15 week old refusing bottle

Queen of Sheebs

My 15 week old has started to refuse the bottle in the last few days. It is a battle to get 2 oz into him. It's taking forever to feed him and with alot of tears. He'll take 2 oz and then start crying while bottle is in the mouth. I sit him up to wind him and he starts really crying looking for the bottle again....I give it to him and he starts crying again!!! Generally I have to leave him for 20 min or half an hour and reheat the bottle and try again. The most he has taken is 6 oz but this is rare. Up until about a week and a half ago he was taking up to 8 oz per feed without any hassle. I'm giving him c*w & g*te c*mfort due to constipation.
He was sleeping from 8.30 to any time between 4 and 6 and now he's waking between 1 and 3 and again at 6!!! Back to 2 night feeds. He has taken about 4oz the last two nights for the night feeds.
Any ideas whats going on? He's in good form during the day....just cries during the feeds! I'm using av*nt bottles with the number 4 teats. I tried him on the variflow teats for about 4 days but this just gave him major wind!

Cat Melodeon

First off you should probably go see the GP or drop in to the PHN clinic. It could be the start of teething, it could be wind, it could be an ear infection. It might be none of these. My only thought is that a size 4 teat is very fast for a 15-week old, are you sure he can cope with the flow? My lad never got to size 4, even when he takes the odd bottle now (he's 2 and a bit) he still gets a size 2 - it's better for their jaw development and digestion to have to work a bit to suck the milk out. Even the Philips Avent website says Size 4 are only suitable from 6 months onwards:
http://www.philips.co.uk/c/avent-baby-bottle-feeding/15069/cat/
Maybe switch back to a slower flow teat and see if it makes any difference?

Queen of Sheebs

Thanks for the reply. He's managing the no.4 flow really well and has been for the last 3 weeks. The variflow ones were a little fast. Probably due to thicker liquid. He's quite big (over 16lbs) and sturdy.. Not sure if that makes a difference. Will give doctor a ring tomorrow but just wondering if anyone else has seen this or is it a phase or a sign of something. Had wondered about teething but he's in good form otherwise!!

elaney

Have to agree with Cat. My fella never went past size "2" either. I tried him on size "4" but he was coughing and spluttering and refused to take his bottle. I still use size "2" and he is fifteen months.