4 Month Old Baby Wont Eat More Than 2-3 oz

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4 Month Old Baby Wont Eat More Than 2-3 oz

by Samantha
(Birmingham)

My 4 month old baby use to eat 5 oz every 3-4 hours but the last week he will only eat 2-3 oz and he is really restless during the feed.

He move his head away from the bottle and cries after 2 oz. I am worried about him losing weight. He is happy and smiles a lot but never seems hungry.

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4 Month Old Baby Wont Eat More Than 2-3 oz

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Feb 17, 2010

Maybe sick, maybe not
by: Paula (Baby Help Line)

Hi Samantha,

I can totally related to your worrying! I do't know how many times I schedules appoinments with my babies' health nurses, to check their weight development, since they suddenly didn't eat anything. Usually, they followed their curves and if they didn't, they either got sick or they started eating again a couple of days later.

If your baby is happy and smiling and wet his diapers, he is likely to be fine. Babies' appetite can vary a lot; they have growth spurts when all they want to do s eat and other periods when eating isn't very interesting at all.

Also, if he is about to get ill, he will most likely have a period later on when he compensates for the weight loss.

I wouldn't worry too much. But do go ahead and schedule a checkup, to keep track of his weight. And of course continue to watch for signs of illness.

Warm wishes,

Paula

Jul 16, 2010

my baby
by: Kate

I totally understand. I am searching for help myself, my baby girl is 21 wks and although she has never been brilliant at taking her feed's she seems to have stopped more or less altogether. I am lucky if she take's 2/3 oz 4 times a day. And that's pushing it. I'm really worried.

Jul 17, 2010

Same HEre
by: Amy

We are having the same thing with my 4 month old baby girl, expect it is because she is teething. if it carrys on for a few days trhen take him/her to a doctor iotherwise it could just be a phase or early signs of teething, my little girl already has one tooth through!

Jul 24, 2010

Barely eats
by: Anonymous

My 4 month old daughter wont eat very much either. Im lucky if i get 12oz a day in her.She acts as if the bottle is a bad thing never wants to eat. She will only eat 2/3 oz at a time if she's awake. She has just recently gotten two bottom teeth. I hope she starts eating again.

Jul 26, 2010

4month old
by: Iain

Our baby girl has recently started taking a lot less of her bottles. Up until now she has taken a good 6.5 oz each feed. But it has slowly gone down and down. Now its a real battle to get her to take more than 1 oz if that. We have had her at the doctor who said it was a virus and to give paracetamol 4 times a day. We have done this but it makes no difference. I expect we'll be going back to the doctor again. Im sure they just say "virus" when they haven't got a clue these days...
Just a thought, but there seems to be quite a few 4 month olds having the same problem on these forums at the moment, could it be to do with a vaccine?? Not the anyone would admit anything of coarse.

Aug 03, 2010

5 month old
by: Anonymous

My baby only taking 3oz formula every 3-4hours since being weaned from breast 2weeks ago. Moves head constantly while feeding and doesn't seem to enjoy it. This doesn't seem enough?

Aug 06, 2010

my 4 month old
by: murat

we also have a 4 month old girl who also for the last 3 weeks has not been feeding as well,we have gone from 150mls of formulae to about 40mls if that,our girl seems happy and joyful.we are also becoming very concerned that she might lose weight,she has lost her appetite and her feeding patterns at the moment are all over the place,we will be going to the g.p next week to see what help is availabe.Our little girl also had chicken pox at 2 months,we wonder if that has anything to do with it,does anybody have any possibilities to what might be going on.

Aug 09, 2010

4 mo old boy loosing appetite and weight!
by: Drew

We are going through similar problems. Starting at 1 month ago, our son had some sort of viral infection aka a cold... He was weezing and coughing and seamingly choking on flem. We were constantly sucking his nose out with a bulb. Ever since then he's dropped to 15-20oz a day. He's been to the PED twice, and both times they told us he does not have an ear infection and he's fine. The first visit he was 16 lbs 6 oz. She said he had gained some weight since his last checkup, but not as much as would have been expected. We scheduled a follow-up for 1 week later. In that time, his eating habits remained the same, and he was getting periodic low grade fevers the entire week. At the follow-up visit, he had lost 10 oz in one week! The doctor said again, he had no ear infection and looked good, and that we were talking about ounces, not pounds, and to come back in a month...! Is this good advice??? We are very worried about our little boy. He just wont eat like he used to, he even pushes the bottle away with his hand and puckers his lips to keep it out.

