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5 month old refusing to drink.

7 replies

HelloEJ · 06/05/2026 23:48

Help! Please share your experience if you have had any.
My 5 month old (6 months in a weeks time) suddenly refused milk. He has always been bottle fed with formula and a little bit if breastmilk (pumped). He had a fever a couple of weeks ago for 2 days then recovered (doctor said viral infection).
He started developing another fever since Sunday night, which has been coming and going. Managed with some paracetamol and ibuprofen. He has been drooling+++ the past weeks and chewing on his hands/toys. Unsure whether this could be teething or viral infection. He started refusing his milk yesterday afternoon and has been the same today. Managed to feed some milk (less amount than usual) into him when he is waking up drowsy from naps, but nowhere near enough his usual feeds. We have started to wean him today due to milk refusal but also aware it will take time before he will be eating of any substantial amount.
I usually dreamfeed him before I go to bed, but he has also refused that too
I have tried increasing teat size which makes no difference and feel the flow is too fast for him.
His intake is roughly 2/3 of his usual intake. His lack of feed is stressing me out. Less intake, less wet nappies. I used a syringe to get some milk in but baby was definitely not happy. What can I do?! Anyone experienced this with their little ones? How have you managed to solve this?

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
TinyMouseTheatre · 07/05/2026 04:12

Can you feel any teeth coming through if you risk putting a clean finger in his mouth?

HelloEJ · 07/05/2026 10:13

I can’t feel or see anything pop through yet. I know babies can be “teething” for a long time before their teeth make an appearance. This lack of fluid intake is just stressing me out.

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TinyMouseTheatre · 07/05/2026 17:03

Do they improve if you use a teething gel, like Dentinox before a feed or if you give a dose of Ibruprofen?

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HelloEJ · 07/05/2026 17:06

.

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HelloEJ · 07/05/2026 17:07

I have been using teething gel but doesn’t seem to make any difference. I give paracetamol only for fever purpose but that hadn’t made any difference either as I used Paracetamol and Ibuprofen alternatively to manage his fever. Mainly Paracetamol yesterday and today.

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TinyMouseTheatre · 07/05/2026 17:20

I think if he has a fever and he’s drinking less I would go back to the GP Flowers

HelloEJ · 07/05/2026 19:53

Planning to do that tomorrow morning 😢.

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