Bottle fed baby getting bored

PerfectPeaches

Hi all,

Basically the title says it all really!

My daughter is now 3 and a half months old and has been bottle fed from birth (long story about why she is as I did want to breasfeed) she now weighs just under 9lb, she was little at birth (5lb 11oz) but has gained weight well every week and has a weekly visit from the health visitor to see how she is doing. She is healthy, content and happy and is generally as good as gold.

My issue is she seems to get bored with her bottle. She seems to loose interest after she has had about 2/3 of the bottle but still seems to be hungry but just isn't interested in her bottle.

Now I am a first time mother so I don't have anything to compare this to and just want to know whether any other mothers have experienced this and what they did. My HV wasn't particuarly helpful and just said "babies do that" and quickly moved onto something else.

Any replies would be very appreciated.

Peaches

Mice_Elf

How do you mean "bored"? Does she become distracted by something, stop sucking & just nibble at the teat, pull off & refuse to latch back on or something else?

Is the milk too thick so that she has to work too hard & becomes tired? Is the teat the correct size for her age? The teats have more holes for the older they are, so that they can get more out. You probably know this already!

DueMarch11

Was going to ask about the teat thing, I found that DD got tired from having to suck too hard to get the milk out, went up a teat size and she started taking more.........could this be it? x

horse76

In what way is she 'bored' with the bottle or loosing interest? Does she push the bottle away or play about with it in her mouth instead of sucking? Or is she crying/ screaming when refusing more milk?

We've had similar issues with our son. Around the 3 and half month stage he start screaming really high pitched, and refuse his milk after about half the bottle. He was only taking around 3-4 oz each feed, when I reckon he should have been on around 6oz. We knew he was still hungry, but just kept refusing to finish his bottle, then would cry an hour later wanting fed again. We tried everything from distracting him, to letting him fall asleep for 5 minutes to try again when he was more relaxed and calm. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

H.v wasn't too worried as he was somehow putting on enough weight. I was convinced he had Reflux, but without actually being sick - but our H.V thought he might just be 'bored' with the brand of milk we were using and to try a different one. We never changed, as I wasn't keen on that idea due to having a couple of tubs of formula left and he is very close to weaning too.

He's 5 months now, still has a mess around with his milk at least once a day - just stops and has a giggle while pushing his bottle out his mouth, but we've managed to get him consistently taking 6oz now for the last couple of weeks, with only a little less on usually one of his feeds.

I really sympathise with you, it is so frustrating and worrying. Hope you get it resolved soon. x

horse76

DueMarch11 wrote: »

Was going to ask about the teat thing, I found that DD got tired from having to suck too hard to get the milk out, went up a teat size and she started taking more.........could this be it? x

Forgot to mention that we tried this too, but didn't seem to be the problem with our ds as he still kept screaming, but maybe could for you if you haven't already tried it.

PerfectPeaches

Thanks for your replies so far, it is really nice to know I am not the only one with this problem.

She doesn't get distracted fortunately but she does wiggle the teat around her mouth. She will refuse it and push it out her mouth and at other times she just won't take it at all and will prefer to suck on her bib (she isn't teething as of yet).

We are using a medium flow teat so I am thinking of using a fast flow teat just on a trial run to see if she is any different.

She is on Aptimil 1 but not the Hungry Baby version as I am not quite convinced in giving her a thicker feed.

She currently has 5oz bottles which at times she will finish with no problem whatsoever but more and more she is messing around with it - hopefully the faster flow teat will work as she will be fuller quicker.

She is putting weight on well so I guess I shouldnt worry so much but I do!

emsywoo123

PerfectPeaches wrote: »

Thanks for your replies so far, it is really nice to know I am not the only one with this problem.

She doesn't get distracted fortunately but she does wiggle the teat around her mouth. She will refuse it and push it out her mouth and at other times she just won't take it at all and will prefer to suck on her bib (she isn't teething as of yet).

We are using a medium flow teat so I am thinking of using a fast flow teat just on a trial run to see if she is any different.

She is on Aptimil 1 but not the Hungry Baby version as I am not quite convinced in giving her a thicker feed.

She currently has 5oz bottles which at times she will finish with no problem whatsoever but more and more she is messing around with it - hopefully the faster flow teat will work as she will be fuller quicker.

She is putting weight on well so I guess I shouldnt worry so much but I do!

My DS is 11 weeks old today, and is also FF.

He takes approx 7oz at each feed....but does get "bored" sometimes so it seems, but will happily suck/chew on the muslin cloth/his hand/my knuckle/just about anything!!

He is still only on size 1 teat, SMA gold (not hungry baby either)

How often does she feed? does she take bottles better at night?

Mice_Elf

It's so easy to worry, but babies won't starve themselves. I went through a horrid time with my daughter when she was only a couple of weeks old. She latched on constantly, with mini-breaks of around 20 minutes to nap. She once went 10 hours without sleeping at all, just crying & feeding. I was tired & couldn't see an end to this. HV & indeed everyone else told me to give her formula, but I refused as I wanted to feed her myself & after a couple more days, I worked out it was MY diet that was causing the issue. I just wasn't eating. My daughter was feeding, but receiving no nutrition. I have photos from that age & my bowl of (healthy!) breakfast cereal is still there at half 4 in the afternoon. I started eating & she became happy again. She would allow herself to be put down, would sleep for over an hour & was finally content. Worst week or so of my time with her. First babies are always a bit of a "what do I do NOW?" situation.

I realise that this isn't your issue, but if your daughter *is* feeding & putting on weight, then there isn't too much cause for concern.

Definitely try the fast-flow teat. Is the milk in the correct proportion with the water? I'll be honest here & say I don't know how to prepare formula milk, but I've seen friends add the powder into the water & know that it's easy to not get the right mix.

Hope things improve soon.

PerfectPeaches

Thanks for your reply emsywoo - she sleeps from 9pm to 8am straight through, she stopped wanting a feed around 11pm about 3 weeks ago, she just wasnt interested and would fall asleep after about 20mls so the HV just said to leave this feed and amazingly slept through the first night and has done ever since, we dont hear a peep from her.

Mice_Elf - I have now ordered the larger holed teats from NUK and hopefully this will do the trick as I know she wants the milk but she may be getting too tired with the sucking which did cross my mind originally!

Worrying is just so easy especially when she is still little for her age (not even on the percentile) and I just want to make sure she gets everything she needs but as you say she will soon tell me when she is hungry which she does very well!

Peaches xx

LJM

she sounds like she is doing well, i agree with changing the teat over and it is normal as a first time mum to worry a little

mum2twinsx2

teat changes are good....
I also watched on supernanny when they start messing to tap the end bottle with your finger and it they concentrate on your finger tapping and naturally suck.
It works for me x