Aug 10, 2010

Our 4 month old is better now
by: Iain

Further to my post a few weeks ago, we took Lucy to the doctors regarding her poor appetite and after a weigh-in slight weight loss. The first doctor said it was a "virus", which I'm beginning to think is the stock excuse for "no idea". He said to give her paracetemol three times a day as she prob had a sore throat and so didn't want to feed.
I wasn't happy with this as it didnt improve ger feeding, so took her to another doctor 2 days later. He said it was thrush, despite my not seeing any white spots in her mouth. He said there'd been quite a few cases and he'd missed one and a baby had gone into hospital so he was being ultra careful looking for it. Anyway he treated her with a gel to rub in her mouth which seemed to do the trick. She was back taking 5oz within 24 hrs and is now back to normal.
Not that I'm any expert, but the main thing to look for is wet nappies, if your not getting those that's a danger sign. Mainly though, if your not happy with the advice you receive, get a second or even third opinion. Your baby is more important than offending a doctor by asking for a new opinion. The very fact your on here looking for answers means your not reassured, get another appointment now....
Good luck

Aug 26, 2010

My 4 month old baby
by: Mickey

My baby just turn 4 month old yesterday.I am really worry about him, he got a bad appetite.When he was 3 month old he drunk 120ml till now still the same, sometimes lest then 120ml.This morning i try to feed him 120ml but he can't finish after few min he vomit.My son had kidney reflux , he had to take antibiotic every day. Is any one knew wht happen to him,what should i do.
Is a 4 month old baby can grow a teeth?
Please help.....................

Aug 31, 2010

SAME PROBLEM!!!
by: Anonymous

I have a 3.5 month who wont eat as much as he should for his weight... he was little to begin with and it seems that this is our plight, he has just always been a lazy eater ...we will always be trying to get him to eat more. For his weight the doctor says he should be eating 28-35oz/ day and he barely takes 22 each day. Weight is maintained but not always gaining. He is taking medication for reflux which as someone said above, i don't really want him on medication at 3 months old... how do i even know if he needs this drug?!? Any ideas people?

Sep 20, 2010

my baby acts the same
by: Ivy

My baby is 4 1/2 months and she's been losing appetite for weeks now. She only takes 2 1/2 oz for 10hours !!!!!

I'm taking her to doctor today

Oct 06, 2010

Hi Ivy
by: Anonymous

My baby is the same. This is my 2nd week back to work and he only eats 3 oz all day while I am at work. But when I pick him up at 4:30 PM and try to nurse him there, he won't eat. He will at at home @ around &PM and go to sleep, and eat 3 times at night for about 10 mins each.

I am also taking him to a doctor.

Oct 17, 2010

my 3 month old baby girl won't eat
by: loreny

My 3 month old baby girl isn't eating at all. If she eats more than 12 oz in 24it's a miracle. I'm so concerned. This is been going on for about 8 days. I tried feeding her Gerber rice cereal, baby food,and Gerber fruit juices. She usually eats about 4 to 5 oz every 3 hours. I've heard that it happens because she's teething. I hope this changes because I can't imagine my daughter going hours without eating. If this problem keeps going on I'm going to schedule an appt.

Oct 24, 2010

This worked for me
by: Karen

I've just found a solution for my 4 month old Son who went from drinking a 7oz bottle to 2-3oz's and became very fussy over drinking. It was almost as if it was hurting him to drink from the bottle so I changed to a No.3 teet instead of the No.2. Changing to the larger teet worked a treat and he is back drinking 6-7oz's again. Maybe sucking from the smaller teet hurts at this stage when teething is starting. Hope this helps as it is very worrying when your baby refuses to eat. Try introducing some water between feeds which helps with trapped wind and prevents dehydration

Nov 06, 2010

4 myo baby refusing to eat after 3 oz.
by: Anonymous

Almost 2 weeks ago, my 4.5 myo started getting extremely fussy after only a few 2-3 oz per feeding (previously taking 6-8 oz) and generally just lost her appetite. I keep a journal and noted that it started the day she received her vaccine - I'm not attributing it to that, but it does seem like a coincidence. I took her in the the ped and she lost 3 oz., and the doctor said it was a "stomach virus". But it's been 2 weeks now and she still hasn't gotten any better! Do babies develop acid reflux at this stage?

Nov 10, 2010

I wrote
by: Anonymous

So my son is now almost 6 months now... and basically he is just not a good eater. We have had small successes but then we regress again, basically 2 steps forward and 4 steps back. He remains on his growth curve and has jumped in the height category. It makes for very frustrating days, because one day he could be taking 7-8 ounces.. and the next 4-5. We are trying to just relax about it, and stop counting ounces. Always watching # of wet diapers. Hoping he will be a better solids eater. (we are also giving some rice cereal now too)

Jan 07, 2011

4 month old suddenly not interested in bottle
by: Anonymous

My 4 month old son has recently become extremely fussy with taking his bottle after being such a good eater. He used to take 150mls 5times a day and now I am lucky if he take 50mls at a time! Health Nurse and Doctor both said reflux and put him on Zantac, however, I am not convinced as he does not have any other symptoms. He does not vomit (occasionally brings up some milk), he is fine lying down flat and generally a very happy baby otherwise. My only thought is that he is not going through a growth spurt at the moment and therefore is just not interested in feeding? Any thoughts would be very helpful.

