Why is my baby refusing her milk

[SingleMum91]

My dd is 5 & a half months, she has been slowing getting weaned since being 4 months (checked with hv first). She had been on eight 7oz bottles a day & still hungry so between me & the hv we decided it would be best to start adding a tiny bit of food. At about 4 & a half months dd got flu, followed by a chest infection so she has been really poorly so I figured that was why she was a little fussy. The hv wasn't worried as she was still putting on weight. She has fully recovered now but for the past week has only been having two 8oz bottles a day & two 6oz ones. I keep offering more but she just isn't interested. She fights, try's to throw herself off my knee, screams & just doesn't want it. She doesn't drink cooled boiled water either, just spits it out constantly. I'm so worried about her, she is eating some fruit & one pureed meal a day without any hassle but completely refusing her milk. She cries because she is hungry but then barely has anything milk. I don't want to add more food into her diet just yet as I've been warned not to wean her too fast, however, I'm thinking maybe some cereal with plenty of her milk might work? I really don't know what's best & I'm stressing myself out over it. Has anyone else been through this?

Is she showing any signs of teething yet - drooling, frantic chewing of anything she picks up? sometimes if their gums are sore and/or inflamed, the teat of the bottle may be a bit painful against them. Dgd has had bottle refusal issues since birth but mainly due to reflux. Now though she's teething and gets spells where she seems better with food than with her bottles. Sometimes rubbing some dentinox gel onto her gums and then putting bottle straight in helps . It only seems to numb the gums for a short while and sometimes she needs a tiny bit more rubbing in during a feed, but it has made a difference to her.

If your dd had antibiotics for her chest infection could she possibly have thrush in her mouth? That would make her mouth sore and feeding an issue maybe.

Does she seem her usual self apart from at bottle feeds? Has she had an vomiting, runs etc? Sometimes a dodgy tummy can cause temporary lactose intolerance or inflammation in the stomach and reflux type symptoms.

It's so stressful and a horrible feeling when babies won't feed well. Depending on your dd's weight, could the 2x8 and 2x6oz bottles have been enough overall? If she is now really kicking up a fuss at each bottle and it doesn't improve I think I'd want the gp to check her over, especially as she's been unwell recently.

Thank you.

She's been teething since being about 6/7 weeks old, it is gradually get worse though. Been up & down in the night with it recently so it might possibly be that.

I took her to the doctors yesterday to make sure she was ok because she's never been so teary & refused her food but apart from that she's her normal self. They said she's fine & to talk to the health visitor about maybe giving her some baby cereal with plenty of milk at breakfast as well as her fruit at dinner & puree meal at tea. The hv said that it was worth a try, at least she'll still be getting milk that way but to also not worry as long as she is getting about 900ml of milk a day then it should be enough. The food is probably filling her up a bit more so she's not needing quite so much milk. Going to try that for a few days.

I just worry about her so much, I'm 24 & a single mother, I have no one to turn to for advise but don't want to drag her into the doctors for everything. So I rely on this & a few Facebook pages to help & when I think there's something not right I fight to get her into the doctors.

Aww, glad GP checked her over. It could well be teeth. Dgd seems to be better on solids then she is with her bottle when hers go through a bad phase (not that she has managed to produce any teeth yet!) She also wakes up in the night when she's like this too, which she doesn't the rest of the time.

If your dd's weight is ok and she's not slipping down her centile then as the hv says, she should be fine. DD was told the same. Because bottles were always such an issue (screaming, backing away, spitting them out) from so early on, she started weaning earlier than usual, just to get more milk down her. She was told to try this by the consultant they ended up seeing. If your dd will have baby rice or porridge then it will help you get more formula into her if bottles are being refused. DD was also told to mix milk into mashed veg and other meals.

Feeding problems are SO upsetting. DD is better now but was often tearful and panicky about dgd's. And I remember feeling the same when dd was tiny because she was the same.

I think MN is great for support because there are bound to be people on here who've been through the same or similar. I wish it had been around when dd was growing up. If you don't have much support in real life and are worried, then it's ok to go to your GP too. DD went through a phase of virtually living in the surgery when dgd's feeding was at its worst. Especially with first babies, you are experiencing everything for the first time, and it can be flipping scary and you need reassurance. I don't think any GP will mind checking a baby out.