Oh no :-(

[xteepeex]

So I went for my first day away from my 5 month old on Saturday. She was with my parents from 4 am until 7pm, and was a little angel for them... Except.... She refused to feed the entire time I was gone

She has taken bottles since 7 weeks old, not without a little bit of grumbling as I think she prefers mummy cuddly feeds, but she has taken bottles from me, Dh, her sister and both sets of grandparents.

But on Saturday she didn't eat from 2am until 7pm. That's 19 hours. My mum called me at 10 to say she hadn't fed, but as she can go 11hours at night without a feed I wasn't worried. By 1pm I was very upset, but apparently she was absolutely happy, the only time she grizzled was when mum tried to give her a bottle! Mum tried different bottles, teats, even a cup just to get something inside of her, but she wasn't having any of it. (it was fresh milk not frozen, So I don't think it is a lipase thing)

Will she go back onto taking bottles? We tried yesterday but would only put the teat inbetween her lips and clamp down.

By the way, please no judgments on the fact she went that long without me- we were at silverstone for the grand prix, and couldn't get the park and ride back until 4pm, we left as soon as we could & I cried all the way home. I NEVER thought feeding would be an issue, as I said she's always fed before no problem. I've checked for dehydration in the days since & she's fine, been feeding every 2 hours just in case. Nothing anybody else can say can make me feel as much of a bad mum as I do already - I effectively starved her

 

[Rachel_C]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think they must start asserting their preferences more strongly at around that age, but in a month or so you'll be starting her on solids and maybe some water so even if you do have to leave her she can still eat and drink even if she chooses not to have milk.

 

[cautious...]

Don't feel bad. You sound like a very caring mummy. I am planning a day out away from my LO in a couple of weeks and he will be 5 months then. I have read about babies refusing to eat whilst away from their mum and hope it doesn't happen but it could happen to anyone. You weren't to know and you do deserve some time to yourself too

 

[Tess.ie]

Stop beating yourself up, you are a wonderful and caring mum so don't worry about that.
As you said, your mum tried many times and in different ways to feed lo and she wouldn't take it. So it is nobodys fault that she didn't feed. I'm sure it won't have done her any harm in one day. X

 

[optimistic1]

I was researching stuff like this because I was afraid of my daughter being with a sitter and refusing the bottle I didn't want her to starve but somewhere I can't for the life of me remember where I read that some babies will refuse to eat because they wasn't to wait for mommy but they won't wait to the point where there starving. Don't beat yourself up! You did everything you were supposed to and so did your mom and as long as your lo was happy then she wasn't starving at all! She's fine and your doing great!!!!

 

[CandyDay]

you didn't starve her. She had food available to her if she wanted it. If you had of left her with no food then you would have been starving her but that isn't what you did. Babies sometimes go on nursing strikes so just think of it as that.