Jan 11, 2011

Same Problem for Weeks
by: Anonymous

Hi,my little girl was 16weeks yesterday. I completely understand what you're all going through, At 6 weeks, she got a bit of a blocked nose and stopped feeding. Had been taking 7oz in bottles before then! Took her to the doc as she started vomiting too and was told to change formula brand and put gaviscon in the bottles. Vomiting stopped but would still only take 2oz before jumping and jerking when been given any more. It was terrible. Went to feeding clinic and was told it was reflux. I never believed that and really believe "reflux" is the new colic!

She was put on Zantac as well as gaviscon in the bottles but no difference. First couple of ounces were easy but nightmare after that. 10 weeks later and things still aren't great and i have to work to get her to feed. I tend to split feed her to make her take more but you end up feeding all day.

Feeding clinic think she has just developed an aversion to the bottle and try a new feeding practice, eg quiet room, heat the bottle, soft background music etc. Works some days but not others. She is teething mad at the mo but certainly wasn't at 6wks!!! Think there are just some babies who hate bottles. Roll on weaning.....

Jan 14, 2011

Me Again!
by: Anonymous

I have written on here multiple times, since my son was 4 months old. I really think there should be a support group for problems such as these. My son is now 7.5 months old and we still have really bad days. He seems to be a better solid food eater, which I'm clinging to. But I know the formula/breast milk should be his primary source of nutrition until age 1. So now with 2 "meals" a day he only takes 24-28oz of formula. But realistically the 28oz is only when he doesn't finish his solids. This is said to be ok, but its still on the low end.

It has been the most frustrating part of my relationship with my son, and I think when you're on maternity leave your world becomes so small that it is so easy to focus on something, and then it just spirals from there. My advice to anyone who is 3 months our junior reading this is to seriously just try to relax about it. If you have checked with your doctor and your baby is growing, having wet and poopy diapers and doc says baby is fine, you just have to go with the flow. I'm pretty sure my son is here to teach me that you cant plan everything and my son is not a typical eater like the ones in the textbooks!

Babies cant read textbooks to tell them how much they should be eating, only that internal hunger drive can tell them, and assuming you have an otherwise healthy baby they wont starve themselves. Good luck!

Jan 31, 2011

Not eating either
by: Krystin

Hi there! My son is 4.5 months old as well, and was just released from the hospital today for dehydration and vomiting. He has been hospitalized many times already, mostly due to acid reflux, and changes in his Prevacid. He used to intake 4 ounces at every feed which was about 2-3 hours apart. A month ago, he was hospitalized due to RSV. He really hasn't been interested in food since our discharge then. It has been almost a month now, and still only eating 7-10 ounces a day, but he his not losing weight much. He has been a little chunker since a week after birth. The doctors keep looking at him, and seeing a big boy weighing in at 16 lbs, and don't seem to take my concerns about him not eating seriously. When we were discharged from the hospital today, he had only taken 3.5 ounces all day in a 7 hour period. I got home and he ate 2 ounces 5 hours later, and now we are going on 5 hours without him eating again. I am very concerned and don't know what to do. PLEASE help!

Feb 03, 2011

re: Krystin
by: Anonymous

Hi Krystin,

Have you tried giving some rice cereal? I know all the professionals say nothing before 6 months but this helped our son. This at least gave me a bit of peace in knowing he was getting a little bit more nutrition. My heart goes out to you, i have been there and I know those days of counting every ounce. I know you have heard this before but that is amazing that he is 16 lbs... my son at 8 months is only just 18 lbs.. count wet and poopy diapers. If there are less than 5 per day for more than a day or two I would be going back to the doctors. Obviously sooner if behavior is different (or more lethargic).
I wish there was more I could do to help, I totally know your feeling of desperation. My son has also been on prevacid, he has had two different xrays, one where he drank this stuff to help them see if he had anything else going on...maybe you could ask about that with your doctors?

Feb 27, 2011

Still the same problems
by: Krystin

Hi there,
Yes, we have tried rice cereal, but that constipated him, so we moved to oatmeal. We have recently removed all cereals, due to the fact the doctors thought it was filling him too quickly, but he is still not eating. Doctors are looking into inserting a feeding tube, see that my son is still only intaking about 12 ounces a day. I am at such a loss! I am sorry that you had similar issues with your child! My heart goes out to you as well. Hopefully these doctors will figure things out soon, it has been going on since the end of December.

Mar 02, 2011

Same Feeding Issue
by: Anonymous

Hello,

I am so glad that I found this site...I am having the exact same issue. My son is 4.5 months old but we have been struggling with his feeding issues since Jan 2011. In Dec/Jan he was only taking about 2-3 ozs every feed sometimes less. It seem to get worse in Jan..he would take some sucking the nipple then stop and fuss turning his head away and crying. It seemed that the only way he would get a good feed is if he was super tired and sleeping.

