How to make 3 months + baby drink more milk?

[Kiwicake]

I have been having problem making my baby drink more milk. I bottle feed my baby with EBM. She is already 3 months and 2 weeks old but her daily intake on average is between 600 to 700 ml only. Doc said her weight is on the low side. She usually fuss and cry when feeding.

Previously she has colic and reflux problem. After eating medication given by doc, her condition seemed to have improved but the milk intake is still very low.

The doc told me to try to coax baby to drink 900 ml of milk + give some water as she is afraid baby might be dehydrated. The problem is she just refused to drink by pushing the bottle away with her hands or use her tongue to push the teat out. She rather suck her hands than drink milk! Sob!!! =(

When I try to force her, she will vomit everything out. What should I do so that she can drink more in order to gain more weight?

I have change the teats from newborn to 1 month + to 3 months +. Also try feeding her more often and before she cries for milk. There is no problem with the breast milk too.

Does any mummy out there has this problem and how to solve this it? Thanks!

 

[SarahGurbuxani-Carpio]

Does this happen every time? I applaud you for exclusively breastfeeding your baby. What a commitment! I am thinking that your baby might be going through growth spurt- which is pretty normal. Just extend your patience as it will happen again. Just continue on what you are doing and your baby will be fine.

 

[ilovebbdylan]

kiwicake,

how long has this been? yr baby is 3 months + , so she just refuse to drink recently or quite sometime?

did u previously latch her or bottlefeed ebm all along?

 

[Kiwicake]

Does this happen every time? I applaud you for exclusively breastfeeding your baby. What a commitment! I am thinking that your baby might be going through growth spurt- which is pretty normal. Just extend your patience as it will happen again. Just continue on what you are doing and your baby will be fine.

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for the encouragement. This is has happened since she was 2 month old. I just can't figure out what went wrong. I will try to persist but I am quite worried as I will be sending baby to infant care in 2 weeks time. Not sure whether the teachers will have a lot of patience with her.

 

[Kiwicake]

kiwicake,

how long has this been? yr baby is 3 months + , so she just refuse to drink recently or quite sometime?

did u previously latch her or bottlefeed ebm all along?

Hi ilovebbdylan,

This has happened since she was 2 months old. It is an on off thing. She is ok for some feed and not ok for some feed. I have let her latch during the first week she was borned but was very painful experience so I expressed out and bottle feed her instead.

 

[moi]

Does she have problem latching and drink enough when she latches? If no, your baby may not like to be bottle-fed. Have you tried changing the brand of the teat which is compatible with the milk bottles, or changing the whole bottle and teat to another brand? Have you tried asking another person to feed her without you near her?

I face similar problems as you before I return to work last year. My then 4 month-old baby refused to be bottle-fed. I was using Avent bottle and even changed the teat size but it didn't work. As I'm storing my EBM in standard (not wide type) breastmilk bottles, I decided to buy Pigeon Silicone Nipple (size Y) to try upon a friend's recommendation. He loves it and till now (11+ months old), he's still using the same type of teat and size (though he's drinking much faster now).

If your baby is having issues even while latching, then she may have stomach wind and therefore refused to drink milk. In this case, perhaps you can do tummy massage and let her consume a very little amount of baby drops such as Rid-Wind Baby Drops, or Gripe Water. I gave mine the former as it doesn't have sugar. Both are alcohol-free. There are other brands in the market, so just look around.

If the above doesn't work, try offering the EBM using a cup, syringe or spoon. It may be more troublesome and slow but it may work.