What if a baby won’t eat enough?
Here are 8 possible reasons and how to deal with them.
A baby not eating as much as before is quite a worry, and the mom asking about it here is certainly not alone.
Mom’s Question:
My 4-month-old baby won’t eat all of a sudden!
He used to eat 5 oz every 3-4 hours, but the last week my baby will only eat 2-3 oz, and he is really restless during the feeding.
He moves 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.
Samantha
Easy Baby Life:
4-Month-Old Baby Won’t Eat – Possible Reasons & When To Worry
I can totally relate to your worrying! I don’t know how many times I scheduled appointments 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.
Let’s look at the normal feeding patterns of a 4-month-old baby, what might be the reason for his reduced appetite, and when it is time to be concerned!
In this article…
Normal feeding patterns of a 4-month-old baby
First of all, if your baby is happy and smiling and wet his diapers, this is a very good sign, and he is likely to be fine.
What’s special about 4-month-old babies is that their growth rate is finally slowing down. Until babies are around 3 months old, they grow incredibly fast, but this then calms down.
Babies’ appetites vary a lot; they have growth spurts when all they want to do is eat, and then they have other periods when eating isn’t very interesting.
It is, therefore, very possible that your baby refuses to eat very much because he is simply not very hungry!
This is normal and healthy behavior, and something, of course, to be respected.
So, how much does a 4-month-old baby usually eat?
The average for a fully breastfed or formula-fed 4-month-old baby would be to eat some 4-6 oz every 3-4 hours. But again, this is an average over both babies and time periods. It is completely normal that a baby’s appetite varies over time!
How the baby develops, if he is thriving, has energy, and is wetting his diapers are more important clues than the exact oz of formula or breastmilk.
8 Possible reasons why a 4-month-old won’t eat
1. Teething Pain
One possibility, even if it is quite early, is teething. Check your baby’s mouth for signs of inflamed gums or erupting teeth, and read about teething symptoms here.
Teething can be quite painful, and babies commonly don’t want to eat as much while the teeth erupt.
2. A Sore Throat or an Ear Infection
If your baby has a sore throat, an ear infection, or a stopped-up nose, he is also likely to not want to eat very much. If the swallowing is painful or the breathing is difficult while feeding, no wonder he won’t eat more than 2-3 oz.
You can try saline drops in his nose before feeding and feed him in a more upright position to see if it helps.
And, of course, try to check his throat and ears or have him examined by a doctor.
If your baby pulls away if you press your fingers towards his skin just in front of or below his earlobes, it could indicate an ear infection. Other signs are a cranky baby, fever, or the baby touching the ear or waving his hand close to his ear a lot.
But the best is, of course, to visit a doctor for an examination.
3. Tummy Bug
If your baby has, just had, or is about to get sick from a stomach bug, he might be nauseated and won’t eat very much.
In this case, keeping the baby hydrated is the most important! The appetite will come back when the baby is well again.
4. Acid Reflux
One would think that acid reflux would already be known when a baby is 4 months old. And while that’s true in most cases, for babies with a relatively mild version of acid reflux, this may not be the case.
Acid reflux tends to peak at around 4-5 months of age, so when a 4-month-old baby won’t eat, it is actually possible that this is the reason that your baby is not eating very much.
While frequent spitting up is one of the most known symptoms of acid reflux, babies with silent reflux may not spit up. Instead, for example, feeding problems are common.
You can read more about acid reflux here.
5. Constipation
If you’ve ever been constipated, you might remember how much that can affect your appetite. Many babies are introduced to formula, cereal, or solid foods at around 4 months of age, and it is very common for them to then become constipated.
If your baby is constipated, work to mitigate that, and his appetite will likely come back!
In addition to cutting down on rice cereal and any other foods or formula that can make a baby constipated, you can try warm baths, lots of activity, and baby massage.
The video here below gives an excellent explanation of how to use baby massage for constipation.
6. Food intolerance or Allergy
Poor appetite can also be related to, for example, cow’s milk allergy or lactose intolerance – or of course, allergy to any other foods that you have introduced.
