Difficult milk drinking baby

[Gem2505]

Hi all,

i'm having very bad experience with my 6.5mths old baby currently. here's how it goes.

- she's on friso 2 now.
- used to drink 180ml ( milk + brown rice + rice cereal ) every 4-5 hourly since 5mths old.

since last week, her appetite changed.

- drinks only 60-80ml every 5hours. worst was on fri and say, her intake was 300ml a day.
no matter how i force her, she wont take. once she taste its milk, she will cry and reject. spit milk out and move her head all around, refuse drinking. but when given water, she will take. tried giving her barley water, she takes too. but how can she survive just on water?!
she doesnt water spoon feeding. tried many times on many kind of food, she will show the sour face and spit the food/juice out.

brought her to the PD yest, PD say her throat a bit red only. other than that, she's ok. even if she's teething, she will drink less but not reject totally. she became alil better after the dr visit. but after 3 more successful feeds, she refuse again.

her last "successful" feed was at 4pm on sunday noon and she refuse all the way till monday morning 10am. ITS SUPER LONG hour. she just took 140ml of milk+brown rice. in between this long break, she took about 70ml of water and barley water.

so lost. googled about this but cant find any results.

anyone went thru something like this? is there any problem with the milk (friso 2)?
if she still rejects, may have to send her for drip already. haiz!

 

[Amulet]

maybe u should just give her milk only without any other things inside..

 

[Gem2505]

maybe u should just give her milk only without any other things inside..

I have tried That for about 3 days also no use.. STill the same.

 

[mummy jay]

I had this problem with my first son also...he rejected milk when he was about 2.5 months. He drove the whole family nuts because he refused to drink milk. In the end I switched to rice cereal (mixed with milk) and porridge when he was 3 mths. He would still throw up the rice cereal purposely but at least he ate the porridge. Feeding him was a nightmare...he can eat/fight for 2 hours then 1 hour break then eat/fight again. I also brought him to my family doc...everything was ok and my doc told me that it might just be a phase. My son maybe just decided that he didn't like milk and don't want to drink it anymore. Very stubborn. In the end, my MIL cooked chicken soup with korean ginseng and gave him 1-2 spoons every other day. I think it helped to stimulate his appetite...even though he still refused to drink milk.

Now he is five and super energetic and skinny but he can really eat when he wants to. I have also had friends whose babies also went through phases where they refuse to eat. My friends see doc, changed milk, changed bottle...but in the end, everything went back to normal after a while.

Don't worry so much, just make sure your baby is peeing and pooping and not losing weight then she should be ok.

 

[Gem2505]

Thanks mummy jay.

Today she is a lil better but still not back to her usual yet.
She had milk plus brown rice cereal in her milk and barley..
Milk with brown rice about 500ml. Barley abt 70ml. So not too bad.
Hopefully she improve more..
Tml will be bringing her to PD for follow up.
Haiz. Just hope everything be well.

 

[MamabbJ]

Dear mummies,

Just replied to a similar thread just now about this milk drinking problem. Yes, we are all not alone! My baby boy became fussy at 6 months when his two bottom teeth started sprouting. After about 1-2 months things got better. Now at 10 months, his upper two teeth are coming out and the same problem came back. He would not finish his milk -- he stops when the milk comes to the 50-80 ml mark! Not that he knows how to read the numbers but somehow he just stops there and refuses to drink anymore. Will cry, push the bottle away with his hands AND feet and start turning his head to the sides in protest. As he is on solids now, I try not to be too worried. He also rejects solids sometimes. He may like certain solids for one day and then totally rejects it the following day. Strange. But according to my nanny who has more experience than me, this is NORMAL and is a phase that babies do go thru and will pass by. My friend's baby girl also has the same problem at 5 months and like what some of you have shared, she gets her milk feeds when she is half asleep so that she will not reject it.

I find the following methods work for me:

1) Enlarging the teat hole when the drinking becomes too stressed or slow for the baby i.e. if feeding takes more than 20 mins. My baby used to drink very slowly until I change the teat size and enlarge it further since it is already the largest size available.

