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Children's health

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Original poster

4mth Baby not feeding

67 replies

Proudmummy2014 · 15/09/2014 22:07

Hi,

Becoming Abit of a serial poster on here now :-) My 4mo baby used to drink 30oz a day however over the past month has reduced to 17oz- even that is a massive battle to get the milk down her. She takes a few gulps and then just screams and moves her head away. However there is just no way she can be full on 3/4oz. Also I feed her every 3.5/4 hours so she surely must be more hungry.

To top it off she has become extremely fussy the last few days and fighting her naps. I could always put her wide awake in her cot and she would fall asleep by herself (no crying) however now she screams the house down.

Can anyone please offer their thoughts on what you think is going on here? I am so confused and was in floods of tears earlier today.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

girliefriend · 18/09/2014 10:59

My dd as a baby was a really reluctant milk drinker, drank very smalll amounts and never gave much indication of being hungry in between feeds.

Will probably be shot down in flames but I did wean her earlier than 6 months, around 5 months I think. She took to food a lot better, enjoyed everything she tried and finally started to put on weight and fill out a bit.

She is now 8yo (and one of the tallest in her class) and still doesn't like milk and it doesn't seem to have done any lasting damage.

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 18/09/2014 11:47

Thanks for the links- do you think I should be feeding her at both wake ups? I just didn't think she was hungry at midnight as she only takes about 2oz of water.

OP posts:

JiltedJohnsJulie · 18/09/2014 13:28

Well, from your posts she used to drink more milk and used to sleep through. Now she drinks less milk and doesn't sleep through. This could be a coincidence obviously, especially with the 4 month sleep regression, but yeah, I'd feed her.

If you're not keen on a midnight feed, could you give her a dream feed between 10 and 11? If you could get DH to do that feed you could get a nice chunk of sleep before the 3am feed

allisgood1 · 18/09/2014 13:41

Just to reassure you re tummy sleeping. www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/sids/prefers-sleep-tummy

lisaloulou84 · 18/09/2014 20:55

How did you get on at docs OP? My DS had tooth number 5 cut trough overnight and number 6,7 and 8 trying to make an appearance and he's probably had the least amount of milk ever yesterday and today. We'll see how the night goes....

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 19/09/2014 23:38

The Dr doesn't think there is a problem with allergies or reflux. He said its likely down to teething. I've noticed over the last day she has been drinking a little more. Although she still screams if I hold her and feed her, whereas if she is laying down with a bottle in then that's fine and she will drink- hope that's ok?! Strange.

OP posts:

JiltedJohnsJulie · 20/09/2014 09:22

Let us know how you get on over the next few days. How many flozs is she having a day now? Are you using ibruprofen and a teething gel?

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 20/09/2014 12:09

Around 6oz per feed now apart from the bedtime feed which is 10oz!!!! I've been using teething granules and also Anbesol if she seems particularly uncomfortable . Perhaps she's not in too much pain at the moment

OP posts:

lisaloulou84 · 20/09/2014 13:11

Do you have a bouncy chair? I feed my DS in his when he's teething and it's much easier and probably a bit better than lying down. We appear to now been on 8 teeth coming at once I found neurofen half an hour before bed is helping a lot.

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 20/09/2014 13:37

Oh poor thing 8 at once :-( yes I've definitely heard nurofen is the best thing! Have you tried those Amber necklaces? Been reading about those online too and a lot of people have found them to be effective. We do have a bouncy chair and I tried feeding her in it but she won't have it. It something about beig upright drinking the bottle- unless she's being lazy

OP posts:

lisaloulou84 · 20/09/2014 18:52

Haven't tried the amber necklaces but he does love the rubber water filled teethers when they've been in the fridge.

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 22/09/2014 14:39

Her feeding seems to be getting better now and less fussiness. She is however having 11oz at her bedtime feed. Is this not a lot? She then still wakes up only a few hours later- it can't surely be hunger?! This has been going on for weeks now so I didn't think a growth spurt would last that long.

OP posts:

lisaloulou84 · 22/09/2014 21:24

Can you give her another dose of neurofen or teething granules and a drink of water when she wakes up? Is she learning to roll OP? Lots of my DS's issues seemed to start then when he was waking himself up by rolling in his sleep and now it's just rolled into teething.

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 22/09/2014 21:46

That's exactly what I do- water and a cuddle and she goes right off to sleep. But annoying when it's every 2/3 hours :-( Nope she can't roll at the moment. I look at the monitor and when she wakes she looks wide awake and can't seem to put herself back to sleep which eventually leads to crying. Aww bless your LO- got all that to look forward to

OP posts:

lisaloulou84 · 22/09/2014 22:03

Yep, this is exactly what I've had since 4 months and I still can't seem to fix it. We've tried controlled crying so he learns to settle himself when he wakes, some success but not recommended to do whilst teething, we bought a sleep support to stop him rolling (its being returned tomorrow!), have put a duvet under his sheets thinking the matress might be a bit hard, tried feeding, tried not feeding. This week I'm mostly going back to feeding to sleep and putting him down without a dummy as I'm starting to think that when he wakes he's reliant on he dummy to go back to sleep so doesn't try to settle himself. Oddly when he has woken the last few nights he has settled himself more and he's woken less. I think once his current lot of teeth are through I'm going dummy free and we'll do a bit of controlled crying again. Does she have a comforter? I do think that helps my DS, he hugs it when he sleeps.

Original poster

Proudmummy2014 · 22/09/2014 22:37

Wow sounds like us totally- put a soft duvet underneath too lol!! Was your LO able to self settle before the 4 months? Mine has done but it's all gone out the window with the teething. Now I don't know if she's waking because of pain or habit now as she knows I'll pick her up and cuddle back to sleep. I have bought a comforter but not actually used it properly. I put it in her hands and she tries to eat it while trying to settle to sleep. How did you introduce the comforter?

OP posts:

lisaloulou84 · 22/09/2014 22:46

Proud I think you and I need a big glass of wine, ha ha! He's had the comforter from pretty early on, few weeks old, I just wedged it under his arm, and sometimes a little over his face brushing his cheek. Often kept dummy in in the early days when he napped in the vibrating chair. He did used to self settle before yes, and sleep through the night I'm trying to console myself with the idea that at least were getting teething out the way early.

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