Feeding issues

Agggh! DS has gone off his food and I wondered if anyone else has suffered this too.

It started around 2 months that he didnt want to eat. The pedi ran all the tests (x-rays, scans, urine test...) and they all came back perfect. He´s also had a sleep test and a scan on his fontanels to check it´s all OK. He´s fine, as I suspected.

We eliminated the dream feed about 3 weeks ago and he started to eat so much better. He eats 7oz every 4 hours and goes 12 hours at night. He eats 8oz at the last feed, before bed. However, for a week now he´s been crying at every feed even the morning feed when he was normally starving and ate no probs. I have to add that they have a spoon of cereal in 3 of the 4 bottles (as recommended by the pedi).

I know he isn´t in pain as he starts smiling and laughing again once we change position, i.e. not in the feeding position. He´s been very gassy but we give him lots of tummy time to help with that and burp him during the feeds. Im wondering if it could be poops as he only goes every 2-3 days and it´s like plasticine. However, he´s always been going every 3 days and it didnt affect him before. Is this simply a case of that he´s not as hungry as before? He isnt losing weight as he does eventually eat, but its a battle - one that we lost this morning as he refused to eat. He´s now gone 7.5 hours and has just woken up from a 2-hour nap and still doesnt want to eat. Help!

 

Can you change the flow of the nipple? He might be ready for a faster flow. I've heard some moms here say their kids went on a bottle strike but happily started drinking again once the nipple size increased.

It's possible he has reflux and feeding hurts. That could cause him to refuse and then be happy once he was back to playing. Also, the cereal in the bottles could be blocking him up and causing him to poop less often. He'd be less hungry. Did your pedi tell you why he should get cereal in his bottles? I know it's pretty typical nowadays, but a lot of the research out there shows that putting cereal in bottles does more harm than good.

Sorry I don't have more ideas...

 

Thanks for your reply.

We have already tried the nipple flow idea. He rejects new teats so we had to make his old one bigger, which I dont like doing as he swallows more air. He has suffered gas and reflux but always ate before. He´s just eaten 6oz and is quite happy so Im putting it down to a lack of appetite. I´ve also wondered if the extra bottle with cereal is to blame too. They started at 4.5 months with 3 bottles with cereal (they were having just 2 before and did fine). They started due to reflux and puking issues and also to prepare them for heavier food (purees) which they´ll be starting now. They seem to start cereal here, in Spain, earlier than most.

 

How many ounces a day is he taking in? How many solids meals are you doing or how much cereal are you putting in the bottles? This can affect how much formula he is consuming. Does he have plenty of wet diapers? Have you checked with you Ped about it?

 

It sounds like teething issues to me. DS has done it too... he was obviously hungry but as soon as he started sucking it hurt him. You can try putting the nipple in the fridge, it helps some babies... We would just keep trying and usually he would eat fine though.

I don't understand the cereal though. Does he have reflux?

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ Oct 29 2008, 06:55 PM) [snapback]1047195[/snapback]
How many ounces a day is he taking in? How many solids meals are you doing or how much cereal are you putting in the bottles? This can affect how much formula he is consuming. Does he have plenty of wet diapers? Have you checked with you Ped about it?


He eats 7oz at each feed except the last feed when he eats 8oz, so 29oz. He´s not on solids and he has just one spoon of cereal in 3 of his bottles. Yes, his nappies are wet. We went to the pedi today and she said to introduce fruit purees. As he´s gaining weight she wasnt too concerned. We´re to put both babies on a few spoons of fresh orange juice for 5-6 days then introduce the fruit puree as a substitute for one bottle.

 

QUOTE(Fran27 @ Oct 29 2008, 07:22 PM) [snapback]1047225[/snapback]
It sounds like teething issues to me. DS has done it too... he was obviously hungry but as soon as he started sucking it hurt him. You can try putting the nipple in the fridge, it helps some babies... We would just keep trying and usually he would eat fine though.

I don't understand the cereal though. Does he have reflux?


I live in Spain where they start babies on cereal at a younger age than in the US - so it appears from what Ive been reading on this site. We´ll be starting fruit purees in a week or so.

Im not sure if its teeth as he doesnt even want to start feeding. He starts crying as soon as we put him in position. He didnt this evening though as he was hungry. I will keep this in mind though so thanks for the suggestion!

 

QUOTE(Rach28 @ Oct 29 2008, 09:22 PM) [snapback]1047720[/snapback]
He eats 7oz at each feed except the last feed when he eats 8oz, so 29oz. He´s not on solids and he has just one spoon of cereal in 3 of his bottles. Yes, his nappies are wet. We went to the pedi today and she said to introduce fruit purees. As he´s gaining weight she wasnt too concerned. We´re to put both babies on a few spoons of fresh orange juice for 5-6 days then introduce the fruit puree as a substitute for one bottle.


Sounds good if he is gaining and the Ped is not concerned. I am sure this is a cultural difference but why the orange juice? Just out of curiosity?? ardon:

 

if he has reflux im pretty sure giving him OJ would be a bad thing? lol i dunno, i have feeding issues with DS too

 

Teething could definitely make him not want the bottle. You could try letting him chew on a frozen washcloth beforehand, or give some Tylenol and see if that helps.

If you're concerned about formula intake, you probably don't want to try phasing out a bottle so early. Babies just don't have the digestive enzymes to pull nutrients out of solid food until 6-8 mo adjusted age - and even if they did, fruit puree or rice cereal is nowhere close to being the complete nutrition that formula is. They really need all the nutrients in formula for growth and brain development. If there are any feeding issues whatsoever, I'd really focus on getting as much formula into him as you can.

You might want to consider starting with something other than OJ - citrus is very acidic, which could aggravate reflux AND give a really nasty diaper rash (and even rash around the mouth sometimes!).

 

Is he on reflux meds? One of my boys did that for a while and I figured it was the reflux acting up so the Dr increase the meds (Zantac is dosed based on weight). Once he was getting a higher dose, he started taking his bottle again with no problem

 

Thanks for all your replies. DS doesn´t have reflux now, he´s just a gassy baby but in general he´s much better now though he still has his moments. Yesterday we let him eat when he wanted and it was OK. Today he´s eating pretty well. DD is a pukey baby and she´s on medication now to see if it helps. She doesn´t projectile vomit nor does she complain plus she´s gaining weight well. DS is 18lbs and DD is 16lbs so they´re both doing well.

As for the orange juice, I imagine it´s to get them used to the taste of fruit before introducing the fruit puree and to see how they take it. We´re going to try it today, literally some drops or a small spoonful before their bottle. I don´t think it will hurt them. This is how they do things in Spain so I will try it to see what happens. Of course, I will always supplement with formula if they reject the fruit puree or if they are still obviously hungry. We can also mix in cereal too if they dont take to the fruit puree. The cereal we use is rich in iron, fibre and vitamins.

Thanks again for your input

 

I thought orange juice wasn't recommended until 10 months because of the acidity? If you want to try juice, I'd do apple or grape... and it's really not necessarily, IMO.

 

QUOTE
The cereal we use is rich in iron, fibre and vitamins.


...which immature digestive systems are unable to process well in that form, unlike the nutrients in formula. Cereal also doesn't have the fat they need for brain & nervous system development. Don't get me wrong, baby cereal is good food - but at this stage it should be in addition to bottles, not replacing bottles.