But a reduced appetite is not likely to be the only sign in such a case – you can read about more symptoms here.
7. Solid Food Introduction
Solids foods and rice cereal are more filling than breast milk and formula. Hence, if you have introduced any of this to your baby, it is completely natural that he is less hungry.
Some babies also quickly prefer solid foods and can start refusing the breast or bottle.
This is not ideal at this young age since breast milk or formula should be their main source of nutrition during the full first year.
If you think this is what’s happening, make sure you add a large share of breast milk or formula to any solid foods you serve and continue to offer breastfeeding or formula to your baby, but without creating a power struggle.
Also, if your baby is about to get ill, he will most likely have a period later on when he compensates for the weight loss.
8. The Feeding Situation
Sometimes, the feeding situation in itself can become a problem. When our baby refuses to eat, we get worried. That’s completely natural. But, our stress can be felt by the baby, who might associate this bad feeling with feeding. Hence, we suddenly end up reinforcing the refusal to eat!
A difficult situation!
If you think this may be the case, do everything you can to break it. Take a deep breath and let go of any negative feelings before you try to feed your baby. Make the feeding fun and cozy, and maybe try changing the feeding position, the bottle nipple, the surroundings, or even the person feeding your baby for a while!
When to Worry and Call the Doctor
When to actually worry if a baby is not eating is:
- The baby does not wet his or her diapers or shows other signs of dehydration. You can find signs of dehydration in this post.
- Baby loses weight over a time period. Some babies can lose a bit of weight at around 4-6 months when solid foods are introduced, but it should be only a short period. Some babies also lose a bit of weight when they start moving around. The long-term trend should, however, definitely be up.
- If the baby is not eating and this behavior is combined with being cranky and without energy. This could mean the baby is either ill or weak from eating too little.
- The baby shows other signs of pain or illness.
In these cases, you should call the doctor immediately.
To conclude – Based on how you describe the situation, 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 and dehydration.
Remember that what NOT to do is to try to force your baby to eat. The tension and bad experience for both of you can easily become a problem of its own, and suddenly, your baby won’t eat because feeding is associated with bad feelings.
I hope this helps,
Paula
More Babies That Won’t Eat
- Signs Of Dehydration When Sick Baby Not Eating
- 4 Month Baby Stopped Eating And Drinking
- 5.5 Month Baby Won’t Eat
Who else’s 4-month-old baby won’t eat? Share your worries or tips by commenting below!
Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.
Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.
My baby girl is now 4.5 month. She was breastfeeding for two months and than suddenly she did not want to nurse. I gave bottle but it seem that the problem is somewhere else. she is drinking only 300 ml in 24 hours. She also gaining very slowly. She does not cry a lot compare to the fact that she is not drinking good. She sleeps very good at night 10 hours and never cries.
I can not function, because she does not have schedule of eating or sleeping during the day. As mother I feel she is not good, but the Ped is saying she is ok. It is very difficult to explain how I feel and what does it mean to have a baby that refuse to drink and eat. Please send me any information that has worked for you.
Hello! I’m going through the same thing with my 4.5 month baby. Where de doctors able to detect what was wrong? If is there something you can share to know what to do I will appreciate cause I’m very worried for my baby.
I am so worried… my daughter is a little over 4 months old and was eating 5-7 ozs a feeding and now it eating only 2-4 ozs a feeding and sometimes getting the 2 is a struggle. She eats every 4 hours with a wake up of 7am, bedtime at 7pm and sleep feed at 11. She is sometimes eating more during her sleep feed than she does during a feeding during the day. She went from eating 24 ozs to back to only about 19 a day. The pedi says she is not teething, is gaining (but is still little at just 13lbs at 4 months) … I am starting solids this weekend but am so frustrated sometimes she wakes up after not eating for 8 hours and will only want 3 ozs – that feels so wrong to me!
Any advice or ideas? * Should be noted that she is on Neocate – started at 7 weeks due to a milk protein allergy.
