What would you do?

Two of our girls are SUPER hard to feed right now. They both used to be our easiest but now it's a chore to get them to eat. They are both getting around 5oz in each bottle, but as of the last week they won't eat more than a couple oz out of the gate, and then it takes a whole hour to get them to finish the rest. They are 6mos adjusted (approx), their weights have stabilized and are making little gain. They get very uhm...agitated after the initial ounces and I don't want to make a drama of getting them fed but I don't want them to go without either. We're still doing two 'solids' a day (an ounce at most)...so I don't think it's a too much solid thing...Emma had been on reflux meds but we weened her a few weeks ago and was fine...but now this. Abby was never on any meds and for the longest time would guzzle the bottle but now it's an Olympic event to get her to finish.

Ryan & Megan
GGG Born 8/9/10 28 weeks 5 days
Lily Ann 2lbs 12oz. 54 days in NICU
Emma Grace 2lbs 6oz. 55 days in NICU
Abigail Rose 2lbs 7oz. 55 days in NICU
http://thesmithfamilytriplets.blogspot.com/

Oh Mommy I am right there with you. We are 4 mths adjusted (7 mths actual). I called my Ped today and we played phone tag.

I don't think they are ready for solids, but we are going to try. My husband also wants to try moving off the 22 cal formula. They had just started drinking 5-6 oz really well and now they do just 1 or 2 ounces and seem full.

I hate to say it, but our schedule kind of flew out the window. We offer them all milk at the same time still, but it's more of an on demand thing. Sometimes it's after 2 hours sometimes 4.

I hope this stage passes quickly. Also looking forward to more replies. Maybe someone knows the magic trick.

Christina

Daughter born 1/4/09
BBB born 9/9/10 @ 27w 5d
Daughter born 8/14/12
http://schroeters.blogspot.com/

One of our has always been a hard feeder (milk) - we've struggled with her from the start. She's now one year (10 months adjusted) and we're still having "issues".

From the start, she was put on a higher calorie milk -- EBM with neosure fortified to a calorie count of 27 -- she's still on this formulation. Her weights have been good despite her fluctuation in intake. Up until the past 3 months or so, we would work with her, changing positions, patting her bum -- in order to encourage her to take as much milk as possible. Now, we still encourage her however, we have relaxed a bit on how much we try and push her. She often leaves over an ounce - lately 2-3 (but she has a sore throat). We try not to stress about it as long as she is keeping her weight up.

Now we use toys as distractions - she loves to bang a toy on her bottle while she's drinking. She also loves it when we read to her while feeding her milk.

Some other thoughts that I had...have you considered a sore throat or ear ache -- if they've had colds recently, this could be a factor that would affect their interest in sucking - might be too painful. Another thought, is the flow of nipple -- if you're not using a "fast" nipple, you may want to try that now.

hope that helps somewhat!
good luck

Janet
G - 12/07 35 weeks
GGG-04/10 30 weeks

I feel for you. Mine are 9 months old and all went through this phase-some more than once. It can be so frustrating, and feeding-especially for multiples and preemies-is one of the hardest problems to try and solve! You can try a few things, but the only thing that really worked for me was gritting my teeth and praying every day for the "phase" to pass soon! One thing I tried was a faster flow nipple. This helped a lot. Another thing I did was set a time limit and minimum number of oz. for them to feed. For example, after 20-30 minutes, I gave up. I found after that much time, the additional amount they ate was minimal, and my temper was maximum. I also figured out a number of oz. that I felt okay stopping at if they were difficult. For example, if I offered 5-6 and they took at least 3-4, I had to see that as good enough. Really, anything is better than nothing. I actually caused more problems when I tried too hard to "coax" my most difficult feeder to eat more-she started squirming and crying the minute she saw the bottle. I had to learn to let it go...but believe me it was HARD! As long as they are relatively healthy weights-they will be fine. It drove me crazy when people told me this-but I found out it is true-"they'll eat what they want when they want"! Hang in there-this too shall pass!
Trish

BBG triplets
Born 6/20/10
32 weeks 5 days

We are going thru the SAME THING. Seems like our babies are still growing together. We do 7am bottle, 8am cereal, 11am bottle, 12pm fruit/veggie, then 3pm bottle, 7pm bottle. I notice after the solids the babies don't want their bottles nearly as much, especially the 3pm. I would fight them, make them finish, and then they would puke it back up on me. Now I do what a previous poster said. I give them a 30 minute time limit and then they are done. When they start fighting me I give them some breaks and then try again but after the time limit I stop. They seem to be just as happy and are sleeping just as well. I am happier too because I don't get puked on every day!


