Not interested in bottles...

[Lucy_lu_84]

We switched a week or so ago and he was taking roughly 30oz a day... near enough 5 6oz bottles. The past few days though he is only drinking 3 or 4 oz at a time.

so far today he has only drank about 15 oz, I will feed him again around 10:30 unless he wakes before. But even if he takes a full bottle it's way off what he should be drinking.

Same yesterdya, he drank a little more but not much.

DO you think it's just a phase? I did wonder if maybe he was coming down with something, maybe his throat could be sore and it hurts to swallow so only taking a small bit to tide him over. He seems to have a cough but i'm struggling to tell if it's a real one or a 'new noise'

Any ideas?

 

[caggimedicine]

Hi

Harry was exactly the same. I got really stressed out about it. We were also very pressurised by the Health Visitors, who gave no advice other than "Harry really should be drinking more milk". They did not ever suggest how we should go about feeding a baby that does not want feeding, and short of force feeding - what can you do?!

We then saw a dietician who said pretty much the same thing, but by this point Harry was 5 months old and we'd begun weaning him so could at least start introducing milk to the food we were giving to him too.... but we're talking an extra 1-2oz per day max.

My advice to you would be:

• TRY not to get too stressed out, which is REALLY difficult
• don't start comparing your baby with other babies. I did this and would get so upset and frustrated with Harry and myself - you can begin to feel quite isolated and start wondering what is wrong with your baby/you as a mother.
• don't try and lead your life by what is written on the side of a formula box - not ALL babies will/need to drink that much formula.
• don't get so intent on getting milk into your baby that you begin giving milk at inappropriate times (e.g. night time every time your baby stirs). We did this and are now paying the price because Harry began waking almost every hour for small feeds that he didn't need, can't settle without having a bottle - we're now trying to break this milk/sleep association.
• If your baby starts dropping on the weight charts, don't worry. I've had it on very good authority from a pediatrician that it is quite common for a baby to find it's line on the chart - so long as once it's found, baby stays around that line, there's no need to concern yourself with which line it is, no matter what the Health Visitors say.

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Thanks! Your reply is very helpful.

Well last week he had gone up a line, after hovering on the 2nd percentile and dropping under. SO they were pleased. Since then he has stopped drinking so much. So if he drops down they will probs moan at me - but he was always on the 2nd since birth!

Will just go with it, Uh and we've only just got rid of all but one night feed. So i am not getting into that habit again! I was feeding every two hours until a week ago.

 

[caggimedicine]

It sounds like you're on the right track - just because your LO isn't drinking the amount of milk stated on the side of the tub, doesn't mean they're not doing what's right for them. My personal experience is not to take much notice of the Health Visitors and do what you think is right for your baby. If baby is healthy, happy and developing well, there's nothing to worry about