Difficulty feeding 3month old

positivenote

hI all, our little girl is 3 and a half months old and has turned into a nightmare to feed. Basically when we try and feed her she will scream her head off constantly and it usually takes about 1 1/2 hrs to get her to take 180ml. She is meant to be taking onboard 5 of these feeds a day and every day it is proving very very stressfull. We have changed her to aptimal comfort feeder with no change. She also finds it very hard to get her wind up... we have been using infocol aswell. She is soiling her nappeis so that is a good sign and she will sleep from around 8-11 at night when we then get a bottle into her and then she will stay down untill around 5am, but we are at our wits end and feel sorry for her as she is clearly uncomfortable. Can anyone recomend anything that can help or has anyone been through similiar experiences.

we have also moved her to a number 2 teet.

thanks

Moonbeam

Have you spoken to the phn ?
When you change formula it can take a couple of weeks for it to make any difference.

positivenote

havent spoken to the public healt nurse , wasnt sure whether i should/could about things like this. Is it a case of just giving her a ring? or will i have to arrange an appointment?
thanks

Moonbeam

You can usually just call in during her open hours.
Her hours vary by district.

My small baby is allergic/intolerant to milk and all milk products,my older one had a very low tolerance and couldn't take cows milk until she was 18 months.
There is nothing worse then having a small starving screaming baby that won't take their bottle because it make them feel unwell.
I guessed what the issue was early on and spoke to the phn and she recommended another formula and the baby changed literally overnight.
Nutramigen is what we use,it is available over the counter but easier if you need it to get it on prescription.

wmpdd3

I tried the Aptamil Comfort but had to give up on it as it was thicker and I moved to the size 2 teats, but that was too fast for her, she looked as if she was drowning in milk.

I tried Boots / Tesco / Dr. Brown teats but in the end I had to go back to the usual Aptamil and colic drops.

It did pass but it was a hairy few months.

Dades

Maybe some form of silent reflux? The acid in their tums comes back up and burns their throats (or something) making it painful to feed. Does it happen more in the evening?

lynski

dont formula feed, at the mo, but did on previous ones. think you could try smaller feeds more often and try to feed her before she gets hungry, IYKWIM. less wind in and perhaps less in tummy to get upset.

qwertytlk

Hi, my son was like you have described your daughter to be. He was screaming in pain with wind and so wouldnt drink his bottle. Could take us up to 2 hours ro wind hm also. We were using infacol too. Then i changed the milk from sma to cow and gate and changed bottles from avemt to dr.browns and i really have not looked back. He is like a different baby! So happy and content now. Best of luck

positivenote

hi all, despite trying different feeds and diff brands of bottles the situation has gotten worse... our little one now freaks out anytime we try and feed her and the only time we can get her to eat is when she is asleep or in a doze...
please if there is any advice can you share it with us. we are gonna ring the phn on moday but im not sure if this something she would deal with?
anyway any rxperience shared would be welcomed
thanks

wmpdd3

Def call the PHN, also, if you can, write down what she ate for the last 24 hrs and what nappies she had, you'll prob have to bring her in and the PHN will weigh her.

We had to do this with our little one, in the end she was weighed every week for about 9 weeks until she was about 3 months old. She really ate nothing, but her weight was increasing, even though she was below average for her length.

It was taking 1 hour to feed her 1 OZ right up until she was about 3 months. She looked in pain and her knees would be right up under her chin when she was in pain. But 1/2 hour after the feed she'd be a different girl altogether.

positivenote

we;; we droped by our pharmacist yesterday and he recomended that we put gylcereen (?) on the teet of the bottle to encourage our baby to suck on it... her last three feeds have gone down with a lot less bother. We have also persisted with Dr Brown bottles. So if today is the same we are off to buy a Dr Browns steriliser and a few more bottles. Have to say pharamacists can be excellent first port of calls for advice...

SarahC11

i have a similar problem with my 4month old, she never fed good. she is now supposed to be on 6oz 5 times a day but only takes an average of 3-4oz out of each bottle, i was worried she wasnt getting enough so said it to the baby nurse and she tole me as long as she's putting on weight its ok all babies are different and she might be a better feeder when it comes to solids. go to the baby nurse and get her weighed she will make sure everything is grand

JmeSomers

Yanno, it's very early but it could be a sign of teething as well. Babies can teeth from 3 months to 9 months on average. Some go much later and I knew a girl whose baby was BORN with teeth! It just goes to show that each is an individual.
And just because you don't see those pearly whites showing, doesn't mean it's not happening... it can take up to nine months before that baby may sprout a tooth when they show first signs!! I didn't know that until my 4 month old did the same.
She couldn't bare the bottle, couldn't get anything into her... and she was always a hungry baby for the bottle.
Maybe look for some teething signs: drooling, red bottom, change in dirty nappies, hands in mouth, irriatable... etc.
We started making her bottles a bit cooler as a warm bottle can bother gums a bit more. Also, don't shove the bottle in because you are worried, it will make it worse.

Sometimes babies go through phases and will freak you out in the process because they change overnight. As long as she is having regular wet nappies that are fairly saturated you know she is getting the fluids that she needs. I was told by my GP as long as my baby was taking 1/2 bottles during the day she was fine. So that's 3-4 oz. Start keeping track and writing stuff down just to be sure you know she is getting enough and you are not driving yourself bonkers.

Best of luck a week should make a difference and by all means take her to the doctor if you aren't seeing an improvement or if you think she is declining.