At the end of Jan I decided to try him on a new formula...Similac Sensitive. It worked great for 2 weeks. He was up to 4-5 ozs every 3 hrs and there was one week he slept through the night. After the 2 weeks we were back to where we started; fussing at the bottle, turning his head and crying even though he seemed hungry. I tried different bottles, nipples and formula (lactose free and soy) also tried cup feeding throughout this process. The doctor said to try him on soy and the 2 days on it, he seemed worse. He would cry during and after some of his feeds (not everyone). So anyways now we are at silent reflux...The doctor put him on Nexium for 6 weeks. I am into day 3 and no change yet. I really hope this is the answer.

Anyways I can't believe we are all going through this. I am hoping that if he doesnt have reflux that maybe starting him on fruit and adding it to his bottle so its a different taste. Hmmmm

Mar 02, 2011

Hopefully he gained some weight!
by: Krystin

It is amazing to see how many other are dealing with the same issues! My son will be 6 months on the 12th, and I posted on here a couple months ago. He is now on Elecare formula, due to his severe milk allergies and reflux. He is now on Prevacid, Zantac, Levsin, Carafate. After we added the Zantac, his reflux seems a little bit better, his apnea episodes have decreased, but he is still not eating. I have increased the calories in his bottles to ensure that he is meeting his goals. At one point, I was adding 2 ounces of flavored pedialyte, 2 ounces of water and 3 scoops of formula to make his 4 ounce bottles. The pedialyte seems to do the trick sometimes, not every time. But when it does, he will finish the whole bottle. He seems to like the Cotton Candy and Grape flavored. If he did not gan enough weight tomorrow at his doctors appointment, then they are considering inserting a ND tube temporarily. We are in the process of scheduling a PH Probe, sleep study, and allergy testing to see if we can find "the cause" of his feeding aversions. Please keep me updated maybe with everyone sharing ideas we will be able to get our children eating normally again =)

Mar 03, 2011

Same feeding problems
by: Rebeca

Well, we are having the same problem. My Little Guy is almost four months old. He used to suck down bottles that were anywhere from 4 oz. to 7 oz. about every three to four hours. He started daycare about three weeks ago and ever since he does not seem to be eating as much. I took him to the doctor and she said he has silent reflux. He gets congested and coughs sometimes at night and in the moring. He does not spit up much at all but from what I understand the reflux can cause the congestion/cough. He is on baby zantac. I am praying that this will help. I pray that all our sweet baby's start eating better again. Please continue to update. :)

Mar 21, 2011

My baby seems to be in pain when feeding!!
by: Lizzie

Someone help me please!!!!

My little girl is 15 weeks old and is on food strike!
When she was only 3 weeks old she was diagnosed with silent reflux as she would get very figity and uncomfortable when feeding but would still feed! The gaviscon didn't really help and as I didn't want her getting constipated. Her feeding got better and she would easily have 40 min feeds or 5oz every 3 hours and started sleeping through the night. Then about 3 weeks ago she started to refuse milk of any kind and after a few mins of feeding would pop off sharply when I try to continue she cries and makes a straining noise. I wind her before and after feeds and have tried infacol, colief and gripe water but nothing I do can get her to take more. Surprisingly she has gained weight but she is still below average, however my main concern is she is in pain and won't feed? Please someone help me!!!

Apr 06, 2011

Poor feeder
by: Gail

Its great to read that I am not the only Mum having a hard time. My 3 month old baby was a great eater then over the past 5 weeks will take 2-3 oz then arch her back and refuse the bottle. She is not taking what she should for her weight. She has also had a bad cough since she has been 4 weeks old so don't know if it is connected. Have been to 5 GP's and really no further forward. Been given gaviscon bur it's doesn't help. Getting an appointment with a Paediatrician soon so hopefully things will improve with some good advice. Very stressful as all you want to do is feed your baby.

Apr 14, 2011

worried mommy
by: alisha

my son is almost 4 months old.Since birth feedings have always been an issue..At 2 weeks old we were told that he had acid reflux an were given zantac which helped.We have tried every kind of formula, after finally setteling on similac alimentum.my biggest concern is my son will only take 4 oz. at a time an can go for as long as 8 to 10 hours before wanting to eat! to me thats just not normal.We have taken him to the dr. an he said he was fine an that some babies can go that long..we have no issue with his weight..hes rather big for his age.We had to start adding cereal to his bottle to help thicken it due to the reflux..which makes it like a thick malt..i just dont understand what else we can do.

Apr 14, 2011

I understand Alisha
by: Beckah

Alisha, I understand how you feel. Our little guy just seems to want to eat less. I have started giving him ceral in the A.M., he gets ceral in his bottle, and he get's fruit at night mixed with a little ceral. He is on preavacid for the reflux. He also has started grunting, God Love Him. His weight is good also, but I worry. He is five months.

