Infantreflux.org | Still 2-3oz per feeding

This topic has 13 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 20 years ago by Anonymous.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

Author

Posts
August 31, 2006 at 4:04 pm #12768

Anonymous
Inactive

It is so frustrating, Taylor is 4 months old and on RTF Alimentum tolerating it okay only still gets pretty gassy but mostly able to pass it on her own without much fussing. Anyways, she still will only eat 2-3oz at a feeding. She is not on any cereals yet, we are waiting until she is 6 months old to introduce the solids. It is just so hard to always be feeding her and for her to take such a little amount. I tried waiting 6 hours between feedings and she still will only take 2-3oz 3 is when I’m lucky. She is growing wonderfully she’s 15 lbs 2oz so she’s not having problems with weight gain so of course nobody is concern. It is just so triesome feeding her since it does take a long time to do it and I have to be bouncing on a pilates ball, it’s a workout for both of us. It is just so hard on Alexis since there is just so much Taylor time! I just don’t know what to do.

August 31, 2006 at 5:13 pm #12769

Anonymous
Inactive

sounds like that is just all she wants to eat at a time.

August 31, 2006 at 5:57 pm #12771

Anonymous
Inactive

Sue:

Abby was a lot like that at 4 months – 2 maybe 3-4 ounces at a time. Seemed like all I was doing was feeding her. I looked in Kayla’s baby book and at that age she was drinking between 6 and 7 ounces so it was so weird to me. Our doctor thought it was probably good that she was drinking only small amounts as she was helping her reflux by doing so. She is going to be 7 months old on Saturday and is now finally taking 6 ounce bottles consistantly. Up until a couple of weeks ago, she would still only take 4 ounces.

I wouldn’t be too worried but definitely talk to your doctor if you are concerned – Mommys ALWAYS know best

Robin

August 31, 2006 at 7:07 pm #12775

Anonymous
Inactive

Thanks, it is good to know that there are other babies out there like that. Our Peds MD feels the same way regarding reflux and small meals since that is what adult refluxers are suppose to do 6 small meals versus 3 large meals. It is just frustrating since all I do is feed her and pray that she actually takes more than 1oz. I’m hoping that she will graduate to 6oz around 7 months too like Abby!

August 31, 2006 at 7:47 pm #12777

Anonymous
Inactive

Sue, I hate to say this but I think if you have to bounce on a Pilates
ball to get her to eat, it sounds to me like something is bothering
her. When Eliana was a baby the only way I could get her to eat was to
swaddle her and walk around the house with her and the bottle in her
mouth. She was on Zantac but it didn’t help her and this is the way she
was until she outgrew her reflux. Myles would only eat when swaddled
and distracted and still would take an hour to drink 3 ounces. Once we
got him on the right dose of Prevacid that finally stopped. He still
was not a big eater but he would eat 4 -5 ounces in 20 minutes, instead
of an hour and it wasn’t such a chore to feed him anymore. I wonder if
Taylor’s Prilosec dose is high enough. It’s not the amount that she’s
eating that concerns me. Obviously it’s enough if she’s growing fine.
It’s just the bouncing and the time that it takes that makes me
wonder.

August 31, 2006 at 9:21 pm #12778

Anonymous
Inactive

Sue, Hailey fed the same way (up until we had to sleep feed her). But even then, she would only feed 1-3 ounces at that age, generally somewhere around 2.5 and it took about an hour with her pulling off after every half ounce. Is Taylor arching or pulling off when she’s feeding? If so, maybe the doc would consider trying a med increase. No one ever considered hailey to have a feeding problem either because she also gained. But she gained because of the effort that I put into feeding her. If I fed her like a normal child, she wouldn’t eat a drop. It sounds like Taylor might be gaining so well because of all the efforts that you are putting into feeding her. I also felt awful about neglecting Sarah because Hailey needed so much attention. But I made sure to set aside some time with her every day, even if it was only 30 minutes that was dedicated exclusively to her. I used to worry that she would resent Hailey because of all the time I spent with her, but she loves her like crazy and it’s really sweet. Hang in there. I know how hard it is.

August 31, 2006 at 9:30 pm #12780

Anonymous
Inactive

Sue, I’m right there with you. Alex generally only takes 2 to 3 oz per feeding. I tried spreading out the feedings, but it didn’t make a difference. I tried feeding her more often to up her intake, but she then she won’t eat at all. She’ll just gum the nipple. She usually takes the first ounce greedily and then just stops sucking and starts playing with the nipple. We can work at it and get another ounce or two into her, but that’s it. She hasn’t been weighed in about a month, but I don’t think that she’s gaining well since the 0-3 months clothes are still baggy on her. I called the ped the other day and we’re going in next week to do a weight check and discuss other options.

August 31, 2006 at 9:31 pm #12781

Anonymous
Inactive

I forgot to add that she totals about 16 to 20 oz a day of Nutramigen. How much is Taylor taking in?

August 31, 2006 at 10:22 pm #12782

Anonymous
Inactive

First of all, I think our DD’s might some how be twins! They are only 5 days apart, weigh the SAME, and I too have to bounce on my pilates ball with her!!! Although I had to use the ball to get her to sleep, not to eat! Funny!

