Poor eater

grbnik · April 2012

Hi all!

It is my first time posting on her (although I am a regular on a few other boards). Wondering if anyone can help me. My DD was born weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz. In the first 2 months she gained 5 lbs (EBF on demand). She was a lazy eater, falling asleep at the boob, and her latch kinda stinks (sucks the boob in like a straw, but does have a complete lock on then). Well, I had to go back to work at 9 weeks, and tried slowly introducing the bottle 2 weeks before. No dice. She doesn't like anything but the boob in her mouth, even rejected the pacifier at the hospital (and the six other brands of pacifiers at home). We tried 8 different brands of bottles. She went on a hunger strike when I went back to work, not even BFing. She gained 8 oz from months 2-3. She is now at 16 lbs at 5 months old but will still only drink 2-3 oz at a time, about 5-6 times a day. She did have a record high of 22 oz last Friday (woo hoo!) then had horrible gas pains all night, so barely drank anything Sat and Sun. I am off dairy again (for the second time, starting Sunday. Went off for 6 weeks last time, but didn't see a correlation). She is on Prevacid (7.5 mg once a day) for reflux. She is super happy (unless I am shoving a bottle at her!), meeting her milestones, and usually has pretty good wets and dirties (she has scared me a few times with a few partly wet diapers throughout the day for a week or so, now back to pretty wet about 4-6 times a day). Anyone with any advice, stories, anything...???

I am struggling out here. Feels very alone because I haven't found many people who have gone through the same thing. My DS at this time was downing 8 oz bottles. I just can't understand how she doesn't have the instinct to want to eat more. DH and I are not small people, and we all eat in this family!

TIA

Sarahcakes29 · April 2012

I'm sorry you're worried about your baby. What does your pedi say? 16 lbs. at 5 months sounds like a very normal weight range, to me. I take it she's doing okay with bottles now since you know exactly how much she's eating. Is your concern more about her health/development or just that she doesn't like eating? All the milestones you mentioned (weight, mood, diaper frequency) make her sound like a healthy baby.

So...just throwing things out here....maybe she got off to a less-than-ideal start nursing (through not fault of yours) and might just prefer to drink from a sippy cup and eat solids? I don't know, I have to imagine there must be some babies out there who just don't love milk.

smilelari · April 2012

If you could get her to eat 3 oz per feeding 6 times per day, she'd be getting 18 oz which is almost within the normal range (19-30oz per day is normal), so you're not too far off. Is she nursing in addition to the 5-6 bottle feedings per day? If so, she's likely getting enough. If not, I think I would try offering bottles/nursing more frequently. Try to get more like 7-9 feedings in per 24 hours. If you've been doing any sleep training, I would back off of that as well and make sure she eats during the night. Also, it sounds like you suspect some kind of food intolerance. Have you tried eliminating anything beyond dairy from your diet?

grbnik · April 2012

Thanks for the feedback ladies. I haven't tried a sippy yet, but I think I may. She is still on the slowest nipple because she gags if we put on a faster one, so not sure if it will work, but we will try.

I am not sure about the intolerance. I can't tell much of a difference when I cut out dairy, but now you have me thinking about soy and wheat. Hmm.. both good thoughts. Thanks ladies!!!

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