5m old takes hardely no milk, anyone else’s!?!

[AmberM223]

So my little one is just over 5m, never been a ‘milk monster’ but always taken his bottles quite well as a newborn. Around September he just started taking less and less, no rhyme or reason. Changed the teat size, bottles - nothing. Then every week it just gets less and less, he quite literally won’t put a bottle anywhere near his mouth less than 4/5 hours apart, he prefers 5 hours between, and then takes about 2/3oz before he quite simply refuses. Tried distraction, feeding in a dark quiet room, other people feeding. So on average in 25 hours on a good day i get about 17oz into him. As on his 2/3am bottle i can usually get him to take 5/6oz that’s the most.

I just do not know what to do? he’s only 14lbs and was born at 8lbs.
He has no reflux, poo’s has wet nappies. No issues.
Anyone else’s baby been the same!? i get so worried and frustrated

Have you been to the GP?

GP

Looking at those weights he need an urgent referal to paeds.

When was the last time you had him weighed? Is he still meeting his target growth or is he faltering off his percentile?

Has he seen a HV.

If this is true and he is 14lbs at 5 months he needs to see someone today.
Edited as googled and I obviously had bigger babies as apparently average is 16lb for a boy, so maybe not too far out, but I would see GP, HV asap

My youngest NEVER took more than 10- 12 oz in 24 hours.

When she was 8 weeks, I took her to a paediatrician which thankfully, my health insurance covered so I didn’t have to wait or mess around with HVs or GPs

No reflux. No stomach issues. No tongue tie. No allergies.

We tried different bottles and teats - not milk though as she was on kendamil which is excellent.

We resorted to feeding her when she was just falling asleep - that was the only way to feed her at all in the end.

She did somehow gain weight. She was born on 3rd centile and went to 50th and stayed there - Christ knows how.

Anyway, with no answers as to why she just refused to take milk, the consultant told me just to start her on solid food at 15 weeks (which I didn’t find shocking, I have a son in his 20s and 16 weeks was standard back then). Obviously not recommending that to you - just sharing what we were advised for our situation.

She liked food. But wouldn’t eat anything with milk in. However, she loved plain Greek yogurt.

I was so worried about her for so long.

She’s five now, still an awkward bugger who won’t do anything you want her to do, and guess what, her favourite snack since she was 2 is weetabix with a ton of milk, and she asks for glasses of milk everyday.

Anyway, get him checked out, especially if you are worried about his weight gain.

ERA - just seen he’s 14lb at 5 months. Get him seen urgently. Mine was different as she somehow grew and gained weight ok.

Sorry should note yes GP and health visitor have been told and both were not interested as he has no signs of dehydration/ illness. Health visitor said he’s very content and happy in himself so they would have no concerns, they keep saying teething but this has been going on since sept and no changes in gums! feel at a loss. He actually was in hospital a few weeks ago due to a virus and i also told them, but with him having wet nappies they weren’t interested either!

A note on the weight too, all GP, HV know about weight, he’s on the 2nd centile they said he was born on 25th but he’s followed 2nd since he was about 6 weeks old so they were not concerned, 14lbs just seems so small to be for 5m i just don’t get it

Make a GP appointment and ask for an urgent referal to paeds.

I will ring GP again on monday to ask and express my concerns but i only spoke to them early this week and after assessing him really were not interested, think they just thought i was daft when he’s perfectly fine. Yet i don’t know how he’s actually functioning on such little milk tbh. HV did mention about weaning him because he might like food, but my worry is he will like food much more and then start to take no milk at all!!

He might take food with formula milk mixed in it, or yogurt.

I know what you mean with GP and HVs not really caring. That’s why I by passed them completely with dd and went straight to a paediatrician, I had enough of them with my older two.

I honestly don’t know how my dd survived. I would be tearing my hair out, most days it would just be 10oz of milk in 24 hours, I couldn’t believe she was actually growing and never dehydrated.

When we started solid food at 15 weeks, that tiny milk intake didn’t go down, it stayed the same. But she was starving. She ate and ate Greek yogurt and sweet potatoes like they were going out of fashion.

If he was 8lb at birth and he's 5 months old weighing 14lbs, this means he's dropped 3 centiles. This is very concerning.

You haven't said whether you have seen the health visitor or when you last had him weighed. How long has he been over two centiles less ??
Your health visitor will have some great concerns at your 6 month check up.