This might be a really stupid suggestion, but do you think it would help to move to a higher “stage” nipple with a faster flow? I have been thinking of switching Sarah’s because it takes forever to give her a bottle and she becomes distracted and just plays with it. I wonder if Sarah was getting the formula faster if she might eat more before she starts looking around and then eventually playing with the bottle. I don’t know if this is an option for you or not, but it’s just an idea. Up until just a few days ago I could not get her to take more than 3-4oz at a time. It was frustrating to be feeding her every few hours. For some reason (growth spurt? sheer luck?) she is now taking somewhere between 6-8oz in at least one of her bottles during the day.

I know it’s frustrating when people don’t express concern because she’s “gaining weight”. That doesn’t make the process or frustration any easier for you! Maybe she is one of those babies that just doesn’t ‘need’ a lot?

We recently switched to powder Alimentum…and b/c it’s so expensive I didn’t mind initially that Sarah wasn’t eating a whole lot…but of course now she’s eating like an ox!!! So if you want to be silly…you could be thankful that she doesn’t drink a lot of the expensive RTF??!?!

Good luck and keep following that mommy intuition!

Amy

September 1, 2006 at 11:27 am #12797

Anonymous
Inactive

I agree with Amy on maybe giving the bigger nipple a try. I remember doing that with Brodie and at first I was afraid he would spit up because it came out faster, so I remember feeding him on the deck so I could just hose it off. But, he did great and he drank 4 oz. in a snap!!! He was probably 3-4 months old. I also remember switching to the Dr. Brown’s #3 earlier than the box recommended, for the same reason. Good Luck, Sue! I feel for you. My husband and I have decided to go ahead and “try” for # 2, but I am scared to death!!!!!!!!!! RLM4262006-9-1 11:29:2

September 1, 2006 at 11:28 am #12798

Anonymous
Inactive

She actually has really good intake around 27-30oz a day. She seems to just be gassy during her feedings, she tries to pass the gas when she sucks so bouncing on the pilates ball or bouncing with her in my arms she seems to pass the gas without any problems. Her feedings can range anywhere from 10-45 mins. Like Kim said she takes the first oz very greedily then most of the time plays with the nipple and I will work with getting another oz in her. She is currently on a stage 2 nipple I tried stage 3 but it flows too fast for her and she started to gag and choke. She doesn’t arch or pull of the nipple like Alexis did with her reflux, she just doesn’t seem interested in sucking anymore. Sometime I can insert a pacifer let her get a good suck and then switch to the bottle but most of the time she is too smart and realizes it is a bottle and stops and smiles at me. I guess it is just so tiresome I would just love to be able to feed her without bouncing an a larger amount at a time. I should just be happy that she actually eats unlike Alexis. Even when she sleep feeds, it is only 2-3oz as well, Alexis use to sleep feed 6 oz, I’m just wondering if it is her stomach capacity. I also use the pilates ball to bounce her to sleep too, it works wonders, too bad it is not helping me loss this baby weight faster! Alexis’s mom2006-9-1 11:30:39

September 1, 2006 at 12:34 pm #12800

Anonymous
Inactive

Maybe she’s got DGE. Myles’ stomach capacity was very small for a very long time.
That started to improve at the same time he outgrew his reflux. His
doctor felt that he probably did have DGE but that it wasn’t severe
enough to warrant any treatment because he was eating enough to grow
normally. (I definitely agree with her).

How often do you feed her now? Maybe do an experiment and see if wating
longer to feed her would result in her eating a little more at each
feeding. I remember when Liza was a baby I was trying to squeeze 6
feedings into a 12 hour period becuase she was sleeping 12 hours at
night and I didn’t think she’d get enough to eat if I only fed her five
times. Long story short…..her doctor told me to try fewer feedings
and sure enough she ate more at each feeding and got the same amt per
day with 5 feedings as she did with 6. By five or six months she was
down to 4 feedings and some solids.

I hope things get easier soon. I remember how hard it was when feedings
were so frequent and so time consuming. I felt so bad for my older
children but they really are fine, and they have actually grown up and
matured a lot. They adore their little brother, and they have no hard
feelings or resentment whatsoever even though I spent the first 6
months doing nothing but pumping my breasts, feeding Myles, and
cleaning up puke all day.

September 1, 2006 at 10:02 pm #12817

Anonymous
Inactive

I do think she does have DGE but like Myles since she is eating a good amount and growing the MD doesn’t want to put her on any medications. The only one she would be willing to RX is Reglan but there is too many side effects to it and it contains corn syrup which I think Taylor is allergic to. Anyways, I am hoping that when she starts to grow more her stomach capacity will get larger just like Myles. She gets 9 bottles starting at 2am and ending at 10:30pm, I try to wait longer between feeding but end up the same with 2-3oz so unfortunately it doesn’t help. I’m just hoping it is time that she needs to eat less often and a larger amount!

September 2, 2006 at 10:20 am #12834

Anonymous
Inactive

It will come in time. And soon you may be able to spoon feed her some
very thin cereal/formula (so she’s getting more formula than cereal).
Myles has always done very well with spoon feeding and it is much less
time consuming. I’ve been spoon feeding him exclusively since he was 7
months old but was doing some spoon feeding as early as 5 months
because he ate more and fussed less with the spoon. Maybe something for
you to try in the near future.

Good luck. I hope it gets easier soon.
Author

Posts

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.