2) Baby sometimes wants a short break (5-15 mins) during milk drinking. So I will stop feeding him and let him sit a while, carry him around and play a little song for him. Then if I am fortunate enough, he will finish off the whole bottle without wasting a single drop!

3) Changing position may help sometimes: sometimes my baby likes the cradle position, sometimes he just rests on my chest/belly (feeding from the front) and sometimes he can drink with a high pillow under his head and back while lying on the mattress.

Hope all will be well and cheery soon!

 

[Gem2505]

cant change the teat hole bigger. she will choke on it. she cant have break type. once she dont want, she wont want anymore. haiz. now, we got a new method.

prepare my iphone whenever she's drinking her milk. the starting part, she will be good and drink. when i can sense she's about to push the bottle away, i quickly on my apps for her to watch. she loves the animal apps. so she will concentrate on the apps and "forget to push the bottle away". haha. den she continue to drink. lol.
if there's no iphone in the world, i would have been crazy. LOL!

 

[Gem2505]

haiz. my girl was alil better after the phase mentioned above ( which lasted about 2 weeks ). Now, she's refusing milk again~!!! really testing my patience level man.
last feed was yesterday 2pm. today morning, 7+am b4 i left for work, i tried feeding her, she still dont want. she seems like she wont get hungry even after such long hour without milk.
she's 8 months now, still not taking much solid food. those small bottle puree food, she could take less than half of it each time. her intake is VERY low. i've looked after many kids but have never come across such difficult feeding baby. dont think can find any baby to compete on this man.
think gonna bring her to the doc later and see how. i remembered previously, pd said teething phrase, will drink less but not reject totally. her 1st tooth havent out yet, but i think maybe soon. is the gum soothing gel useful?

 

[marshmallows]

When my boy is teething, he prefers slightly cooler temperature milk. He rejects the normal warm milk. Sometimes he even wants more diluted milk like 150ml water to 3 scoops milk powder only etc. He got lots of weird pattern. Maybe u can try out.

 

[babycar]

Think many mums can identify with your worry. For most of us, this is just a passing phase. Your child will probably want something diffewrent every now and then. And when you got used to a certain routine or diet, things start to change again. Children grow very quickly and their body changes too. So it's not surprising to find children refusing certain food. Sometimes their taste change suddenly. But as long as she's not refusing milk for too long, it shld be ok. It's good you are trying different things too... If PD says it is ok, shld be ok

 

[Gem2505]

When my boy is teething, he prefers slightly cooler temperature milk. He rejects the normal warm milk. Sometimes he even wants more diluted milk like 150ml water to 3 scoops milk powder only etc. He got lots of weird pattern. Maybe u can try out.

i tried giving her not so warm milk, she still dont want. i tried adding milo powder, she also dont want. i changed to the training sipping cup, she also dont want. -_-"
she alot pattern indeed. today she want to be spoon fed on puree. so gave her half bottle of pumpkin with sweet corn and she finished another small bottle of egg custard. so think she wants food instead now. so have to switch about. let her miss her milk for a day. see tonight she will want her milk anot... so frustrating lor.

 

[Gem2505]

Think many mums can identify with your worry. For most of us, this is just a passing phase. Your child will probably want something diffewrent every now and then. And when you got used to a certain routine or diet, things start to change again. Children grow very quickly and their body changes too. So it's not surprising to find children refusing certain food. Sometimes their taste change suddenly. But as long as she's not refusing milk for too long, it shld be ok. It's good you are trying different things too... If PD says it is ok, shld be ok

ya. alot of changing indeed. just give her alil more water since she dont want milk.. hope tonight she will be better.

 

[Sunflower22]

My 1 month+ baby is acting weird too. He used to be able to drink up to 120ml per feed. Suddenly i noticed he's beginning to feed lesser. I have currently reduced to 100ml & yet he stops each time the milk level hits 20ml. (As if pumping fuel into a car.. *ding* full & d pump auto stops). He will then refuse to continue drinking. I have to "fight" & struggle with him such that he would finish it up. I dont understamd what's going on. I cant give him alternative foods since he is still so young... Is this normal of my baby at such a young age?