Melissa
GBB

So funny Melissa...I could have written this post a few weeks ago! How old are your babies? My pediatrician finally gave us the all clear to drop the 3pm bottle...things have been SO much better since. Just curious if that is an option for you? Good luck!
Trish

BBG triplets
Born 6/20/10
32 weeks 5 days

My babies are almost 9 months actual, 6.5 months corrected. They weight between 14.5 - 18 lbs but all show the same behavior. I will ask my pedi about this at our next appointment because soon we are going to add a third solid in the evenings so they will be wanting bottles even less!

I am also going to see if we can stop the NeoSure. My one son is 18 lbs, he is on the growth chart for a full term baby!

We were also in the same boat not to long ago. I have 2 guys that just did not want to eat. I tried all the suggestions many of the other moms did. Nothing really worked until they got hungry. I think I was stressing so much they would end up not eating just because they were reacting to my stress level. Then one day one of the two just started to cry for the bottle and now is eating fine. The other guy is smaller and just can not eat as much as my other guys. The solids are probably not the issue either we tried cutting solids to see if they drank more and it did not work.

If they are on formula your pediatrician may want to fortify. We had a rough 1st year and our boys went through many cycles so don't panic.

Good Luck
Nikki
BBB 4/5/10

What does your pediatrician say? I didn't talk to mine specifically about feeding, but she did mention offhand that between 6-9 months she sees a lot of babies not gain much or even lose weight. I thought that was kind of interesting.

Adele isn't eating very well right now, either. It sounds like a lot of our kids are going through this at this age. Do you think it signals a change in their schedule coming up? Or possibly teething?

I don't have any advice, I'm just interested in reading what everyone else says.

Joey

http://berubebabies.blogspot.com/

Ok this comment was amazing! "after that much time, the additional amount they ate was minimal, and my temper was maximum."

Love it.

I did talk to our Pedi the other day and they weren't very helpful. They said not to change formula because formula tastes bad and if that's it changing won't help. She thinks it just a distractable phase, but said to put a little rice in their last bottle of the day to see it if helps them sleep longer. They wake 1-3 times a night depending.

One of guys, Micah, is CRANKY at night too. I think he might be having teething pain or gas if he's the one to wake up because he is ticked when I get him out of bed. Then he cries and fusses for about 5 minutes before I can get him to eat. If someone else wakes up first and I can feed them quietly without waking Micah I'm not even going to feed him at night. He's just so mad. Only time he gets ticked. Must be like me, I like my sleep.

Good luck to everyone. If you find something that works let us know. I want to try another formula too, just can't decide what to try.

Christina

Daughter born 1/4/09
BBB born 9/9/10 @ 27w 5d
Daughter born 8/14/12
http://schroeters.blogspot.com/

First of all how long after feeding solids do you give formula?

We went through a bit of what you are going through.

Mine were eating 7 oz 4 or 5 times a day when we started solids. We started with cereal in the morning and then added fruit. When they were eating a good amount, we added dinner. After doing well at that meal we added lunch.

When mine started solids they went from 7 oz feedings to 5 oz feedings. My Ped actually said if they are eating 3 meals he likes them to be down to 16-18 oz of formula per day.

I always tried to wait 1-1 1/2 hours after feeding solids to offer a bottle.

this is our schedule and we have been on it since 7 months actual

7 am bottle
8 am solids
11 am bottle
nap
1230 solids
2 pm bottle
nap
430 solids
6 or 630 bottle
7 pm bed

We had at least one of ours waking for a feed and the ped said they didn't need it. I have for a month or so just let them talk or cry a bit and 9 out of 10 times they are back to sleep in 3 or 4 minutes.

Ours also stopped gaining weight as rapid but I guess that is pretty normal.

Good Luck
Lisa/bbg

We do a 1oz solid feed, then the bottle follows about 15 minutes after (clean them up and change their clothes if needed).

I guess for us our concern is that their weight gain has leveled off. They used to be gaining about and 1.5-2.0 ounces over two days...but now it's like 1-2 oz over 4 days (we stopped weighing them at every bath, now we are doing it every other bath). I've also heard that at this age that's normal...but perhaps we are stressing over their weights too much because we were so worried about them when they were born. That's probably pretty typical of most parent here huh?

How/When do we find that balance of worrying about their food intake and just letting them eat what they want and move on?

They LOVE their solids, I think I personally will stop worrying about them when we can give them more volume of more caloric food. Right now they are eating Zucchini (not a lot of calories) and would fill up on it if we let them. Last week was avocados and they couldn't get enough.