May 10, 2011

any solution?
by: Anonymous

I have a daughter 3 and half months old and we have the same problems for last 3 weeks.She doesnt want to eat and she is crying most of the time she is awake.I am trying breast milk,formula,tea for children.Nothing works and the doctors till now did not find anything wrong with her.Some comments here are more than 1 year old.If someone is here who went through all this...could you,please, write your experiences? Keep fingers for everyone.

May 10, 2011

Eating
by: Beckah

Do you think maybe your baby is teething? I have found that we seem to go through spurts where we want to eat very well, and spurts where not as much. When we went to the doctor he told me that babies are just little people and just like us, there are times when they are more hungry than others. I also notice that when we teethe we do not always eat as much. I pray that your Little One is back to eating well! Blessings!
Beckah

May 11, 2011

Same feeding issue!
by: Anonymous

My son is a little over 3 months and we have been dealing with these same issues since he was 1 month old. We have been feeding pumped milk in bottles since he was a few days old because he never nursed very well. In the beginning, he was a GREAT bottle feeder and never spit up or anything...then around 4 weeks he started getting occasional diarrhea, spitting up, and having projectile vomiting, but was still eating very well (between 3 to 4oz at a feeding). He seemed to always eat more at night when he was more tired and was always a happy baby in between feedings. His feedings though just worsened from there...he would become VERY fussy and seem uncomfortable during the middle of his feedings. He has always been difficult to burp, so we tried Mylicon, which helped only slightly. I gave up drinking milk myself to see if that helped and maybe coincidence, but the diarrhea went away and he stopped projectile vomiting. I thought we were on a roll, at least he was less fussy, but then he started pushing the bottle out with his tongue during feedings...or if we stopped to burp him midfeed, he would never take the bottle back. Since then his feeding habits have gone up and down...recently I have given up all dairy and tried level 2 nipples...but we are still having issues. It's so frustrating when you know your baby is hungry, but you can't get him to eat. The pediatricians are never concerned because he continues to gain weight, but I don't want to wait until he is completely refusing the bottle every feed to try and fix this problem...

May 20, 2011

We found relief!
by: Anonymous

Generally, if your baby is difficult to burp they likely have acid reflux.(see feeding issues from baby whisperer) This is true of my son also. Month three through four was awful for my family as my child also stopped eating and would get extremely upset during feedings. I swear we went to the doctor every week if not twice a week. Turns out he has a milk protein allergy and we have switched him to Similac Alimentum RTF. He also had silent reflux, which I did not believe he had at first, but keep them on the medicine for a while. It takes a while to work. It seems that following being sick a baby can sometimes develop a food allergy afterwards. We tried soy too, but generally babies that are allergic to milk proteins are apparently no better with soy and it constipated him very badly. Anyway, I am glad to say now that my son is back up to 6-8oz a feeding. You know we never got our child allergy tested, but just tried different formulas instead and I wish in a way that we just would have demanded it from the beginning. It is horrible to watch your child suffer through all of that and then changing their formula constantly is hard on them too. I decided to go with the RTF after we were on the powder a while. He did better on the powder, but not as well as on the RTF. The Similac Alimentum RTF does not have corn in it so that may be part of it too. Anyway, I pray that all of you find the relief that we have. Don't let the doctors make you feel stupid. You know your child better than anyone else and caring about their health is never wrong.

Jun 09, 2011

Lets do survey to find out what might be the cause / problem
by: LieIeWen

Dear All,
I read lots of these posts and really want to try to FIND AN ANSWER AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
So I suggest, lets do a survey so maybe we can see a pattern on what might cause this to happen to our babies.

SHORT SUMMARY:
I am also experiencing the same problem with my baby. Since around 12 weeks old, he will only finish his 150ml bottle of expressed (pumped) breastmilk when he's being fed while asleep. He didn't have any problems before and was drinking up to 1 liter a day up to 12 weeks old. He was taking 150mls during the day every 3-4 hours. It started when he would only drink half his bottle, and it will be another hour before we try to get him to finish the other half. Sometimes by then he is already sleepy, so we feed the remaining milk while he is just about to fall asleep. And it has continued until today, he is now 16 weeks old, drinking between 800mls to 1 liter a day, with majority feeds done while he is asleep.

