Baby refusing both breast and bottle!

Graham

Graham

Registered User
My wife has been breastfeeding our nearly 3 month old baby boy Jeffrey since birth, although since about 5 weeks ago we have been gradually introducing expressed breast milk in a bottle to prepare him for when my wife returned to work, which she did about 3 weeks ago.

Baby used to have a good appetite and at each feed from the bottle would drink between 3 to 4.5 ounces. However the last week he has been drinking less and less and now the maid and I can only get him to take 1 to 2 ounces every 3 to 4 hours from the bottle, which I think is too little. Sometimes he will even refuse to drink at all. We are using Avent bottles with the 1 hole teat at the moment.

When my wife is at home, she will try to nurse him, but we're lucky at the moment if he'll stay latched on for even 1 to 5 minutes before crying and struggling, whereas even just last week he used to stay on for between 15 to 45 minutes without problem.

I think that my wife works shifts might be confusing to the baby. We're going to see the doctor about this on Wednesday (Sept 8), but any advice on how to get him to start eating more again or what might be causing this would be helpful.

Oh, and baby is generally very happy and active and smiles and laughs a lot, even though he's not eating much. He's weeing normally, but no poo for 2 days now.

Graham
 
He's Confused

Hi Graham - Seems like he needs more time on the breast. Try to give him more time. We allowed our children 5 months to breast feed, which was great for their immune system. If your trying to get him onto a bottle then you MUST search for nipple that looks like the moms nipple! This is esstential! We got 30 nipples for my daughter until we found the right one. We went into mannings and mommie asked if we should get a certain nipple. I was like I'm tired lets go! haha. We endsed up getting it. What do you know that was the rite one. Well, I wish luck!
 
call matilda

Hi Graham,

I had a tough time b/feeding at first and I was told that I could call the Matilda and speak to one of their midwives at any time about it - regardless of how much time had passed since the birth. Their baby clinic number is: 28491500. Also, it may be worth having a midwife come out to you - Yvonne Heavyside is excellent at dealing with any breastfeeding issue - including nipple confusion and expressing upon returning to work. She's available at email: [email protected] and also, tel:98873235.

We had chaos when we started introducing expressed milk in bottles. She eventually calmed down at about 4 months. Have you tried a feeding spoon? Any good pharmacy should have them for between $10-$30.

Lots of luck!
 
Has your wife been eating a different diet since returning to work? if he is refusing both the breast and expressed milk then it could be that he doesn't like the taste.
 
If you can find the evenflo elite bottle and nippple or the gerber wide mouth bottle and nipple. Those are the two that my midwife recommened to me when I stopped breast feeding at 6 weeks. They both worked very well.
She also told me that what a women eats does not effect the taste of her milk.
 
Diet has everything too do

I can tell you by experience that diet has everything to do with keeping tasty breast milk. As mentioned in earlier post, it can put off a baby from mommies nipple. Our son was put off the nipple for a moment when mommie wanted to have some spicy food. Apparently, he wasn't ready to go down the spicy road. :burnout:
 

Attachments

  • m&a-2.jpg
    m&a-2.jpg
    37.1 KB · Views: 149
Dear Graham,

There are many reasons, some of possible concern and other quite normal, that could be the reason for your son?s changed nursing pattern.

It is a good idea to get him checked by a doctor. This will rule out any medical reasons for him to be fussy at the breast. The possible medical causes include, catching a cold, ear infections, teething and a thrush infection.

If your wife has started a new medication, this could temporarily change the taste of her milk. Babies can also react to a new product, such as a new perfume, deodorant, hair spray, shampoo ? even the laundry detergent used to wash the clothes ? as well as nipple cream or ointment.

If it hurts the baby to be held in the nursing position, due to a sensitive area from an infection or an injury, he may be fussy at the breast. Mouth injuries commonly affect a baby?s willingness to nurse.

Overuse of bottles, pacifiers and solid foods can rapidly decrease a mother?s milk supply, causing her baby to be fussy at the breast. However, just as common, is an oversupply/forceful let-down which can cause the baby to be fussy or refuse to feed.

Emotional upsets and stress can make a baby fussy too. Radical changes in daily routine, moving, or other family tensions are sometimes reflected in a baby?s behaviour at the breast.

Developmental changes can affect a baby?s interest in breastfeeding. It is very common that around three to four months of age the baby shortens his feeding time as they become more interested in the world around them. babies get lots of milk with feeds as short as 5 minutes. This in itself is not something to worry about as long as the baby is growing well and appears healthy.

