12 week old will only take 3 oz per feed any suggestions welcome!!!

[sleeplessmumof2]

My ds who is almost 13 weeks old has this week decided that he will not take more than 3oz of milk per feed, consequently he is feeding every couple of hours and all routines are blownhas anyone got any advice please!!!!

Oooh, I hate this too! All mine have done this at some point and I think the only way is to try and stretch them for one feed to the full 3-4 hours so they'll take the whole lot then carry on from there. Or when he wants to feed an it's 'too early' can you get away with just giving him an ounce or two so that just keeps him going to his next feed time? What does he do at night? Does he not have a long sleep and be starving when he wakes up?? Mind you, ds3 sleeps right through but is never bothered about his first bottle and it drives me mad.

in some ways i am blessed as he doesnt seem to mind going the full 4/5 hours on just 2/3 oz but i have started this week to give him more at 3 hours even though he is not cranky or anything purely because i am worried that he's doppong wieght. He was a straight 3/4 hourly 5-60z until last week. I initially thought it was teeth/irritable gums (which it might still be) he just seems to have enough to drink to feel comfortable and then spits the bottle out. Not sure if i should leave him to demand feed and whatever he takes whenever is ok. Stretch him or continue to top him up when i think so rather than waiting for him to tell me??? Also not sure if i should try calgel even though he doesnt seem to be in pain just chewing fists etc/

If he's happy and contented I wouldn't worry at all - just let him have as much as he likes. DS3 is only 10 wks old - he has about 6oz at 7pm then sleeps, we wake him at 10.30 for a feed but he's often not interested and takes about 1-2oz then goes straight back to sleep till 7.30 and he's not that interested in his milk then either! He feeds well during his day feeds though.

DS1 was a nightmare and NEVER drank a 6oz bottle - only ever 3-4oz. He's 3.5 now and has always been on the 9th centile but that's just his 'make up' so I don't worry about it.

gobbledigook , i would love to be as chilled as you sound my ds1 had loads of eating problems and at 4.5 years is still a really difficult eater so i guess the paranoia is ingrained in me, ah perhaps that is the clue perhaps its all my issue not theirs?! but the problem is that he will never sleep through the night at this rate and my dp and i are getting progressively more and more exhausted and brainless with the lack of sleep so the overiding factor at the moment is more about getting him to sleep through the night?

Hmmm, yes I can see why it's an issue if he's not sleeping through. He needs to be getting his quota in the day to go through doesn't he? All I would try and do is get back into a routine where he feeds 3-4 hrly and therefore takes bigger feeds. I'm not sure how to do that apart from having a nightmare few hours inbetween 2 of his feeds to get him to wait as long as possible.

Sorry, don't feel like I'm beign very helpful but ds1 and ds2 (3.5 and 2) are running riot in and out of the office and I fear I am being a tad neglectful! Need to go and do something with them quick!

I can totally sympathise!!!!
DD2 is same age, and does this all the time. She has never been a good eater, seems to take 3oz then refuses any more, may take some more 1/2 hr later.
We were referred to GP in case there was a problem-there wasn't. We saw an osteopath and this made a difference at first, but it kind of wore off! HV has told me to try and get a pint into her each 24hrs - does not always happen.
But she sleeps through most nights, and does gain weight. She has dirty nappies and is alert. These are the important things. She is on the 15-20 centile.
I was very down about it in the wk, so HV has advised trying baby rice. Yes, it is a bit early, but babiea are all different, we have no history of allergies etc etc!! She has had some baby rice and seemed to get on well with it. Just once a day seems to do her nicely!!!
As long as baby is well, you shouldn't need to worry. I know that it is frustrating, but it doesn't last forever - at least I hope it doesn't!!!!

Have you remembered to change the teats on the bottle to medium flow (3-6 months)? - this made a huge distance to my ds and he went from taking 45 minutes over a bottle and seldom emptying it, to 10-15 minutes for 7-8oz. I had forgotten all about the teats, even though ds is my 2nd baby. He was struggling along on the newborn teats that come with new bottles (getting knackered and frankly bored with sucking), before it finally occurred to me what the problem was...(actually I tell a lie, it didn't occur to me it occured to my mother - should give her credit)