Help needed - LO refusing to eat during the day

[Zana]

Solutions or explanations would be a great help as I'm at a loss and feeling totally exhausted and useless.

My LO is 13 weeks and over the past 2 or 3 weeks has pretty much refused to eat during the day. He will probably have about 4 or 5 oz at a push and giving him this is a huge struggle - chewing the teat, pushing the teat out, pulling away from the teat turning his head left to right - and this is from about 7:30am through til about 7 or 8pm.
I don't force him to drink when he clearly doesn't want to (I've tried warm milk and cold milk). He is now though getting up more often during the night (roughly around every 2 and a half to 3 hours) and will take the bottle easier when he's sleepy - no struggle, fussing or chewing the teat/nipple at all. He doesn't sleep much during the day but has very small cat naps that last about 10 mins and he'll have about 3 of these throughout the day.

I've tried to work out when this was from and it seems that it is from when he had his 1st injections at 9 weeks. Not sure if it has anything to do with it at all though???
He is gaining weight and has wet nappies, he poos roughly once a day. He is usually really happy but now, he's not crying, but whimpering a lot and is after fuss and attention, which I give to him to soothe and settle him.

What could it be? Teething (My HV said we blame teething on a lot of things baby does and it wouldn't be that)?? A phase? Just something normal that happens to every baby at some point?

Any help you can offer would be great

 

[diapersniper]

I thought this was interesting, thinking about food from a weekly standpoint rather than day by day

""Your child may eat well one day and eat practically nothing the next," says Dr. Sears, who recently co-authored The Family Nutrition Book (Little Brown, August 1999) with his wife, Martha.

Rather than get hung up on the fact that your child has refused everything you put in front of her today, consider her food intake over the course of one week. Parents are often surprised to find that their child's food intake balances out. Something must be fueling all that energy!

Don't forget to consider fluids in the food equation, too. Milk and juice can offer vital nutrients (though too much juice means too much sugar). But since too much fluid can also dampen an appetite, you may want to serve drinks after and between meals. And try to make sure she's not filling up on junk food. A daily multivitamin also provides added insurance that your child is getting the vitamins and minerals she needs but is not a substitute for good food. And if your toddler refuses to eat or drink anything for an entire day, call your pediatrician."

 

[OmarsMum]

Hi hun, maybe he's getting distracted while feeding. Did you try to feed him before his naps in a dark room?

DS was the same at your LO's age, he was more interested in looking around & any noise used to distract him.

 

[jojo2605]

Hi hun, might be a stupid suggestion but what number teats are you using? Could it be that he needs the next size up? When he's awake during the day he could be getting frustrated at not getting the milk fast enough whereas at night when he's sleepy he might not be awake enough to notice?

 

[Zana]

I thought this was interesting, thinking about food from a weekly standpoint rather than day by day

""Your child may eat well one day and eat practically nothing the next," says Dr. Sears, who recently co-authored The Family Nutrition Book (Little Brown, August 1999) with his wife, Martha.

Rather than get hung up on the fact that your child has refused everything you put in front of her today, consider her food intake over the course of one week. Parents are often surprised to find that their child's food intake balances out. Something must be fueling all that energy!

Don't forget to consider fluids in the food equation, too. Milk and juice can offer vital nutrients (though too much juice means too much sugar). But since too much fluid can also dampen an appetite, you may want to serve drinks after and between meals. And try to make sure she's not filling up on junk food. A daily multivitamin also provides added insurance that your child is getting the vitamins and minerals she needs but is not a substitute for good food. And if your toddler refuses to eat or drink anything for an entire day, call your pediatrician."

That is interesting.

Hi hun, maybe he's getting distracted while feeding. Did you try to feed him before his naps in a dark room?

DS was the same at your LO's age, he was more interested in looking around & any noise used to distract him.

That could be true too. He is very alert and into every single movement. I'll try feeding him somewhere quiet and see if that works.

Hi hun, might be a stupid suggestion but what number teats are you using? Could it be that he needs the next size up? When he's awake during the day he could be getting frustrated at not getting the milk fast enough whereas at night when he's sleepy he might not be awake enough to notice?

I'm using NUK bottles with medium teats or Doctor Brown bottles with a number 3 teat - I'm giving him comfort milk. Are these teats ok for comfort milk - I just assumed they were???

I just saw the HV and she said he may have his night and day feedings mixed up and that a bit of tough love is called for at night time. I'll be in for a rough few nights to try and switch his nighttime feedings to his daytime ones - I'm already absolutely exhausted