Refusing bottle

[littlemonkey]

Over the last day or two my son has been refusing his milk. I'm taking him to the HV tomorrow, but in the mean time can anyone suggest anything to help?

He will take a couple of ounces, before turning away from the bottle and screaming. I've tried giving him a thorough winding and burps will come up. But then when he gets back into the feeding position he will scream again. No matter how long I leave him, he will scream as soon as I try to feed him again. He will settle if I put him in another position. He does it with me and OH, so I don't think it's how he's being held. I've offered him milk and water in a bottle and he does the same with either.

He's 14 weeks. He had his second lot of jabs yesterday which I put it down to initially, but he did this with his breakfast before his jabs and OH has just told me he did it with his last feed the night before. He's had half what he would usually today! And even that felt like an ordeal getting him to have that much!

 

[blondy13]

Could it be he has a cold or anything?
My lo has had a cold for a couple of days now and has had about half milk intake I think...doing the same fussing a lot.
Other than that I know when Effie's reflux plays up she does the same thing...is your lo bringing up any sick or seem to be in pain?

 

[babybee]

Mine did exactly that when she turned 14 weeks. I put it down to her being over tired and when she had a screaming spell I would have to hold her tightly and make her fall asleep to white noise then after 30 mins she'd wake and be a little calmer so I would feed her then. I know you've already tried waiting longer before feeding but have you tried feeding your lo straight after a nap? Another thing that helped me was laying down on the bed with her and feeding her that way - I bf though so it may not be as easy for you to do that? Also I found that the room being too warm made a difference too. In the end I had to feed her in our spare room as it was so much cooler.

Sorry, I know that doesn't make much sense but I hope your baby starts to feed better. If its the phase my one went through, it lasted a couple of weeks and now she's much better.
Xxx

 

[littlemonkey]

Could it be he has a cold or anything?
My lo has had a cold for a couple of days now and has had about half milk intake I think...doing the same fussing a lot.
Other than that I know when Effie's reflux plays up she does the same thing...is your lo bringing up any sick or seem to be in pain?

He's been ok in himself other than being a bit grumpy after his jabs so I don't think he's unwell. He doesn't have a temp or anything. He was happily laughing and joking with me most of the day apart from feed times.

He acts like he usually would if he has wind or a burp brewing so I always give him a thorough winding. Even if a few massive burps come up, when I put him back in position he will start kicking off.

One thing I have thought is with most of his feeds he's been playing with his hands and bottle a lot more when feeding. Usually he has one feed where he'll have a little 'chat' with me - chooing and smiling while feeding and trying to hold his bottle. He's done this with every feed today. I wonder if he's getting frustrated or something?!

 

[littlemonkey]

Mine did exactly that when she turned 14 weeks. I put it down to her being over tired and when she had a screaming spell I would have to hold her tightly and make her fall asleep to white noise then after 30 mins she'd wake and be a little calmer so I would feed her then. I know you've already tried waiting longer before feeding but have you tried feeding your lo straight after a nap? Another thing that helped me was laying down on the bed with her and feeding her that way - I bf though so it may not be as easy for you to do that? Also I found that the room being too warm made a difference too. In the end I had to feed her in our spare room as it was so much cooler.

Sorry, I know that doesn't make much sense but I hope your baby starts to feed better. If its the phase my one went through, it lasted a couple of weeks and now she's much better.
Xxx

You could be onto something with over tiredness as his naps haven't been great since the weekend. He's never been a big sleeper in the day, but even for him he's not napped as well as he would! I'll have a look at his naps tomorrow.

 

[vampybear]

they can become ill 7 days after the jabs apparently, but my boy tended to react the following day.

My son tended to stop milk when he was teething, had a sore throat, or had blocked nose.

They do also have phases- if they drink a lot during day they might want to stop for the night.

If you really feel hes not getting enough, you can always wait for him to fall asleep and then as soon as he has gone, dream feed him- i had to do that when my son was refusing due to being ill in hospital as he refused all fluids.

 

[littlemonkey]

they can become ill 7 days after the jabs apparently, but my boy tended to react the following day.

My son tended to stop milk when he was teething, had a sore throat, or had blocked nose.

They do also have phases- if they drink a lot during day they might want to stop for the night.

If you really feel hes not getting enough, you can always wait for him to fall asleep and then as soon as he has gone, dream feed him- i had to do that when my son was refusing due to being ill in hospital as he refused all fluids.

See, now you mention teething I'm wondering if it could be that? He was chomping on his hand most of the day yesterday. Although he usually does that when tired too? I'm begining to think it may be tiredness as he took his 5am bottle fine this morning and I gave him his breakfast bottle as soon as he woke this morning instead of dressing him first. He's drunk most of it this morning. Unless of course he was just extra hungry?! I don't get him sometimes!!