 

[Gem2505]

My 1 month & 7 wks baby is acting weird too. He used to be able to drink up to 120ml per feed. Suddenly i noticed he's beginning to feed lesser. I have currently reduced to 100ml & yet he stops each time the milk level hits 20ml. (As if pumping fuel into a car.. *ding* full & d pump auto stops). He will then refuse to continue drinking. I have to "fight" & struggle with him such that he would finish it up. I dont understamd what's going on. I cant give him alternative foods since he is still so young... Is this normal of my baby at such a young age?

he's sleepy? at that age, my girl takes about 100ml each feed. if 80ml, i think its good enough. dont force unless he totally dont want the whole day etc. else i scared will cast phobia in him then he will hate it?
at my girl age now (8mths old), doc say each day min is 500ml intake. so, i just est each day i can hit that, i let her be le. each feed got 100ml, 1 day 5 feeds, good enough le. then i give her afew scoops of cereal only. i v scared she will phobia in milk n food now. so i let her be. if she's hungry, she will ask for it.

 

[Sunflower22]

he's sleepy? at that age, my girl takes about 100ml each feed. if 80ml, i think its good enough. dont force unless he totally dont want the whole day etc. else i scared will cast phobia in him then he will hate it?
at my girl age now (8mths old), doc say each day min is 500ml intake. so, i just est each day i can hit that, i let her be le. each feed got 100ml, 1 day 5 feeds, good enough le. then i give her afew scoops of cereal only. i v scared she will phobia in milk n food now. so i let her be. if she's hungry, she will ask for it.

My son is jus confusing... Whn he cries, i wld use d old folk mtd by touching d sides of his mouth to test if he is "looking" for food & it seems like he is always looking for food but there are occasions that it was a fake & he would refuse to drink just after a few mouths... Sigh...

He is acting out of norm 2day as well. He usually feeds every 3 hrs. But 2dy he is asking at every 2 hrs but he also cant finish up when coming to the end. Now even weird... He only swallowed 60ml & refuse anymore... I really cant "catch" my son...

 

[Gem2505]

My son is jus confusing... Whn he cries, i wld use d old folk mtd by touching d sides of his mouth to test if he is "looking" for food & it seems like he is always looking for food but there are occasions that it was a fake & he would refuse to drink just after a few mouths... Sigh...

He is acting out of norm 2day as well. He usually feeds every 3 hrs. But 2dy he is asking at every 2 hrs but he also cant finish up when coming to the end. Now even weird... He only swallowed 60ml & refuse anymore... I really cant "catch" my son...

yes, its not easy to "catch" de.. sometimes their appetite just change any moment. my girl, yesterday was better, she drinks 4X milk. today dont want milk. -_-" her sch teachers and me had a hard time feeding her.
but when her mood good, every 3hours she would drink n finish it.
i think interval of about 2hours is ok. my niece, drinks milk every 2 hours. now she's an overweight baby. -_-"
dont force. he want then give, dont want then stop lor. sometimes when bb confuse, just try 1 more time if he wants anot. if he really really dont want, den dont give. if he hungry, he will cry for it. never too late.
my girl, didnt wake up for night feeding since day 1. im the one waking her up and drink during the 1st month.. 2nd month onwards, i nv wake her up le unless she ownself wake up, which i think maybe once or twice only. until now, she night time slp ( 10pm-12am ), will go all the way till morning 7am-9am then wake up. till then, then i give her milk.
so far so good. =D

 

[Sunflower22]

yes, its not easy to "catch" .. sometimes their appetite just change any moment. my girl, yesterday was better, she drinks 4X milk. today dont want milk. -_-" her sch teachers and me had a hard time feeding her.
but when her mood good, every 3hours she would drink n finish it.
i think interval of about 2hours is ok. my niece, drinks milk every 2 hours. now she's an overweight baby. -_-"
dont force. he want then give, dont want then stop . sometimes when baby confuse, just try 1 more time if he wants anot. if he really really dont want, then dont give. if he hungry, he will cry for it. never too late.
my girl, didnt wake up for night feeding since day 1. im the one waking her up and drink during the 1st month.. 2nd month onwards, i never wake her up unless she ownself wake up, which i think maybe once or twice only. until now, she night time sleep ( 10pm-12am ), will go all the way till morning 7am-9am then wake up. till then, then i give her milk.
so far so good. =D

Thanks for the advice. Will not force him to complete the entire bottle from now & monitor his weight at d same time. Now I just need to figure when he really wants to feed.