For all of those reading that are on Nutramigen – I’d recommend getting off – it tore my daughters stomach apart.
Thanks for any help or insight that anyone can give about what might be causing my daughters decrease in feeding.
Please I need feedback on your case my baby is struggling with the same.. some times he eats barely 16 onz and he is 3 months old ! Please ! I need to know he will be ok and what to do!
Hello! Did you have any feed back of what is wrong with your baby! I hope everything is doing ok. I’m going through the same and I’m desperate. Please let me know
Hello! I’m going through the same thing with my 4.5 month baby. Where de doctors able to detect what was wrong? If is there something you can share to know what to do I will appreciate cause I’m very worried for my baby.
Just wanted to chime in too. My little girl takes anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 oz at a time and after the bottle leaves her mouth the first time she’s done. She can go over 4 hours before wanting to eat and her oz do not increase when she’s went that long and even overnight.
She’s slowly gaining and has about 6 wet diapers a day and poops one to 3 times a day. I’m scared to give her Pedialyte not in her bottle because I want her to get hungry for her formula.
We’ve tried diff nipples and she’s been on nutramigen for about 3 weeks. Doesn’t seem gassy when eating. It’s just like she doesn’t care to eat after the initial hunger pangs are satisfied. We are averaging 16-19 oz a day. Which was fine at a month old but she should be increasing her intake the older she gets not decreasing or staying the same.
She had a barium swallow test done and there is a problem with her soft palate not closing off and allowing milk up into her nasal cavity and she had a disorganized suck swallow pattern and her muscles tire easily. But with age these things should improve but so far they haven’t.
Hello Amy! I hola pe you can read me, my baby has the exact same symptoms than yours and I will highly appreciate your feedback on how your baby got better please I am desperate
Hi everyone,
So glad I found this site. My DD was born 6 lbs 6 ounces. Around 3 months weighs 11 lbs 7 ounces.
My 3 month old suddenly decided she does not want to take her bottle. She literally drinks 1 ounces every 3-4 hours and she is happy with it. I have been to the doctors several times but they keep saying that everything is ok and nothing seems wrong.
She was on Alimentum and Zantac until Christmas. Currently on Similac Sensitive + prilosec.
If anyone went through a similar situation and found a solution please let me know. Its been about a week and I am at my wits end trying to figure out what’s wrong.
Hi there
At the begining, please forgive me my English, which is not my native.
Our problem with 4month old daughter is a bit different. It is not a matter that she stopped eating, she just never wanted to eat much.
She was born at time without any problems. She had been breastfeeding till 2,5 month and these never was any “good” meals.
At 2,5 month her weight stopped. My wife with daughter were hospitalized. There she was breastfed and her weight has been checked before and after every meal. It occurred that she eat about 40-50 ml each meal (1,35-1,7oz). There were plenty of medical examinations done – against acid reflux (PH meter), neurological diseases, she was examined by a speech and throat therapist, antropologist, gastrologist, pediatrician and many, many others. The diagnosis is that she is … healthy, I mean nothing was found.
After 2 weeks our girl left hospital for a one week, she wanted no bottle (any o 9 different we tried), she was fed with a syrigne (a finger put in her mouth that she can suck and pouring milk with a syringe). It was my wife’s milk (pumped). With such a method she was “feeded” with about 700ml a day (23-24oz) but every feeding was heartbreaking. She was crying and screaming, she swallowed only to avoid choking. The weight was increasing well.
After 2 weeks we tried extremely differend method:
We feed her with a special Medela bottle (SpecialNeeds Feeder designed for babies with cleft lip and palate and babies with neurological disorders). We give her a bottle every 4 hours, if she’s not eating, we wait another 4 hrs. At first she didn’t eat for 10-11hrs, then she began to eat … after about week she was eating about 500-600ml a day 17-20oz). She was given a special addition to a bottle (still pumped breastmilk) – Fantomalt (made by Nutricia, maltodextrin with glucose) which is giving us another 19kcal per 120ml.
