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LO not eating? Help! (long)
DS is turning 5 months on Sunday. He is FF. About two weeks ago I noticed DS started loosing interest in taking his bottle, while having it he will look around the room, moving his head all over the place, I had a hard time keeping the bottle in his mouth. Days later, he started to get fussy pretty quick, only taking an ounce here and there. He'd whine and turn his head away, or push the bottle away with his hands. Then he'd stretch his feet and push his back away and become really frustrated. He used to have 4-5 ounces every 3 hours, now I am lucky if I get him to take 2-3.
On Friday I took him to the Pedi, I suspected that his reflux medication dosage needed to be adjusted (Zantac), or that he was teething, or that he was just going through the so called "wakeful" period, or all of the above. He did not seem in pain or had a fever. Pedi said everything looked fine, no visible signs of teething, but on his weight check he only gained 5 ounces since his last weight check two weeks before, which worried me.
Pedi recommended to feed him rice cereal in a spoon, which would help him with the reflux if that was the case, and to continue afterwards with fruits and veggies. She also recommended the use of a sippy cup instead of a bottle, she said teething sometimes causes the gums to hurt while sucking.
I was hoping to wait until 6 months to introduce solids. On Sunday we offered him a little rice cereal but he was not interested. We tried again the next couple of days, same thing, so I stopped trying. No luck on the sippy cup either, he just chews on it, loves holding it though.
I was wondering if anyone here has gone through this, or if there is any trick to get him to take his bottle. Right now I feed him while he is in his bouncy seat entertained looking at the lights and mobiles. Or as soon as he wakes up from a nap while he is still drowsy. But it still takes forever to get him to eat the minimum during the day. During the night we dreamfeed him a couple ounces at midnight and 3am, but he is waking up to eat additionally one hour after he goes to bed. I am worried, frustrated, exhausted, and hoping that this is only a phase and that things would go back to normal soon.
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Re: LO not eating? Help! (long)
a few things come to mind:
1. Around 3-4mo old DD started becoming very easily distracted and I could only BF her in a dark quite place w/ zero distractions.
2. Did the Dr check his ears? Could he be getting an ear infection?
3. It could very well be the very early signs of teething, nothing showing yet but cutting deep down in the gums and hurting.
4. could you put some rice cereal in his bottle?
5. did you try drinking from a sippy yourself (fill another one w/ water) so he could copy you?
6. I think 5oz gain in 2 weeks is not bad! He will not gain a lb each month, he'll gain more some months and less others.
I hope he goes back to normal soon! I do feel your pain!! good luck!
Did they up his Zantac dosage at all? It sounds so much like reflux (Maggie had it and we had her on Zantac from 5 weeks to 9 mo).
Like pp said though at that age they are getting so much more aware and really paying attention to their surroundings so you can try feeding where there are less distractions or singing to him to keep his attention focused.
I couldn't get either of my kids interested in food before 6.5mo and sippys a lot longer.
Sofka had some good ideas.
Could he br frustrated with the nipples? We just switched DD to some faster flow nipples because she seemed to be having a harder time with the slower ones we had. If your LO is waking up to eat an extra time, it sounds like he's taking care of getting what he needs nutritionally - it's just not in the way you're all used to. To me that sounds like something more frustrating than worrisome.
DD is really hard to keep focused on eating, whether it's BFing and trying to yank me all around while she cranes her neck to see things or chomping on the bottle without drinking. Limiting all distractions helps - sometimes I want to kick DH out of the room because even just clearning his throat makes DD want to turn around and look at him rather than eat.
You aren't the only one! My DS is the same way - since about 4 months the world is just too interesting to eat. With BF, I'm feeding him lying down in a quiet room. With bottle feeding, we're propping him in the boppy, and then laying our arm across him so he can't wiggle
I also read somewhere (kellymom?) that because LOs are so interested in everything at this age, waking up to eat more at night is normal since there's less distraction. Fun times.
That's a good idea about the faster flow nipples - thanks!
Thanks for the suggestions, ladies. It is good to know that this might only be a phase. He does seem more interested in the world around him, he always wants to be propped up or on his tummy to be able to look around, and hates laying flat looking up, reason why I can't feed him the way I used to.
As one of you mentioned, I did notice that the first morning feeding is his best one, so probably I need to increase the amount at that time since he is just waking up and he is not all worked up.
The doctor did check for ear infection, and examined his whole body, not showing any sign of illness. But even though it is not showing yet, I do suspect he is teething, he bites his fists and fingers all the time, tries to chew on the bibs or blankets, and grabs my fingers and bites them too. Any teething advice?
The doctor did not want to increase the Zantac dosage, on the contrary, she wants to slowly wean him off the medication, that's why she recommended feeding him rice cereal with a spoon since he is old enough to take it like that, instead of getting it through the bottle.
I did get him to drink a few ounces this afternoon from a new sippy cup I got for him. He seemed to be ok with it but then he lost interest. I'll keep trying! I will also try feeding him in a calm/dark place and get him to focus. I don't want him to associate frustration with eating.The good thing is that in spite of his low intake, he is acting normal, a happy and playful little boy
DD has been doing all the chewing stuff for almost two months now. At her three month appt. the ped. said she was probably doing it because she could - she had found her hands and could consistently get them to her mouth. At the time, the doctor said there was no sign of teeth coming in. But if that's the case, then how in the world will I know when she's finally teething if she's been nomming on everything around her for months? I'm hoping you get some good advice that I can use too
there is a difference b/w "finding your hands" and teething. The way I knew DD was teething is that she chewed on my breasts for 2 hrs, 30mins on one side, then the other, then repeat. At 1st I didn't know what was up, and then I realized, she's chewing, not nursing. We happened to be at the Dr's soon after and she put her hands in and felt the gums and confirmed it.
if the baby is chewing on everything in sight, I'd say it's teething. DD started at 3.5mo but nothing broke thru till she was 7.5mo old! Try freezing wet washcloth and giving cold teething toys.