mantras of 'this will pass' greatly appreciated, am finding daytime bf really really stressful at the mo.

He just had a huge post-calpol feed before bed though.

Blimey this is long, sorry.

OP posts:
georgiemama · 05/05/2008 20:59

if he's still weeing and pooing okay then I would suggest its not serious, although any significant change in feeding should probably be reported to MW or GP.

He's the right age to be teething, and that does hurt a lot, and also to be getting distracted whilst feeding.

I would try cluster feeding in early evening, just lie on your bed with skin to skin contact and a good book or the TV on and let him feed for as long as he likes, bobbing on and off or falling asleep.

He sounds pretty normal to me but only have a PFB myself so I know how worrying this is.

You need Hunkermunker. She's back, don't know if she will find this though.....

ReverseThePolarity · 05/05/2008 20:59

It's annoying when they're so bloody easily distracted isn't it?

If his teeth are bothering him, does he have a teething ring / toy?

I found that with my ds to get him to bf more in the day (tho' he still wakes in the night) I used to give him a "dream feed" while he was napping; I'd wait until he was in a light stage of sleep then lie next to him, rouse him just slightly and plonk a boob in his face. His eyes would be closed and he'd suckle away... I used to feed him to sleep for naps, too.

It'll pass... but it is a bugger, sympathies!!

tellyaddict · 05/05/2008 21:26

Hi - sounds like his teeth to be honest. If he's pooing and weeing as per normal then he's obviously getting enough food and isn't dehydrated. My son is a few weeks older and has just started feeding less (was every 2 hours from birth, apart from at night and is now every 3.5 to 4 hours during the day). He's also very easily distracted, part of their development, and feeds for only a few minutes at a time instead of around half an hour, but he's definitely just getting much better at getting the milk out!

Sounds like your baby is doing just fine. If he's still worrying you in a few days call your HV or doctor just to be on the safe side.

All the best!

chunkypudding · 05/05/2008 21:33

Thanks all...

RtheP he has some teething rings but only likes to chew a muslin/dp's finger.

georgiemama, cluster feeding would maybe be good except he settles at 7.30-8 after bath and big feed (something still going right, touch wood!) and he is pretty happy with/used to this set up, and wants to go to sleep at this time...

will wake up later tho. Still only 3-4 times so not sure that he'll get enough grub...

really appreciate the support xx

OP posts:
theAfkaUrbanDryad · 05/05/2008 21:38

chunky - we used to cluster feed in the late afternoon. so from 4pm, that was me glued to the sofa my laptop (good old MN!!) and he would feed for a few hours before bedtime. I also used to wear him in a sling in the daytime and just have my boob out - so it was there as an option if he wanted it but could still look around and stuff if he wanted to. having said that - i think he was younger than your ds (about 10-12 weeks?) so i think he wasn't quite at that easily-distracted stage!

it's a PITA isn't it? have you tried him with some teething powders? Ashton and Parsons are the best IME, settle their tummies if they're acidy from teething and knock them out too! Think you can also give them more frequently than Calpol but i'm not sure.

theAfkaUrbanDryad · 05/05/2008 21:39

chunky - we used to cluster feed in the late afternoon. so from 4pm, that was me glued to the sofa my laptop (good old MN!!) and he would feed for a few hours before bedtime. I also used to wear him in a sling in the daytime and just have my boob out - so it was there as an option if he wanted it but could still look around and stuff if he wanted to. having said that - i think he was younger than your ds (about 10-12 weeks?) so i think he wasn't quite at that easily-distracted stage!

it's a PITA isn't it? have you tried him with some teething powders? Ashton and Parsons are the best IME, settle their tummies if they're acidy from teething and knock them out too! Think you can also give them more frequently than Calpol but i'm not sure.

theAfkaUrbanDryad · 05/05/2008 21:40

not sure what happened there, sorry!

chunkypudding · 06/05/2008 21:19

cheers UrbanDryad... can't really cluster feed at 4pm either, cos if he doesn't want it he won't take it, which goes for pretty much all daytime feeds at the mo - but he does have amassive (and tonight calpol-free) feed before settling for the night so I guess that helps.

Has been a bit of a better day today, he has fed for more than 2 minutes several times. I did actually resort to feeding him in a toilet cubicle today, not because the cafe I was in was not bf-friendly (far from it, when I asked if I could hide away to feed him they were very kind in pointing out that they really wouldn't want me to feel I had to do that and they were perfectly happy for me to bf wherever I liked I had to explain that I needed to hide away in order to stand any chance of getting food in him)

So after a brief feed in a back corner ('oooo what's that noise? what's that lady doing? ooo another noise! hello mummy I'm feeling very smiley!!' etc etc) he was getting hungry again, and grouchy, and now his gums were bugging him too... so yes we sat in a (nice clean) toilet and managed another 5 mins...

he peed everywhere when I took him to be weighed by hv today. So not dehydrated. And he's still a big boy, his weight gain has slowed but that's to be expected I think, and he'd have ended up a giant if he'd carried on as he was...

so guess I keep on keeping on!

and here's another request to mn towers for a yawn/tired emoticon.

wasn't the sunshine nice today though??

OP posts:
KatyH · 06/05/2008 21:47

Hi chunky,

I was about to post exactly the same thing but just noticed yours! My dd2 is 15 weeks and will also only feed for minutes at a time with long spells in between. However it doesn't seem to be because she's particularly distracted. She is chewing on her hands all the time and I am soooo fed up with people telling me she must be hungry. If I try to persevere after a feed she just gets really cross. Cue screaming baby, exposed nipples, disapproving stares from strangers! Therefore I too have also been lurking in public toilets!

I have tried a version of cluster feeding but can't do it continuously as I also have a 3 year old. Teething hadn't occurred to me though, probably because I'm still counting her age in weeks as opposed to months! May try the calpol tomorrow.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that you're not alone and I feel your pain

chunkypudding · 06/05/2008 21:56

hey katy...

hi crazed-baby-buddy! hard work isn't it.

does your little one also have rosy cheeks (one or both sides) lots of drool and occasional hard to explain 'pain' type cries? Any of the above in combo with the chomping on hands and pulling off boob are signs of teething.

the hv told me that they can have real pain from teething a really long time before any teeth show as they are moving through the gums.

Blah blah not sure if that helps or if I'm just going on n on, have obv been paying a lot of attention to this lately. You have a 3 year old so you prob know more about it than me!!

Lets support each other through the pain.

is your lo waking more at night now too?

Big knackered hugs xx

OP posts:
KatyH · 06/05/2008 22:32

It is indeed hard work!

She can be quite drooly and does have inexplicable 'sore' cries sometimes when chewing on her hands. I had put it down to her having very sharp nails but I'm beginning to veer towards teething. Honestly, I feel so vacant at the moment that I can't remember 3 days ago let alone 3 years!

She is waking more at night although things are a little bit better now. Like your ds she still has a good feed after her bath (7ish) and would previously have gone through to about 4am. However she then started to wake up every hour and a half...aarrrggghhh! I've started dream feeding her at about midnight which has brought her total down to about 2-3 feeds per night...oh joy!

We definitely need some kind of weary or sleepy looking emoticon...

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