Your baby was born at 8lbs,which means he was on the 75th centile.
If he is over 5 months weighing 14lbs, this means he has dropped 3 centiles to the 5th centile.
Your comment saying you saw a GP and a health visitor is absolute rubbish. I refuse to believe they both weren't interested as he was happy in himself.
He would have been sent to hospital and admitted under reduced intake. The Dr would work out his daily requirement and whatever he wasn't drinking he would have via an NG tube. This would continue until he gained weight.

My first child had what turned out to be a very serious issue as a baby. GP and HV were completely uninterested, as OP says they are about her baby. Infact, when I pushed it, they started saying that it was me who had an issue and that I had PND and anxiety. This went on for weeks.

I got so fed up that paid to see a paediatrician my self and my son was admitted to hospital within the hour.

I fully believe that the GP and HV aren’t interested. It happens a lot.

@rainbows40 well thanks for your comments, but the HV and GP have been told - and seen in person so not sure why someone would make that up??? He has atleast 5/6 wet nappies per day, his soft spot is not sunk on his head, eyes are a good colour and he’s very happy in himself so the GP had quite literally no concerns and all he said to me was i could make keep swapping his formula till i found one he liked?
I wrote the post to see if anyone else’s baby had been the same, not to be called a liar, so just move on if you have no tips or experience.

Also for the comment that i haven’t said if i had seen a GP or HV and about weighting, i have literally stated this above? So please read my posts before commenting.

@Hellodarknessyouoldprick thank you!! i spoke to a different HV this week and she just said some babies are not that interested in milk, but he was as a newborn it just seems the last 8 weeks he’s decided he’s not! anyway i think ill give the greek yogurt a go and some porridge with his formula.
I have also found a drop in clinic near me on mondays so im going to just take him every week/ other week to keep an eye myself on weight!
He didn’t even wake up in the night for a bottle last night so i attempted to ‘dream feed’ and he was having absolutely none of it!! About to attempt giving him a 6oz bottle now so i’m praying because he didn’t want anything in the night he takes all of this!! 🤞🏼

Hey @AmberM223 I know it's frustrating people not believing you've seen a GP, I would suggest that if your measurements are correct then as a PP said you need to go back (or to a different doctor) and push this. What centile was baby on when they regained their birth weight? My baby was born on 50th centile but settled on 25th and stayed there. She's now 5 months and weighs a bit more than yours. Don't necessarily believe doctors and if you feel like something is wrong advocate for your baby.

Sorry just seen you're going back to HV. I think as long as you are in regular contact with some sort of HCP and wet nappies/fontanelle are ok then there is less to worry about.

I would start weaning. Five months not too early for a baby not taking all his milk. Hopefully he will take the same milk but with an extra meal of apple puree or something.

Me too. It's bizarre people are so rigid about a few weeks they'd rather berate the OP and tell them they should be 'pushing for a referral' than just give the baby some food.

@napody @mismomary Hi both, yes i do agree, spoke to my DH this morning and we are going to get some bits made and batched up today to start giving him!

Mine was like this. It was ages ago though. Advice then was to give full fat yoghurt.

He loved that. And also to wean early. Started weaning at 12 weeks. He’s 6ft 4 now and fine

Given he is 5 months, I’d start weaning. I’d say he is not tolerating formula well and he has some negative associations with bottles.

He is close enough to 6 months to make a start. See how interested in food he is. 14lbs is light and those are pretty low volumes of milk as you say and it is a change in his behaviour not how he has been.

Midwife here. Please take him to another GP until someone with proper training in infant nutrition reviews him thoroughly. As a 5m old the signs of poor nutrition are not the same as a newborn (e.g. you said you were looking for colour of eyes as reassurance - that's a sign of neonatal jaundice, not relevant now). If you introduce solids suggested by posters above (like apple puree) these will all be lower calorie than milk, and won't resolve the issue. If he has dropped 3 centiles there will be a failure to thrive pathway in the paediatrics speciality locally which he should be on. Sorry for brevity but couldn't see and not reply quickly

It's really not bizarre, it's the correct advice if this baby has dropped that many centiles. I don't think anyone was trying to berate her, it's more than we have all had experience of over-worked/under-experienced GPs who are not experts in infant-feeding. It is not that anyone is getting rigid about 6 months weaning it's because if there is a failure to thrive then formula or breastmilk is the most nutrient/calorie dense, appropriate form of food.