My 3-month old baby has just lost milk appetite for the past 1 week. He used to drink 5 oz sometimes 6oz non- stop every 3-4 hours but suddenly he seems to have lost interest in eating. He hardly finished 4oz of milk and sometimes even 3 oz (we have to feed and refeed in order to let him finish the bottle ). And he doesn't show sign of hungry (did not ask for milk even 5 to 6 hours). Is it common? What can I do in order to resume his appetite?
My baby lost eating appetite
- Thread starter Wongdym
- Start date
My friend's 3 month old is doing the same thing. She would drink only 3-4 oz at each feeding, before she could drink up to 5 oz.
My own 3 month old is also doing the same with bottles of breast milk. She would leave 1-2 oz whereas before she could finish 5 oz in one gulp. I am giving her 2 bottles of breastmilk a day, the rest is breastfeeding. With breastfeeding, I think she is getting the same amount as she will pretty much empty both breasts at a feeding, only with bottles that she is not finishing each time. I wonder if this is just a phase or normal thing that they go through at this stage since all of you are going through the same thing.
Another thing to try is to change the teat. A lot of them probably have reached the age where they find the milk flow is too slow with the stage one teats. You can buy the stage 2 teats and see if they will drink more once the flow is faster. I tried with mine and she still cannot finish the milk. I have to wait a bit to offer her the unfinished milk, sometimes she will finish, sometimes not.
My own 3 month old is also doing the same with bottles of breast milk. She would leave 1-2 oz whereas before she could finish 5 oz in one gulp. I am giving her 2 bottles of breastmilk a day, the rest is breastfeeding. With breastfeeding, I think she is getting the same amount as she will pretty much empty both breasts at a feeding, only with bottles that she is not finishing each time. I wonder if this is just a phase or normal thing that they go through at this stage since all of you are going through the same thing.
Another thing to try is to change the teat. A lot of them probably have reached the age where they find the milk flow is too slow with the stage one teats. You can buy the stage 2 teats and see if they will drink more once the flow is faster. I tried with mine and she still cannot finish the milk. I have to wait a bit to offer her the unfinished milk, sometimes she will finish, sometimes not.
My baby went through the same thing a couple of weeks ago (she was 4 months and one week then). She went from 5 oz to 2 oz!! I was really worried and asked a lot of people about this. I even went to the Dr and there was nothing wrong.
I later learnt that this is a phase which most formula fed babies go through. It is because they have had 'too much' milk in the past months and are using this time for their tiny organs to digest it all. So she was self regulating. It is less common with breast feeding.
My baby is being fed breast milk, but from a bottle, so I guess this phase has something to fo with bottle feeding.
The way I see it is that with bottle feeding, we dictate how much they drink and try to get them to finish everything in the bottle. Whilst those breastfeeding will stop when they are full. As parents, we forget to take into account that their appetites may vary from day to day.
Anyway, after nearly 2 full weeks of not eating much, my baby is back to normal and finishing off every drop like she used to! So don't worry, as long as the weight of your baby does not drop, then it's probably just the phase.
Hope that helps.
I later learnt that this is a phase which most formula fed babies go through. It is because they have had 'too much' milk in the past months and are using this time for their tiny organs to digest it all. So she was self regulating. It is less common with breast feeding.
My baby is being fed breast milk, but from a bottle, so I guess this phase has something to fo with bottle feeding.
The way I see it is that with bottle feeding, we dictate how much they drink and try to get them to finish everything in the bottle. Whilst those breastfeeding will stop when they are full. As parents, we forget to take into account that their appetites may vary from day to day.
Anyway, after nearly 2 full weeks of not eating much, my baby is back to normal and finishing off every drop like she used to! So don't worry, as long as the weight of your baby does not drop, then it's probably just the phase.
Hope that helps.
It is a bit of a relief to know that my baby is not the only one with the problem. It has been over a month now and the way I make him to finish the bottle is to feed him when he is asleep. Sometimes it works and sometimes doesn't. However, I am in a dilemma of doing this. I feel that I should just let him drink as much as he wants consciously so that he can adjust/regulate to his normal appetite faster. Yet, I don?t want to see him drink so little everyday (he can drink just a little bit over 10oz on his worse days compared to 28 oz before). Any advise on this?
By the way, I just changed to Meji today to see how it goes. Hopefully to improve his appetite, but more importantly to help with his poo poo.
By the way, I just changed to Meji today to see how it goes. Hopefully to improve his appetite, but more importantly to help with his poo poo.
Hi a mum,
you're not alone. My 4 months baby suddenly doesn't like bottles of formula. He only drinks 140ml x 3-4 times a day and sometimes he doesn't finish it. Before he could take 160ml x 5 times a day. So now I just breastfeed him whenever he looks hungry. At this stage he prefers nursing than taking his bottle. Don't worry, hang in there!
btw, you said you changed Meiji to help with his poo? is he constipated?
you're not alone. My 4 months baby suddenly doesn't like bottles of formula. He only drinks 140ml x 3-4 times a day and sometimes he doesn't finish it. Before he could take 160ml x 5 times a day. So now I just breastfeed him whenever he looks hungry. At this stage he prefers nursing than taking his bottle. Don't worry, hang in there!
btw, you said you changed Meiji to help with his poo? is he constipated?
phylicia
Registered User
Hi Mums,
My bub did EXACTLY the same thing re feeding habits at 4 months it just plummeted and she refused to drink all her milk feeds. I got so worried about her weight..etc so I took her to the local Early Childhood Centre in Sydney (it's a free service) and the nurse asked if Hannah was starting or is teething and we had a look at her gums and they were slightly swollen. She then suggested that I rub teething gel around the teat and feed her the bottle. This worked fabulously, after her teeth came through a week later, my daughter went back to her normal feeding habits. So everytime a new teeth was coming through, her appetitie dropped, so I repeated this procedure and it works every time. Also, the Nurse suggested that I change the teat to a faster flowing teat, so that bub did not have to work harder at sucking to get the milk out because when they are teething it can really hurt them after a few sucks.
P.
My bub did EXACTLY the same thing re feeding habits at 4 months it just plummeted and she refused to drink all her milk feeds. I got so worried about her weight..etc so I took her to the local Early Childhood Centre in Sydney (it's a free service) and the nurse asked if Hannah was starting or is teething and we had a look at her gums and they were slightly swollen. She then suggested that I rub teething gel around the teat and feed her the bottle. This worked fabulously, after her teeth came through a week later, my daughter went back to her normal feeding habits. So everytime a new teeth was coming through, her appetitie dropped, so I repeated this procedure and it works every time. Also, the Nurse suggested that I change the teat to a faster flowing teat, so that bub did not have to work harder at sucking to get the milk out because when they are teething it can really hurt them after a few sucks.
P.
mama-to-be
Registered User
my baby is 5 months and is just breastfeeding for a few minutes (max 5 mins) every 2-3 hours! at night though for the 6pm feed she will nurse for (collectively) 30 mins. think she is just taking whatever she needs at a certain time of the day. probably she only likes to have a full tummy at night time as during the day they are so distracted to eat! my baby is 7 kilos and is considered medium sized so definitely not worried about her size/weight!
Do you feed your baby while she is asleep to up his intake or just leave him to drink as little as he wants? Have anyone tried to introduce solid at this stage since the baby refuses to drink milk. I am just worried that he starts to loose weight given his small diet. What is a normal and what is not?