QUESTIONS FOR SURVEY: (please just ignore questions u don't want to answer or feel is irrelevant)
Feel free to add new questions

PLEASE COPY AND PASTE then answer the questions on your post:

***Is your child boy or girl?
***Did you give birth naturally or c-sec.
***Did / do you breastfeed?
***Was he ever given formula as suplement (in hospital before you produced breastmilk, or not enough breastmilk, etc)
***When did it start and how old is your baby now.
***What is your baby's weight now?
***Have you noticed significant change in weight gain / loss?
***Do you: 1. breastfeed directly OR
2. bottle feed breastmilk OR
3. formula feed OR
4. combination?
***How much milk did he take per feed (before problem started), and how often / how much milk in total in one day (24 hours)
***How much milk does he take NOW since problem persist?
***What was first signs you notice when problem started (back arching when just started being fed, crying when feeding, turn head, just let the milk spill out his mouth and not want to swallow,
***Does your baby make clicking sound when drinking from a bottle?
***Does your baby suck / use a pacifier/binky/soother?
***Do you know if your baby has GERD (Gastro Reflux Disorder)
***Do you now (since problem started) only feed baby when asleep or can he still take some milk while awake too?
***If you bottle feed, what bottle brand do you use?
***Have you tried giving larger / next step bottle teat (small to medium, or stage 1 to stage 2), did it work?
***Do you know if your baby is currently teething or started teething, at what age?
***Did your baby recently get sick around the time the problem started (flu, fever, etc)
***Did you start weaning your baby yet? At how many weeks old did you start?
***Is your baby lactose intolerant or have any allergies? Or any other medical condition

Jun 09, 2011

My own answers on Survey
by: LieIeWen

***Is your child boy or girl?
Boy
***Did you give birth naturally or c-sec.
Csec at 39.5 weeks
***Did / do you breastfeed?
Yes
***Was he ever given formula as suplement (in hospital before you produced breastmilk, or not enough breastmilk, etc)
Yes
***When did it start and how old is your baby now.
12 weeks / 16 weeks
***What is your baby's weight now?
6.8kg
***Have you noticed significant change in weight gain / loss?
Yes, used to gain 300-500gr per week, now only 100-200 per week
***Do you: 1. breastfeed directly OR
2. bottle feed breastmilk OR
3. formula feed OR
4. combination?
#2
***How much milk did he take per feed (before problem started), and how often / how much milk in total in one day (24 hours)
150ml every 3-4 hours, Total 1000mls/day
***How much milk does he take NOW since problem persist?
now 50-100mls every 2 hours. Total 800-1000mls/day
***What was first signs you notice when problem started (back arching when just started being fed, crying when feeding, turn head, just let the milk spill out his mouth and not want to swallow,
All of the above
***Does your baby make clicking sound when drinking from a bottle?
Yes
***Does your baby suck / use a pacifier/binky/soother?
Yes, since 3 weeks old
***Do you know if your baby has GERD (Gastro Reflux Disorder)
No
***Do you now (since problem started) only feed baby when asleep or can he still take some milk while awake too?
only 50 mls awake at one time
***If you bottle feed, what bottle brand do you use?
Medela teat S size and avent teat #1
***Have you tried giving larger / next step bottle teat (small to medium, or stage 1 to stage 2), did it work?
Yes tried Medela M and Avent #2, no didn't work, just more milk spill out of mouth.
***Do you know if your baby is currently teething or started teething, at what age?
No, no signs of teething only 3.5 mnths old now.
***Did your baby recently get sick around the time the problem started (flu, fever, etc)
Yes, got sick at week 15, fever.
***Did you start weaning your baby yet? At how many weeks old did you start?
Not yet
***Is your baby lactose intolerant or have any allergies? Or any other medical condition
Not that I know of.

Jun 10, 2011

Please Read Other Article titled "4 month old baby stopped eating and drinking"
by: Suzan

I posted a previous comment under "4 Month Old Stopped Eating And Drinking" dated January 15, 2011. Please read it. I didn't know of this article until now and felt I needed to post a comment here with an update. I also wanted to answer the survey that was posted here. Here are my facts:
1. I had an emergency c-section at 40 wks after water broke but baby girl was stuck in my birthing canal.
2. I breastfed only up to 4 wks due to baby having gas problems from my milk and could not keep it up from the strict diet and exhaustion with lack of sleep.
3. Hospital gave Similac formula while baby was in NICU for 4 days for jaundice and a hematoma on head caused by trauma during birth.
4. Supplemented breastfeeding with formula. But after ceased breast milk, continued with similac formula. Noticed several things with Similac formula: baby had projectile vomit few times per week, problem burping most of time never burped, and constipation at times. When breastfed and then gave formula thereafter as supplement, baby always projectile vomited.
5. At 4 months, drank anywhere from 4-7 oz. Per feeding every 3-4 hrs.
6. End of 4mo, caught a cold maybe viral with congestion etc. and began refusing to drink more than 2-3 oz of milk at a time. Everytime gave her bottle, she turned he head away and cried like milk was a bad thing.I noticed if I fed her half awake which was during first 5 mins after she fell asleep, she would drink the same amount before she got sick.
7. After illness past which she turned 5 mos., she continued to refuse to drink her milk awake no matter how hungry she was even if 5-6 hrs passed since last feeding. The most she would take if we tried hard was 3oz. at a time. But as soon as she fell asleep, she drank the whole bottle (7-8 oz.).
8. She started drooling a lot and teething early in her 3rd month and popped a teeth during 6th month.
9. Her birth weight was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and she has always gained weight and height above avg. Been a happy baby and had normal wet diapers.
10. After feeding problems started, switched to almost every formula, bottles and nipples and zippy cups, nothing worked. Even tried milk at diff temps but no success.
11. Finally gave up and have been feeding her only when she just falls asleep during naps and bedtime still to is day and she is now 10 months old. Noticed that she loves loves loves to drink water but not milk.
12. Started her out on rice cereal at 6 months and she loved solids at first especially rice cereal. Wished I had started her out earlier at 4 months but dr said because her milk intake was not enough yet to eat solids. I regret listening to dr. Even told dr many times problems with drinking milk only while sleeping but she wasn't concerned as long as baby was growing.
13. My baby has never been diagnosed with GERD, food allergies of any kind or has any medical problems that we know.