Such a situation lasted for 3-4 weeks, seemed to be good. Now she is 4,5 month (5,7kg weight) and the problem is coming back – she avoid eating, it is a lottery – would she eat or not.
In addition I say that she is very happy, she is smiling, rolling, grabbing toys with her hands, she is really “golden baby” that wants to starve herself :(.
This situation drives our mad. Next week girls are going back to hospital to do medical research again.
My baby girl is 4.5 month old, she has been rejecting bottle but no problem with breast feed since 4 weeks ago. Less than 100ml a day and have to feed “by force” while she is sleeping which took hours. Thus, for the past 4 weeks has been hell for my wife and me. Baby is always looking happy and not crying always but we are worry still.
Had been asking around for possibilities:
1) Teething
2) “Wind” in tummy
3) Didn’t shit for 5 days
4) Change formula
5) Change bottle’s nipple
6) Having shock
7) Must poke instead of changing nipple when time comes to change different hole size
8) Feed her with cereal then milk
All failed for my baby. Today, no choice, brought her to doctor again and doctor advise us to change the brand of the milkbottle’s nipple asying that the one we using now is a bit hard. After that, I think to give another try before to bring my baby to a specialist. I bought a Peristaltic PLUS nipple which is much softer and the shape is better for sucking. So far till now, can see that our baby starting to come back as before, still take long time to finish thou but at least able the consume more than 100ml now and time taken has shorten a lot… Hope this help…!
Wow! I cant believe how many of us are going through this, to me I strongly believe it is teething which leads to cold like symptoms which in general they don’t want to eat as much. My son is 4.5 months and has one tooth that just cut through so I’m going to go with this. The doctor says it could be reflux but I’m not going to put him on medicine, my first son “had” this and it didn’t help.
I wish the doctors were more helpful, being they get paid the big bucks!
My son will only 2-3 oz at a time but if I wait like an hour he could eat 3 more oz. They say that reflux babies just take smaller more frequent meals so maybe that will help some of you. Also, I thought my son was just very distracted so I would put him in his crib to feed him, he would eat better in a quiet place.
I posted on Sept 18 about my 4 month old daughter. We took her to a GI doctor and he told us she was just a picky eater!!!!! We were not pleased with that answer!!!! So we took her off of formula completely and started her on whole milk. She still would barely drink 4 ounces at a feeding. She still had watery stool that would come and go back to form. At 11 months old she had watery stool for 5 days took her in to her doctor he ran a bunch of test on her stool and we found she had C-diff which is very rare in infants!!!!!!
Our primary doctor believes now she was born with it and she never had reflux.
What is Clostridium Difficile – in easy terms to understand?
C – difficile is a bacteria in your intestines. It is found normally in healthy and ill people alike. There are millions, perhaps billions of different types of bacteria in your body. Bacteria are an important part of your health. They help break down and digest food. They also ward off many “bad” or foreign bacteria that you may come in contact with. In fact, the “good” or normal bacteria on your hands can kill certain bad bacteria which you may pick up handling food or touching everyday items and fixtures.
my 11 week old son has been going through the same problems, obviously the reason why I ended up seeing this. my 2 other kids never did this. my 2nd some had a protein sensitivity and bad GERD. he drank similac alimenting along with zantac and was completely fine. Needless to say we are going through the same thing with #3. we are doing the same thing as before as far as formula and medication and still nothing. it seemed to start after his 2 month shots. he refuses the bottle. he turns his head as in disgust. its a struggle sometimes to get him to even drink 2 oz. he has lost a little weight and we for a Follow up appt Wednesday. his Dr said it’s probably due to the acid reflux and to try 2 oz every couple hours. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I have tried every bottle or so it seems. I’ve changed nipple sizes we have tried rice cereal in his bottle.
I am so worried about him. I can hear his stomach growling sometimes and can also hear gurgling. He is a happy baby for the most part. Is there anyone who went through this and has some answers for us? I trust his Dr but if I had some side info I could bring to him to try and rule out everything. I’m started to get paranoid that there’s something wrong in his inside. please. if anyone can help and share how their child for over this.
