Decreased milk intake

[AFTM24]

My baby boy will be 4 months in 5 days time and over the last week he has dropped his milk intake by about half. The health visitor and doctor dont seem too worried as he is on the 91st centile for weight. They have said it could be teething even though they can't feel/see anything yet. He does love to have his gums massaged but when it come to taking a bottle he will have maybe 100ml then start playing with the teat (shoving it to the side of his mouth and chomping on it) he will the refuse the rest of the bottle. He has been doing this for just over a week now. I have tried different bottles, different teats, different feeding position, different feeding environment (dim lit quiet room) and offering Food more regularly. I am at a loss for what to do. Baby boy is fussier than usual but is still having wet(at least 6) and dirty( at least 1) nappy a day. Could it be just teething going on this long? Help!?

It could be teething, mine started teething at 3 months and was constantly drooling/biting things until his first tooth at 6 months! Have you tried giving Calpol just to see if pain relief does anything? Not suggesting he should have Calpol constantly from now until his teeth come in but it might help narrow down the issue

We have a couple of times when he seems particularly uncomfortable and it seems to settle him but like you say we can't give him calpol everyday until his tooth arrives. Just seems crazy that there are no real teething solutions for babies under 6 months.

Is the Ashton and Parsons stuff ok for little babies? Mines only 2 and I can't remember 🤣 worth a try?

It is, but it doesn't seem to bring him comfort, although I might be putting the gel on wrong or maybe not enough gel on the applicator. I have the granules but I haven't tried them yet, a bit nervous too as it says it can cause a sore mouth (ulcers) and I'm not sure I want to risk it.

OP could he need to move up a teat size?

I moved him from size 1 to size 2 at 3 months i did try size 3 for a feed but he seemd to choke on the milk so swapped back to size 2. For reference we are using tommee tippee bottles.