Jun 10, 2011

Continued from last comment
by: Suzan

14. Now baby takes in anywhere from 18-24oz. per day with 3 meals of solids. Noticed at 7 months., started developing problem with vomiting in that whenever she didn't like taste of something (mostly fruits), she gags and vomits all belly contents. Also noticed if she ate too much solids or drank milk too soon after eating solids, would projectile vomit. Very concerned but dr doesn't seem to be concerned because her weight is avg and her height is 96%. My baby is very long (30 in. at 9 mos.) and slender.

Let me say it has been frustrating to feed my baby only after she falls asleep. If I wait too long, she goes into deep sleep and won't drink her milk. She will drink milk awake only if I starve her a good 3+ hrs and still will drink only 4 oz maybe even 5 oz if I'm lucky and with lots of distractions. This past month I noticed she has been willing to drink up to 6 oz. awake when I give her a bottle first thing when she wakes up in morning prob because she's gone 10 hrs sleeping without a bottle.

Hope these answers help. Good luck to all who experience this problem!

Has been a very frustrating experience and someone at a university should do research on this topic.

Jun 16, 2011

4 mo. old and eating only 4 oz. at a time
by: Jennifer

Hello everyone,
I am relieved to find other mommies going through the same thing! First off,I am so sorry you are all going through this. This is my second child who is having severe reflux and milk protein allergy. My first child with problems is now 3.5 years old and his reflux continues. Most children do outgrow it by their first birthday but he was one of the unlucky ones. He has since ended up with croup related asthma from the severe acid reflux and is chronically aspirating stomach contents into his lungs. We are hoping to repeat his broncoscopy and endoscopy to see if he continues to aspirate while on 2 15mg tabs of Prevacid each day. In Jan. he had a lung infection due to the reflux. I tell you all this as encouragement to listen to your mommy gut and see as many Dr.'s until you feel heard. My son suffered from monthly (sometimes bi-monthly)croup. I just kept documenting it and reading everything I could about reflux and got him to a wonderful pulmonologist and an immunologist.

I have since had a baby 4 mo. ago. She presented with early reflux and bloody stools (cow's milk protein allergy) at 9 days old. She would scream for hours at night from the reflux pain. She was inconsolable. She was on Axid and it did nothing for her so she was quickly put on 1/2 tab Prevacid 2x a day. As she began growing the reflux meds. stopped working and we moved her to a whole tab 2x a day. Then that stopped working and she takes a whole tab prevacid in the am and 1.0ml of Axid at bed. She also has been through numerous formulas due to the milk protein allergy. My son, I mentioned earlier, was nursed for 15 mo. and I had to cut all dairy from my diet. With this peanut I decided to go with formula b/c it was so hard not having dairy and there were many foods w dairy that bothered him and it was a struggle. So she is now on a medical formula called Neocate. We are back to the screaming at night. My daughter will only drink 4 oz. every 2.5 hrs. and refuses anything more. If I increase her oz. she will either refuse it or throw it all up. She is a very barfy baby! I was changing her sheets and clothes in the middle of the night.She suffers from apnea and is always gagging and choking and clearing her throat with a cough.My daughter and son are being scheduled for endoscopies/sygmoidoscopies and possible broncoscopies. These have been very helpful tests for my son.

Jun 16, 2011

cont.
by: Jennifer

This is a very frustrating situation to deal with and my heart goes out to all of you. I have gone through a lot with my son and have been through a lot of tests with him if anyone has any questions.
Always know that their meds. will need to be adjusted for reflux very often due to the rapid growth they go through. If your child seems like everythign is going great and then you hit the wall again then it may be that the meds. are not working. Find yourself a really good pediatric gastroenterologist. Know that reflux can cause many other problems for a baby. My son had chronic diarrhea, bloody stools at times, hoarseness, cough, gagging, choking, arching his back and refusing to nurse. My daughter does all these same things.

I hope this helps anyone out there. Hang in there everyone. All these little babies are so lucky to have such wonderful mommies who are searching for answers for them.

