my child won't eat....

i've talked to GI and to the ped and neither of them have an answer. what's happening is that one of my twin boys will only eat 1oz-3.5/4oz every 4 hours and it is taking over an hour to get him to take in that much. what happens is he will put the bottle in his mouth take two sucks, spit it out with his tongue, bite down on it, chew it, pretend suck, roll it around, repeat. and with every restart we have to force him to let us get the nipple passed him gums. yesterday i like he just barely made it over 10oz for the entire day when he used to be eating 20-25oz daily. this isn't something that has happned over night, it has been getting worse and more difficult to feed him everday over the last week now. we do thicken their formula for reflux (1tsp per oz formula) and they are on similac advance and have no known milk or milk protein allergies. there is definetly white areas on the bottom two front teeth on his bottom gums but nothing has poked through the surface yet. if this teething (he's also soaking his clothes in drool) how much longer do i have to wait for him to remember how to eat again??

we see the ped on tues. for their 4 month check-up, it's the soonest i could get in.

 

Have you tried the hypoallergenic formula? One of my friends had the same type of problem with her baby/reflux so they put the baby on Nutramagin or something like that?

 

We were very lucky that we did not have any issues with reflux or anything like that. At around that age, my DD started doing the exact same thing. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what it was, but we suspected teething and tried the Hyland's teething tabs. She did a little better with them. Most of the issues cleared up for her once we started solids. She eats like a champ, but still isn't a huge fan of the bottle. For her, I think it was more about control. She's very independent

Definitely not saying yours is the same, but just some encouragement. Hopefully it it's just a quick fix, and you get through it soon!

 

we've tried the hypoallergenic formulas and they don't help.

and i think we are going to try out solids this weekend (i'm afraid to do it alone from all of the horror stories i've read about first attempts) so we'll see how that goes. he just doesn't seem to want to suck anymore. it's not like he doesn't like the taste of the food or is allergic to it, he just doesn't want to suck.

 

They are also entering what I refer to as the "nosy" stage. They just want to see EVERYTHING around them! I found switching bottles helped me...I found some that were shaped the same but flowed a little faster. Anyways...mine also hated bottles...I actually stopped them at 11 months for a sippy with milk and I swear its been heaven since! Not that you can do that..just know you aren't alone if you have a baby who just doesn't like bottles.
(HUGS) Hope it gets better!

 

You said that you are thickening the formula. Could the nipple be too slow for them and it's hard to suck out the milk?

 

Oh my gosh, I have one doing the same thing. One eats 5-6 oz every 4 hours but I can hardly get 3 in the other one, He refuses the bottle, spits, turns his head, and basically doesn't want anything to do with it. Even when it's been 5 or more hours since the last 3 oz. he had. They are on refluz meds which has helped and he doesn;t cry in pain at al, just won;t drink the bottle. I don't know what to do to get him to eat his bottle, he just never seems hungry.

 

I think your babies are too old for thrush, but the baby seems to have a sore mouth or is maybe hurting during his feeding, check the mouth for thrush. It looks like white patches. Can be on tongue and cheeks.

MAybe he has a sore throat. Look with a flashlight see if red rather than pink.

The eating thing has be a real problem for your little ones since the beginning if I recall.

Are you sure their formula is the best choice?
I know you tried others, but Nutramigen was my son's savior for the first six months. He had microscopic blood in his stool for a couple months after birth due to the harshness of Similac reg. We had to guaiac test him a peds office too make sure. My babies are now 7 months and all feeding and blood in stool issues are a thing of the past.

I realize you see a specialist Out of couriosity did the check your babies stool to see if the milk is to harsh on his GI.
Good luck

 

The white spots could be thrush, as a pp said, check to see if there are any more white spots inside the rest of his mouth. Thrush can be incredibly painful for them to suck if left untreated.

Also, I know you said you tried the hypoallergenic formula already but which kind was it? For how long? It's possible it won't help with their spitting up but will help with any reflux pain or stomach pain/cramps he might be having if he does have a slight milk intolerance. It's worth a shot again. 10 oz of formula is not enough.

And I know you said you were going to try solids but solids don't take the place of formula until the latter part of the first year. So even if he likes his solids, he still needs formula to be the main source of nutrition. My babies just now at 9 months are starting to decrease their formula intake and increasing their solids intake.

 

I know you've tried different flow nipples but what about other types of nipples like latex vs silicone etc. Also other bottle brands, or different positions for feedings, basically anything you can think of LOL. I hope your ped has some answers, I know when my LOs don't eat enough its soooo stressful. Let us know how it goes.

 

there are no signs or symptoms of thrush. i've checked both of their mouths for white bumps and have not seen anything. also no signs of a soar throat but i'm not a doctor so i can't say for sure.

we used nutrimagen AND alimentum both for 2 week increments with no improvement.

they display no signs of pain before, during or after meals.

they have just decided to forget or not want to suck. they will get their dream feed at 9:30pm take 3oz, sleep for 8-9 hours and only take 1-4oz after working with them for over an hour.

this morning i let them wake me up to see if that might help so rather then getting up at 6am to feed them at 6:30 i let them sleep until 7:30am and the same thing - 2oz in an hour. i'm going to get them back on schedule and feed again at 10:30 but in the meantime i'm wasting so much formula i can't stand it.

the pattern goes like this...put bottle in mouth, fight to get passed the gums, take 2 sucks, stop, bite, chew, pretend suck, push nipple out with tongue, roll nipple around to each side of the cheeks, 2 sucks, repeat. we do this for an hour and generally get 2oz in the first 20 minutes but then it's a struggle to get anymore than that for the rest of the hour.

i spend a lot of time starting with one baby and once one looses interests i put him down and pick the other one up to try and get some food in him. i end up doing this up to 4 times during 1 feeding.