The signs that a baby is getting enough milk are:

? At least six wet nappies/diapers in 24 hours

? At last two dirty nappies/diapers in 24 hours for a baby UNDER 6 weeks. Less frequent bowel movements may be normal in an older breastfeed baby, as long as he is gaining weight normally. Some babies have bowel movements only once a week without signs of constipation (hard, dry stool). However, if the baby isn?t gaining well this could be a clue that the baby isn?t getting enough fatty milk.

? Over a period of time the baby should be gaining weight. The rate of growth slows down as the baby gets older. For the first three months the average weight gain is about 6 ounces (170 grams) a week. From three to four months the weight gain typically slows to 4 to 5 ounces (110-140 grams) a week. And from 6 to 12 months the weight gain slows to 2 to 4 ounces (50 ? 110 grams) per week.

? The baby should be feeding a lot ? even at three
months as much as 7 to 10 times in 24 hours.

? The baby?s skin tone should be firm and his general appearance healthy.

Although generally as a baby grows they drink more milk at each feed and so have less feeds during a 24 hour period. This is not so for all babies. Some continue to like to have lots of small feeds. Again this isn?t a problem as long as the baby is healthy and growing well.

One thing that is quite common amongst babies whose mothers have returned to work is to change their feeding patterns to fit around the mother?s work. Thus the babies take little milk while the mother is away and feed more (this could be lots of little feeds rather than a few long ones) when the mother is home to directly breastfeed. If you think this might be happening it is important that the mother learn to breastfeed in a position that she can rest in as well. Usually this means lying down to breastfeed.

If you think that your baby may be getting upset because of the number of bottles you could try offering milk in a cup. This won?t make him drink more but it will cut down the amount of sucking he gets and may encourage him to suck more at the breast when his mother is home.

Babies don?t put on weight or drink milk in a constant curve but in fits and starts. It is quite normal for a baby to drink a lot one week and less the next week. The important thing is that over a period of time the baby is gaining weight and, of course, appears healthy.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
Yet another experience to share. I was spectacularly unsuccessful getting my daughter to take a bottle. I had to go to hospital for a day stay when she was three months and she refused a bottle (containing EBM) for the entire time I was away (9 hours). I came home to a very hungry baby who decided to make up for it by feeding all night. I had tried to introduce a bottle the week before I had to go to hospital without success. The baby clinic told me that a healthy baby wouldn't starve itself.

Until I night weaned her at 6 months and she started drinking from a sippy cup at the same time, it was very difficult for me to go anywhere without her. Luckily I had negotiated very extended maternity leave from work.

If/when I have another, I hope to introduce a bottle of EBM once a day'ish from an early age to avoid these problems. The baby clinic also told me that nipple confusion was very rare, so I'm not too worried about that.

Friends of mine have used Pigeon Peristaltic (sp?) teats with b/f babies with great success.

Good luck. I would expect some transition time now your wife is working, but bub will learn quickly.
 
Thank you for all your replies, especially Sarah.

Here's some more info: -

My wife's milk supply is still fine. She can express about 9 ounces in 30 minutes on a good day.

Baby has never had a pacifier, we don't believe in them and he seems fine without one.

Baby has not started on solid food yet. We are not planning to start him on solids until 4 months at the earliest, or perhaps 6 months, we haven't exactly decided yet. He's only 3 months old now.

Baby is generally very happy and active. He smiles a lot and talks a lot in his baby language.

My wife has been avoiding spicy food, alcohol and anything with caffine. She is not on any medication. We haven't changed our soap or shampoo at all.

Baby is still weeing about 6 times per day. He's making solid waste on average once every 1 to 3 days. It used to be much more frequent, but as he's getting older the frequency is decreasing.

We haven't had his weight checked since his 2 month check-up, but we will be getting him weighed tomorrow (Wed 8th Sept).

The biggest changes in baby's routine recently is my parents returning to the UK about 2 weeks ago having visited us for nearly 3 weeks to see baby. And also my wife going back to shift work.

The thing that frustrates my wife and I is that when we started baby on a bottle he was fine for about 3 weeks with taking the bottle for 2 to 3 feeds a day and the breast for the other feeds, but now all of a sudden, he's getting really fussy and refusing both or as I mentioned in my first post, only drinking for 5 minutes or less at the breast or just taking between 1 to 2.5 ounces from the bottle.