Jun 20, 2011

wont eat
by: sinnead

my baby is 12 weeks and she has never finished a feed and i get worried, i dont know if its the teats as she is alwasy pulling away! i have just been told to take her dummy away as she will eat a little spit it out and wants the dummy. i am lost as she wakes up 3 times a night for an hour or 2 and wants to be awake she never sleeps during the day i will be lucky if she sleep 4 hours in 12 hours and then i have to see to my 3 year old!
any advice would be great.

Aug 25, 2011

3.5 mouth old baby
by: Anonymous

next mouth 3sep my baby is 4 mouth, he eating is not goood whole day he drink only 6,7 oz milk & splits alot ,, plz help

Sep 18, 2011

4 month old who only eats 10 ounces on a good day
by: Anonymous

Well our 4 month old daughter has been only eating 2 to 3 ounce of formula and maybe a total of 10 ounce per day!!! We have her on a reflux medicine and have changed her formula to soy, add rice starch for babies who spit up and none of it works!!! She is a very gassy baby and spits up all the time. She has always had watery stool since she was born and up until she was two months old she was eating 3 to 4 ounces and then she got her shots and it has bern going down hill and stop eating and is now loosing weight. We had a couple of times where she has spit up and it was coming out of her nose one time we had her rushed to the er because she was turning blue and was choking. A lot of the time when she does eat she just let's it run out of her mouth and it get fruastrating at times. She will be going to a gi doctor on October 6 2011 so hopefully we can figure out what is going on!!!!!

Oct 21, 2011

Same Boat
by: Anonymous

My 4 month old son also used to drink 4 oz every 2 to 3 hrs. After the 4mth immunization, he doesn't feel like eating. Could be because of teething. He always suck his thumb alot. If I pulled out because he need to drink his milk, he'll be mad. So what I do now is I let him suck his thumb for a while, just like an appetizer, until he's almost arrived in dreamland, after that I pulled out and gave him milk. It worked for me most of the time. Also, at day time, I always tried to make him smile and laugh. I feel like a clown. When he's happy and laughing, usually he'll eat. Even if it's less than before, at least he eats. Hope this help others.

Nov 06, 2011

Possibly found a fix for mine
by: Anonymous

My daughter is 5 mo (4mo adj) and 12lbs. She is the smaller fa twin and never spit up or had a problem until about 4 weeks ago. She was drinking 4-5 oz every 3-4 hours and only getting up to eat once in the early morning. It may have started after the 4 mo shots but I'm not sure because she's also been teething. She basically began just drinking 2 oz then she'd stop. Sometimes you could get her to finish another oz in 30 min and maybe another in 30 more min. She would shake her head and "run" from finishing. We chalked it up to teething at first but the teething pain would come and go. It's like she was only eating enough to
Not be hungry. After reading this string I decided to try the next size nipple, that didn't work. We also had a sample of another formula (enfamil infant yellow). They are both on the enfamil prosobee (soy) because my other daughter (15 lbs) is lactose intolerant. She is also a happy spitter. Its not been long but we can already ser a difference. She seems to be eating better. She actually fussed for her breakfast this morning and has gotten aggressive with her bottle, something we have not seen in a long time!!! I don't know if her tatebuds have changed but now that she knows its not the soy we haven't had to fight with her once. Good luck everybody!!!

Jan 04, 2012

Teething bubba loss of appetite
by: Anonymous

My baby girl is 4.5 months and has gradually lost her appetite over the last couple of weeks we have started her on jars of food due to an alergy study that she is a part of but even though she enjoys the jar(s) I'm finding she will only take 100mls if that each feed the last weigh.in she had lost 1kg but had grown 3cm i dont know if i should be concerned of not because she is very happy most of the time she can get restless at times and chews on her hands and pulls at her ears i have been told she is showing signs of teething but none have pieced the skin yet should i be worried?

Jan 12, 2012

Babies should not lose weight over time
by: Paula (Easy Baby Life)

Hi,

Babies can certainly have periods of poor appetite and even a slight weight loss, while teething for example, but over time, they should not lose weight, since they are growing in length so quickly.

What is her health care provider saying?

Can it be that you have substituted high-calorie breast milk or formula with low calorie veggie purees, for example? In such case, and if it is OK due to the study, try adding a healthy oil or unsalted butter to her jars (1-2 tea spoons per serving.)

Since your daughter is healthy, happy and growing, the weight is probably not a major concern, but if she really has lost as much as 1 kg, I do think you should discuss it with her Dr.

Hope this helps,

Paula

Jan 27, 2012

Similar problem - anyone figure out why? NEW
by: Anonymous

It sounds like this problem is more common than I thought (I've been in pretty much the same boat with my daughter for the last 2.5 months). I'm just curious - has anyone found a satisfactory explanation for this? I've heard teething and reflux, but have ruled them out in my daughter's case. It just seems weird for a baby to not want to eat. Also, has anyone noticed an eventual improvement in their baby's appetite? Or am I going to be nagging my daughter to eat until she leaves for college?

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