i'm burping frequently, keeping their heads in a straight upright position and keeping their hands away from their face so they can't push it out of my hands or turn their heads so far away from me that i can't get the bottle to stay in their mouth.

alex has always been a difficult eater BUT he's never been like this. it just seems that overnight these boys have forgotten how to get a good suction on the nipple.

i have tried giving them tylenol an hour before and a half an hour before a meal to see if it might be pain related and that has only helped a handful of times.

yesterday alex only got 16oz of food in him for the entire day, river wasn't much better at about 19oz. so to go from 25oz everyday to barely 15oz is not a good thing.

i know that when you do solids you still supplement with bottles but if they aren't taking bottles, then what?

we use, and have always used, dr. brown's bottles w/level 4 nipples. we tried switching out to Y cut but it was too fast and 3 is too slow and gets clogged.

i just don't understand what the problem is. it's not thrush, it's not reflux, so i don't know what to do about it.

i know babies won't let themselves starve but my gosh they aren't even displaying signs of being hungry or crying out of hunger. even if we think they may be hungry and give them a bottle they don't want it. and believe it or not they used to be such good eaters.

if this is a phase that babies go through, does it usually last longer than 2 weeks????? i'm really starting to get concerned and finally DH is realizing that we have a problem.

 

Are you using powder formula? Try a couple of cans of liquid and see how they like it. Without the cereal in it. In a different kind of bottle, just a regular cheapie bottles from Target or Walmart. I love Dr. Brown's too but it seemed like they were too big for my babies mouths when they were first born and I notice that your guys are preemies. I know you are frustrated, but sometimes you have to try about a million different combos of bottles, nipples, formula, formula brand, thickness, temperature and about 10 different other things to find the perfect match! Oh, and you are doing this times 2! So, be patient with them- they are learning too.

 

How long did you try the Y cut nipple? I noticed when we went up a flow size it took sometimes more than a day for them to get the hang of it...we just spent more time making sure they were eating and not leaking everywhere but after a few feedings they got it.
To me it sounds like the food isn't coming fast enough and they are just too busy to be bothered with a bottle that won't go fast. Have you tried other bottles? We went from using Soothies and Playtex dropins to using Evenflo bottles just bc the nipples were shaped similar but it seemed the evenflo ones flowed faster!
Good luck! Its so frustrating when they won't eat!

 

It could be that the formula is too thick. Caleb's formula was thickened too for a few months, but not nearly that much, maybe one tsp of cereal for 4 oz, and that was enough to keep the spit-up down.
Are you a schedule feeder or on demand? Maybe they just aren't hungry when you go to feed them. I would just wait until they "ask" for it.

 

I would switch back and use it longer than just 2 weeks. It can take up to 2 weeks just to see some results. You might find it to be a lifesaver.

 

I'm also starting to think the formula might be too thick or the nipple too slow. You might try the Y cut for a bit longer & see if the get used to it or thicken the formula a bit less. If they are having to suck too long or too hard many babies will just give up.

I also agree with this. Sometimes it can take up to a month to really start to notice the changes.

 

Are they losing weight??

Is there a chance that you don't give them a chance to get hungry?? If they aren't in pain and just don't seem interested then just wait till they show signs that they are hungry. Maybe it's time for a schedule change. I never made my twins schedule, they made it and we stuck to it. When things went array I would go off of them for 2 days and really pay attention to time and then start a new schedule.

If they aren't losing weight and still have wet diapers then I would wait till they were hungry to feed them.
Good luck!

 

Hi there,

I agree with a few of the other posters. I think you need to try the liquid version of whatever formula you have them on. Stick it in a new bottle, new nipple. NO CEREAL TO THICKEN IT UP. Try that, and then let them demand feed for like a 12 hour stretch and see what happens. If they don't want to eat in 12 hours, of course, give them a bottle.... but at this point, you should try to experiment.

My twins are the same age as yours. Mine were not premies though. My son, who weighs 16 pounds demand eats like every three during the day and every four to five at night, drinking 5-6 ounces. My daughter weighs just over 12 pounds (I know, huge size difference). She is on Similac sensitive AND breastmilk. I mix them together. She is way more lazy about eating and will often do the same thing, roll the nipple in her mouth, chew it, spit it out, laugh, smile, drool freaking everywhere! She drinks at least one to one and a half bottles LESS than her brother each day. My doc says as long as she is gaining weight, not to stress over it. And to let her tell me when she is hungry. So, I try to relax and let it go during the day so that neither of us has a melt down! I let her go till she screams in demand for food, and then she drinks a whole bottle.

I think as long as they continue to gain weight, and don't lose, then they are fine. Try some of the suggestions others have given you and see if any helps. Please be cautious with the solids, since they are still so young......
Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
Molly

 

WE have also dealt with this issue several times and sometimes I just sit and cry b/c I don't feel like my DS is getting enough food. He was down to around 10 oz a day at one time. My DS had bottle aversion. But mine was very obvious. He would turn away from the bottle and get upset whne we put him in the position to feed--he had silent reflux and by the time we caught it, he hadd this problem. We saw a feeding specialist who helped us figure this out. Luckily mine has grown out of it--yours doens't really sound like it, but maybe worth trying to see a feeding specialist---I really understand how upsetting it is when they jsut won't eat. But as everyone says--only need to be concerned if he is losing weight--try to remember that.

The feeding specialist makes sure they are sucking normally and that there is nothing wroong w/ that and then they evaluate how teh feeding goes to determine if they can figure otu what is going on---mine was pretty easy to diagnose as aversion according to her.

Also, about a month ago--both of my DSs did similar to what you were saying--just biting and chewing on the nipple and that lasted about 1 week and they stopped--not sure what it was, but maybe it's just a phase for you also.

Good luck! It can be so hard!!