It seems that most of these posts are regarding formula-fed babies. I urge you to research on the DHA/ARA that is used in there, as it is quite concerning and does make a lot of babies sick.
My 1st son was a great eater, always on the 95-99 percentile. He struggled with vomiting and mucus issues by 1st month. I took him to a gastro doctor and she changed his milk to Nutramigen and prescribed Zantac 3x per day.
I was not comfortable giving him that much medication so his pediatrician had me to add rice cereal to the formula. This worked for the vomiting and he grew out of the condition soon after.
He also prescibed Claritin and Singulair for the mucus issue since it kept him up at night. I did try those medicines but they did nothing. He continued with the issue until 3 yrs old then a friend suggested I go to an Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist. He was diagnosed with large adnoids and they were removed. Hooray!! No more issues!!
Now I have another son. He started off great on breastmilk but I had to slowly wean him to go back to work. He started with Enfamil Newborn but would get gassy and strain/cry to poop (drinking 3-4oz,gaining weight). He was then switched to Enfamil Gentlease(drinking 4-6oz,gaining weight). This worked wonderfully for 2 weeks then he began to have the same problem and more often.
Then he was switched to Similac Soy but began to have diarrhea immediately after every feeding and sometimes during(drinking slows to 2-3oz).
And now we switched to Nutramigen. He now drinks 2oz then has to stop to poop and refuses anymore til next feeding. If by chance he drinks more than 2oz, the overrage is thrown up. The 2oz thing is just strange! Why not any other amount? Is there something to this 2oz thing? And DURING the feeding he stops at exactly 2oz! His next appt is in 2 days and I’m curious as to what’s next.
I agree, strange with exactly 2 oz… Please let us know what the Dr says. I am very grateful that you provide info on your children’s issues, as I am sure it will be of help to other parents.
Our 3 1/2-month-old has been having the same prob. First she would push the bottle away n when she would eat all the milk would come back up. Both of us were scared took her to the doctors and a nurse suggested Pedialyte.
*Must keep it in the fridge after opening
*Warm bottle to about room temperature in micro
*Finish warming bottle in hot water in the sink
We went with the strawberry n she takes 6oz no prob.
Good luck and best wishes
The Pedialyte idea seems like it would be good to at least make sure she stays hydrated. But did it help you get your baby to take more formula or milk (which has vitamins that the Pedialyte can’t make up for)? I’m struggling to get my daughter to take even a minimal amount of formula, so I’m worried about nutrition as well as hydration.
Same thing here, my little guy is 2.5 months, and extremely happy…. like really happy, and a great sleeper, not fussy, no reflux, very wet diapers… no signs of any illness, nothing out of the ordinary. He was 9 lbs at birth, and is now 16lbs, he went from eating 6 oz every 3 hours, now to struggling to eat 5 oz 4 times a day. he is baby #5 here, so I know that babies are different, but I just can’t wrap my head around him being full after like 4 ounces, he is happy after eating 2 oz, and struggles eating any more than that. I don’t wake him up to eat, and he naps a lot, 4 hours at a time, and sleeps through the night, about 8 -10 hours. Just concerned, and for the record…for previous posts about vaccinations..my son has yet to go for his first set of needles. But I am wondering maybe nipple flow (bottle fed) or teething. Hoping this is just a phase… I will update with any changes.
My baby is 16 wks old and she is the happiest most content baby ever! She naps well in the day and sleeps well at night! She’s never been massive eater and used to have about 4-5 oz every 3/4 hours. However… she just isn’t bothered anymore, if I let her she would happily go without! I literally have to force her to eat. She now has about 5 oz every 4/5 hours…..but that usually takes about an hour to finish! She rolls her tongue and spits out the bottle. She doesn’t have particularly bad wind, but just doesn’t seem interested. I guess she’s just got a small appetite! The only bottle she doesn’t fuss over or mess about with is the one she has at about 3:30am. But she’ll then happily go until 11am with nothing!!
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?
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 allergy study that she is a part of but even though she enjoys the jar(s) I’m finding she will only take 100mls of that each feeding.
