Baby with no Appetite

[karenmack]

Hi everyone, struggling a little with my bubba so thought I would see what you all thought.

When Luca was born he was on the 75th centile and started to put weight on straight away, however he has never had much of an appetite and has never finished a bottle of. My HV agrees that she does not think he is a hungry baby and he has now dropped to the 9th centile, she has said to perserve with bottle feeding and not to consider weaning as its his milk intake we need to up.

So he is on cow and gate 1 and having it out of tommee tippee closer to nature bottles we make him up 5oz at a time in the little bottles and he never finishes these bottles, we tried him on bigger bottles and it seemed to distress him so have put hum back on the smaller bottles, he feeds often, never going over 3 hours. but in a day he will only take 4-5 bottles averging 3-4oz each time so defo not enough. He was a fantastic sleeper from birth but just recently has been waking up more often and wanting milk last night was 4 times so he is obviously hungry... each time he woke he took no more than 3oz. We are all very tired and he is unsettled as he is tired from being up lots and he doesn't seem to be settling so well in the day either. I really do think he will be happier if his milk intake is up has anybody got any advice????

Thinking about it would changing his milk or bottles help, i just don't know

Any help would be great xx

 

[karenmack]

should add he is now 17 weeks x

 

[AlwaysPraying]

Hm. I'm not sure. It sounds like he should be eating more. I wouldn't push him to eat more at once but rather eating more often. Do you only feed when he's hungry or do you feed every 3-4 hours? I'd try offering 4 oz every 3 hours and see how he does. You say he feeds no longer than 3 hours but only takes 4 bottles a day? Sorry just a little confused.

 

[karenmack]

sorry thats me not explaining myself his day goes a little bit like this. Bottles at 7am, 10am, 1pm and 4pm and then his bedtime bottle about 7ish! I was counting his 7pm bottle as a nightfeed, so if you say he has 4oz a time thats only 20oz, no wonder he had me up 4 times last night!! He won't feed if hes asleep so dream feeding is a no he just won't suck and if you try and give him milk earlier he will take an oz if that but it will put his next bottle out by a couple of hours.... I know he has to drink more and desperately want him too, which is why i'm questioning his bottles, formula etc

Thanks for writing back..... I'm going grey!!!!!! xx

 

[AlwaysPraying]

Does he fall asleep when he's feeding? Is he a very gassy baby? Does he struggle to get a little bit out? If any of that is the case then you could try a faster flow nipple so he doesnt have to work so hard to get what he needs.

Does he spit up a lot? Is he uncomfortable when he farts? Does he strain to poop? Those can be signs that he's not taking his formula well and could change brands.

How much does he weigh? They say a good amount to feed is approximate 2.2 x babies weight. (say baby is 10 lbs he should eat 22 oz a day). This way you'll see a general amount of what he should have. My boy eats less than what's recommended but jus by a bit. So don't worry if the number is way off right now.

It may be that he needs to eat once or twice in the night. If you add another two 4 oz bottles that's another 8 oz your putting into him. You say he'll eat an ounce and that will throw his next bottle off but do you try to offer it anyways. It's worth a shot to try every three hours to see when he's hungry.

Sorry if I'm rambling Im just trying to think of anything that might work. We ended up going with faster nipples and it changed everything for us.

 

[Mrs A]

What size teats do you use, sounds like he WANTS to drink it but gets bored? maybe try changing teats at 2 weeks my LO was on stage 2 teats, 10 weeks was on stage 3 and has been on stage 4 teats (from 6 months) since 20 weeks. I use avent

 

[LotusFlwr]

Don't have any advice, but I am in the same boat! LO only takes 20 ounces a day but his feeding is very erratic. Tried to get him on a schedule but he won't have it. He'll only drink if he's really hungry and that can vary. Sometimes he takes 4 oz sometimes 1 oz.

I have a doc's appt on Monday so will be asking about this. Was previously told by doc, though, that some babies are just not big eaters. As long as he's gaining and on the curve it's okay. Some babies are just on the 9th and others 95th.

Despite being told this, however, I still worry he's not getting enough. Big reason I stopped breastfeeding as LO was so unsettled. Crazy thing is he's so much more settled but only eating such a small amount.

Anyway, sorry no advice really just