Anyway, we will be seeing the doctor tomorrow morning to rule out any infection or illness. Wish me luck.

Graham
 
My son has been fed from a combination of breast and bottle (EBM) since I returned to work when he was 15 weeks, he is now almost 1 year and still going strong with both.

However, he quite regularily goes on a bottle strike and will refuse to take much from a bottle. He just waits until I get home and then he is very fussy when I first give him the breast. It is a little easier now that he is on solids but we did not start solids until 7 mths and he did not really start to eat them until about 9 mths.

It is possible that your baby is getting mixed signals particularly if you wife offers him the breast at different times each day. I therefore suggest that you wife aims to breat feed him as soon as she gets home from work and sits somewhere calm and concentrates on him with no destractions. Perhaps spending time playing with him until he settles to the breast.

It is soooooooooo worthwhile keeping the breast feeding going and even though I have had some difficult times in teh last year I have no intention of weaning my son yet

Good luck
 
Actually, I made a mistake, it is the 2-hole Avent teats we have been using, not the 1-hole. Anyway, yesterday I picked up some of the Avent 3-hole teats which are recommended for 3 month+ old babies and tried them on Jeffrey last night. He still only drank 2.5 ounces, but he drank it much quicker, in 3 minutes as compared to the 10 minutes on average that it had been taking him with the 2-hole teats.

Anyway, we took Jeffrey to the Doctor this morning and he said that Jeffrey's ears and throat are fine, but that Jeffrey's nose was very blocked and this was causing Jeffrey to have a lot of wind which affected his appetite. We hadn't realised at all that Jeffrey's nose was blocked as his breathing sounds completely normal. Anyway, we got some nose drops as well as some other medecine to try to increase Jeffrey's appetite, so hopefully he'll start eating more soon.

Thanks again everybody for all your comments.

Graham
 
Graham

I am wondering if your baby could be teething or have an inflammed throat and hence the refusal for food and bottle.

If it's any consolation, my daughter didn't like food at that age either. Like you, we were worried but despite Claudia not taking solids, she thrived well on milk and was a healthy happy child.

Sometimes it could be psychological or your child might simply not be ready. My daughter is now 21 mths old and she only started to eat after she turned one. The amount was pathetic to begin with but over time, we managed more food in. She is also slowly learning how to appreciate different types of food.

I suppose you could see a paed to find out if your baby has a swallowing problem.

Hope all goes well.
 

Attachments

  • img_0586.jpeg
    img_0586.jpeg
    57.3 KB · Views: 94
traceykwong,

We had Jeffrey checked by our pead and his throat is fine. He's not teething yet also. Actually, my mother also wondered if perhaps he is teething early, but he's not.

The nose drops, medicine and vitamins our pead proscribed to unblock his nose and increase his appetite seem to be working so far (touch wood, cross fingers etc.) and he has been drinking more during the last 2 days, although the medicine seems to be making him very drowsy, as he's sleeping more than normal.

Graham
 

Attachments

  • jeffsept.jpg
    jeffsept.jpg
    115.1 KB · Views: 74
Hi Graham,
I really really feel for you. I gave my daughter expressed milk in Avent bottles and she has been fed very well, drinking a lot at 2.5 months (36oz a day). But then she started to fuss at both my breast and bottle, will never drink more than 2 or 3 oz unless she's half asleep. I also tried using no. 2 teats which has 3 holes..but failed.
The problem is we went to see the doctor, he said she is happy and energetic, has even wet and solid nappies, and even said she could go without milk for a week for her weight ...he said her nose is very blocked and that she could be drinking a lot of air at the same time. So we gave her wind drops, heavy dose, and nasal drops and clear her nose every day at bath.

She seemed to be fine for the first two weeks, but then the problem has come back again. Its really killing me, she's now 4 months, and I'm so worried that she's not getting enuf (despite all the wet and solid nappies, happy smiles). I know she does not have ear, nose, throat infection and is not teething (which a lot of ppl suggested).

Just wanna know if your boy is more fussy if you carry him like cradle hold? Does he settle when you carry him up right? COs its the case for my daughter, she's just too gassy. If its the case for your boy, I just wanna warn you...burp him as often as possible, make sure he burped before you let him sleep. After these two months, I believe its the wind that she drinks caused the problem.

Still, wanna know if anyone can give me any advice, should I change bottle or teats?

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top