The last weigh-in she had lost 1kg but had grown 3cm. I don’t know if I should be concerned or 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?
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 a case, and if it is OK due to the study, try adding a healthy oil or unsalted butter to her jars (1-2 teaspoons per serving.) You can read about adding oil or butter to baby food here.
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
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. It’s not been long but we can already see 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 tastebuds have changed but now that she knows its not the soy we haven’t had to fight with her once. Good luck everybody!!!
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 a lot. 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.
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 been 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 frustrating at times. She will be going to a GI doctor on October 6 2018 so hopefully we can figure out what is going on!!!!!
My baby is 12 weeks and she has never finished a feed and I get worried, I don’t know if its the teats as she is always 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 loss 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.
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 bronchoscopies. These have been very helpful tests for my son.
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 everything 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.
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 the 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: the baby had projectile vomit a few times per week, problem burping most of the time never burped, and constipation at times. When breastfed and then gave formula thereafter as a 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. Every time 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 the 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 tooth during the 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 sippy 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. I 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.
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 the 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.
***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 supplement (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 a 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 the problem persists?
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 months 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.
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 a boy or girl?
Did you give birth naturally or c-sec.
Did / do you breastfeed?
Was he ever given formula as supplement (in the 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 a significant change in weight gain/loss?
Do you: 1. breastfeed directly OR 2. bottle feed breastmilk OR 3. formula feed OR4. combination?
How much milk did he take per feed (before the problem started), and how often / how much milk in total in one day (24 hours)
How much milk does he take NOW since the problem persists?
What were first signs you noticed when the 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 a 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 the problem started) only feed the 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?
Generally, if your baby is difficult to burp they likely have acid reflux. 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.
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…
I have a daughter 3 and half months old and we have the same problems for last 3 weeks. She doesn’t 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.
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
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 and were given zantac which helped. We have tried every kind of formula, after finally settling 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 that’s 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.. He’s 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 don’t understand what else we can do.
Alisha, I understand how you feel. Our little guy just seems to want to eat less. I have started giving him cereal in the A.M., he gets cereal in his bottle, and he get’s fruit at night mixed with a little cereal. 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.
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.
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 fidgity 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!!!
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 morning. 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 babies start eating better again. Please continue to update. :)
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 also 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 gain 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 =)
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 seemed 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 anyway 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 doesn’t have reflux that maybe starting him on fruit and adding it to his bottle so its a different taste. Hmmmm
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 is not losing weight much. He has been a little chunkier since a week after birth. The doctors keep looking at him, and seeing a big boy weighing in at 16 lbs, and don’’ 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!
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?
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.
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 24-28 oz 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 or 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 can’t plan everything and my son is not a typical eater like the ones in the textbooks!
Babies can’t 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!
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…
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.
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)
Almost 2 weeks ago, my 4.5 month old 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?
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
My 3 month old baby girl isn’t eating at all. If she eats more than 12 oz in 24 hours, it’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.
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
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.
I have a 3.5 month who won’t 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 , but 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?
My baby just turned 4 month old yesterday. I am really worry about him, he’s got a bad appetite. When he was 3 months old he drunk 120ml till now still the same, sometimes less than 120ml. This morning, I tried to feed him 120ml but he can’t finish and after few min he vomit. My son had kidney reflux , he has to take antibiotics every day. Can anyone say what happened to him, what should I do?
Can a 4 month old baby be teething?
Please help.
We are going through similar problems. Starting at 1 month ago, our son had some sort of viral infection aka a cold… He was wheezing and coughing and seemingly 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.
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 available. 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?
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. I’m 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.
UPDATE! After I posted the above comment 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 Paracetamol three times a day as she probably had a sore throat and so didn’t want to feed.
I wasn’t happy with this as it didn’t improve her 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 you’re on here looking for answers means your not reassured, get another appointment now….
Good luck
My 4-month-old daughter won’t eat very much either. I’m 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.
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 otherwise it could just be a phase or early signs of teething, my little girl already has one tooth through!
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.