Feeding advice?

Question

I am having trouble feeding my baby her milk. She has recently started to only drink 1 or 2 oz (bottle fed since 3 months) then starts to play. I have to shake a rattle to distract her so she finishes her feed (i try to get her to take 3-4oz per feed every 2-3 hours) but if I force her too much she starts to heave on the teat. She is otherwise healthy and growing well. It is just a pain because if she does not feed properly she gets hungry again in an hour. I even changed the teat to fast flowing and it made no difference. Has anyone else faced the same problem and any advice?

She is 5 months and have just started her on 1 spoon of baby rice a day. She does the same thing when we feed her this as well.

Answer 1

We have this problem as well. When my little girl turned 3 month she decided that she did not want to eat at all. I was able to feed her only in her sleep. Our ped said that she was bored when eating and wanted to do other things that’s why she did not want to eat or ate little. Highly energetic and curious children go through this at 4-6month, we were a bit early. We were not able to do anything with it, except waiting for her to outgrow it. She is now 4 and is finally starting to eat awake and more. If you really need to feed her try changing the place or the position in which she eats. Feed her in her sleep. Play some music or let her watch TV while eating, these things will distract her and the natural instinct to suck will kick in. good luck and don’t her frustrated, she will outgrow it.

Answer 2

My babies always act like this when they are teething. I think sucking on the bottle or breast feeding makes some babies mouth sore when they have teeth coming in.

My nine month old went through a phase like that between 5 and 6 mos. At 6 mos she cut her first teeth. She started taking the bottle well again after that. Then, between 8-9 mos she cut her second set of teeth and began pulling off the bottle like that. She is getting over it again now that the teeth are in again.

Be patient and make sure she gets enough fluids even if you have to give the bottle again in an hour. Soon she will be taking more solids and this will get a bit easier. Make sure she has a wet diaper at least every 3-4 hours and she will be OK. Its probably just a phase.

Answer 3

I had similar prolems with my little one and still do now sometimes and shes 10 months it can sometimes take 30-40 mins for her to finish a bottle. There are many reasons for it. Because you are feeding her every 2-3 hours she probably has food still in her tummy so you are only topping up. It takes 3.5-4 hours for a feed to completely leave a babies tummy so I would leave it a bit longer between feeds. At 5 months babies can usually go longer between feeds.
She may also just be totally bored with milk and may be ready for solids, but as you say she is growing fine and I presume her weght is fine there isn't really a major probem as she is obviously getting what she needs.
She may also be teething my daughter hated the feel of the teat on her gums when they were sore so would eat enough to take her hunger away but not be intersted after because of her gums. Maybe its wind as well. The only thing I can really suggest is leave it longer between feeds up to 4 hours and give her a bigger bottle of 5-6oz instead and see how that goes, don't force it on her though as she will only be sick and your back to square one then, oh just thought as well is she maybe just thirsty? have you tried her with water?

Answer 4

Maybe she just has a sucking urge. Have you tried a pacifier? My baby did the same thing, and i figured out some of the time, he wasn't really hungry, but just wanted something to suck on to soothe him. Instead of sticking the bottle in her mouth every time she fusses, try a pacifier, or something else to soothe her. Just stall for awhile every time you "think" she wants to eat. I think she is just one of those "grazers" that wants to constantly feed, right? You need to let her get good and hungry if you want her to start eating more milk- but less often. Gradually stretch out the times you feed her by using the paci, or talking to her--basically stalling her so she'll get really hungry and want more than just a "snack". Also, she is old enough for more cereal than that. I was putting a heaping tablespoon of cereal in each of my sons bottles at that age. That way it stayed with him much longer than an hour. And he rested much better once I started doing that too. Good luck

Answer 5

Honestly, I believe that you should let her decide when and how much to eat at a time. I don't think that kids should EVER be forced to eat. I think it's the "finish what's on your plate" mentality that caused the obese epidemic we're facing now.

I know that feeding her every hour is a hassle, but might just be what her body needs right now. She'll eat when she's hungry, and she'll eat until she's full. I know it's frustrating, but just wait until she's a toddler! There will be days when it seems like she won't eat anything at all, and that's okay. There will be days when she'll eat everything in sight too.

Good luck, she'll "snap out of it" soon. She may just be going through a growth spurt right now. You didn't mention how old she was now. During growth spurts she'll eat small amounts all day long. The don't last long.....so give it two weeks. If it's still worrying you, see your pediatrician!

Answer 6

Babies do these things time and again. My son also did the same after his vaccination. Could be that she is not liking the idea of feeding from bottle which has no solution but to continue feeding the same way for her to understand that this is how milk will be provided. The other thing could be that she is teething and at that time babies prefer breastfeed than bottle milk. They love to suck on breast for long periods and that too very frequently. Have you tried changing the milk. maybe that helps.

If you are feeding formula milk, it lasts longer than breastmilk. maybe she is not getting hungry and needs to play or wants your attention. try distracting her.

Answer 7

Just let her decide on when she is hungry. Just may also be bored with the things you are feeding her. Just try to give her a viratity of things and let her eat when she wants cause if you force it down then you might make her feel bad and you don't want that. She knows what she needs too, be patient all things will come to a end with this in time (you hope)

Answer 8

My youngest has reflux, it getting better now that she's nearly 6months old. We've always had to burp her very frequently,(after 1-2ozs) to get her to take a whole bottle. She can be a hard burp sometimes, but it's worth it to get her to sleep more than 30 minutes to an hour at a time. If she's not over 3 months by much I would use a fast flowing nipple, they can choke on it really easy.

Answer 9

If your using formula remember it contains a great deal of calories. Either if the bottle is your breast milk or formula babies need to eat naturally. Their stomachs are not very big and they are going to eat at their own pace anyway. You don't want to force the baby to eat more that what he/she needs. You don't want to create unhealthy eating patterns. Bottom line is if she eats: fine, if she sleeps: fine. If she goes to the bathroom daily: fine. Having a baby is a challenging lifestyle. When tiny each baby grows, feeds, lives at their own rate. Let her do her own thing (with you making slight modifications) and she'll be fine.

Also: She may not be ready for solids yet. Don't push solids until at least 9 months. Six months is on the early side.

Answer 10

maybe your daughter is ready for weaning sooner than you think, all babys are different. try just giving her a bottle when she wakes up, then breakfast try baby rice or pureed fruit at first. then try leaving her till lunchtime then again bottle and then lunch try pureed carrots as they are quite sweet. then try leave her again till tea time. eventually you can replace bottles of milk with juice or water during the day.
babys are unpredictable and one day they can be in a nice routine and then the next up the wall! try leaving her longer inbetween bottles. hope ive helped. good luck. oh little pots of fruit flavour fromage frais are good for weaning and dont forget that if you do start weaning try to get your daughter to drink a bit if water to avoid constipation.