 

[Gem2505]

Thanks for the advice. Will not force him to complete the entire bottle from now & monitor his weight at d same time. Now I just need to figure when he really wants to feed.

yes, weight gain is something to monitor. As long as his weight gained when he's 3-4months is double of his birth weight, then its ok. avg baby gain at 1-2months is ard 800g-1kg per month. when reach 4months, den will slow down le.
in my mum's time, their logic is, sleep is more impt than milk during the first few months. sufficient milk is good enough, they need more slp to produce more hormones in their body =)

hope im not wrong. correct me if im wrong. =D

 

[AngieTan]

This is currently happening to my boy, who is 13 months plus now, and it's really very frustrating but worrying at the same time (makes me very "gek sim')... Also same, after many hours like not hungry like that still... I seriously wonder why...

May I know whether you are feeding more solids since the milk intake has gone down? Or just remain as it is? Like if she drinks, she drinks... If not, that's it for the day kind of thing? Cos I don't know whether I should change the feeding pattern if it's just a phase that he is going through but I don't know for how long I can remain sane with this problem, or he has totally hated milk from now on... Sigh... Very troubled... =/

His appetite has been small since young and today, he just decide to take 100ml of milk in the morning, 1 bowl of pork porridge in the afternoon and 120ml of milk mixed with oatmeal cereal in the evening... Did not want his last night feed before he retires for the night which he usually does of course... His usual intake is 180ml of milk x 3 for a day... See the HUGE difference... SIGH... =(

I have been thinking of ways and means to "sneak" the milk into his feedings like adding cereal to the milk and it worked a few days before but not yesterday and today... He gave me the "I-want-to-gag-look" whenever he tastes milk so I really don't know is it he really hates it now or what... I did notice that his canines might be growing out already as the gum area got like one tiny ulcer kind of thing... Hmm...

 

[Gem2505]

This is currently happening to my boy, who is 13 months plus now, and it's really very frustrating but worrying at the same time (makes me very "gek sim')... Also same, after many hours like not hungry like that still... I seriously wonder why...

May I know whether you are feeding more solids since the milk intake has gone down? Or just remain as it is? Like if she drinks, she drinks... If not, that's it for the day kind of thing? Cos I don't know whether I should change the feeding pattern if it's just a phase that he is going through but I don't know for how long I can remain sane with this problem, or he has totally hated milk from now on... Sigh... Very troubled... =/

His appetite has been small since young and today, he just decide to take 100ml of milk in the morning, 1 bowl of pork porridge in the afternoon and 120ml of milk mixed with oatmeal cereal in the evening... Did not want his last night feed before he retires for the night which he usually does of course... His usual intake is 180ml of milk x 3 for a day... See the HUGE difference... SIGH... =(

I have been thinking of ways and means to "sneak" the milk into his feedings like adding cereal to the milk and it worked a few days before but not yesterday and today... He gave me the "I-want-to-gag-look" whenever he tastes milk so I really don't know is it he really hates it now or what... I did notice that his canines might be growing out already as the gum area got like one tiny ulcer kind of thing... Hmm...

my girl's condition improved already. think she just decided to eat and drink more. see her mood type.
her current routine , ( 8mths + now ),
milk ( around 150ml-200ml ) at 7am
cereal with milk ( 6 scoops ) at ard 9am
porridge ( half bowl ) at 12pm
milk ( around 180ml ) at 3pm
milk ( around 180ml ) or cereal with milk ( 6 scoops ) at 7pm
milk ( around 180ml ) before slp, see what time she wanna slp. usually between 10-11pm.

her 180ml milk, mostly see her mood. sometimes, she take 150ml. when she dont want le, i wont force. else will create fear to her den worst..

no night feed.

doc say, its ok. when bb is hungry, they will ask for it.