I partly wonder for our most difficult girl (who seems to really dislike the bottle) if we should bottle her as much as she'll take and then switch to the solids of a high calorie food and let her eat as much of that as she wants.

Right now they are 15, 14.5l and 13.5 lbs and are a little over 8.5 months actual and about 6 months adjusted.

Ryan & Megan
GGG Born 8/9/10 28 weeks 5 days
Lily Ann 2lbs 12oz. 54 days in NICU
Emma Grace 2lbs 6oz. 55 days in NICU
Abigail Rose 2lbs 7oz. 55 days in NICU
http://thesmithfamilytriplets.blogspot.com/

We had two with reflux. DS presented with the classic fountain projectile vomiting and we got him on meds pretty quickly. DD just started refusing her bottles and really, REALLY fighting us on them. It was awful. DH and I would alternate who fed her because it was so stressful. Are you sure your girls aren't still suffering from reflux? Once we got DD on medication she was better. Not awesome, but better. We also played around with different combinations of all the bottles and nipples we had in the house. She'd seem to prefer one set-up for a few days and then we'd trial-and-error for a few feedings until we found the right combination for the next few days. It was AWFUL.

I completely agree that we parents of preemies probably stress over weight gain and feeding at least a little more than other parents. I personally had a hard time letting go when they'd only eat an ounce or two but my other DD who never had any eating issues would suck down 8-9oz.

Our pedi also recommended the 30 minute limit on feedings. I'm not sure how it affected their eating exactly, but it definitely helped my frame of mind. Of course, if they were eating well at the 30 minute mark, I let them continue, but if they weren't I'd stop fighting them about it. I still stressed out about them not eating as much as I hoped they would, but I wasn't also stressed about the struggle to feed them.

I would go with whatever your pedi recommends for the balance of bottle to solids at this age. Avocados are the highest-fat vegetable, though, so they're a good source for calories. You can also add baby cereal to the purees to sneak in more calories and nutrients.

Mom to GBG born in July 2009 at 30w6d: 3#10oz, 3#12oz, 3#2oz

Just got back from a pedi appt yesterday and had a conversation about all of this with him. He says the following....

He believes in a daily schedule bottles should come before solids. (Bottle first - then offer a solid a bit later) because they are getting a majority of their calories from formula. Solids are an add on, an extra. Don't fill them up on solids first. (I just switched my order of things this morning & it went fine)

My babies are rolling all over the place, being very vocal, sitting in their bumbos and all of this is a lot of work for them. Their weight gain will level off during this time because they are burning more calories learning to live life. He is fine with this, it's normal. As they start to crawl and walk he even expects to see a bit of a weight loss but makes sure that it picks back up again.

They are past the stage of sucking being a instinctual response. Now they know to stop sucking when they don't want more food. He said that I should listen to what they are telling me. Agreed that it's not worth the battle esp if they are going to puke it up or everyone starts dreading feeding times.

Last he told me that I need to relax! Realize that my babies are not nearly as fragile as they were and I should stop looking for the next thing that will go wrong. As long as they are happy, eager to eat things, and sleeping well then they are doing fine in his book.

I guess I will try to do remember all of this moving forward...but it's hard to just accept they are "normal" babies in a lot of ways now, just on the smaller side.

Melissa
GBB

My triplets are almost the exact same age as Joey's. We are 6.5 months actual (5 adj) and I SWEAR this is a stage thing.
I used to stress about feeding time and almost dread it in a way. I loved the person that talked about the amount being min vs temper being high because it is SO TRUE. I would get so frustrated and I'm sure the babies could pick up on that. Next thing you know we would hit a growth spurt and be out of it only to return a few weeks later. It seems like for us 6 months has been a much better "stage". I don't know if it was a combination of things, age, etc but here's what we did.
First we have been off high calorie formula since 4 months. We use Earth's Best and this was after trying a few different ones and the girls love it. We also went from a three hour schedule during the day to a four hour and slowly increased the volume over time to compensate for the oz. We are also on solids and that has helped. All of these things seemed to really work for our girls and we have seen so many vast improvements I can hardly believe it. Our schedule is very similar to a PP's:
7am- Bottle
7:30a-8:30a- Nap
9-9:30am- Solids
11am- Bottle
11:30-12- Nap
12-12:30p- Solids
3pm- Bottle
3:30p-5p- Nap
5:30-6p- Solids (if hungry)
7pm- Bottle
I know we have more solids in than most at this age but our girls started taking full 8.5oz bottles at each of their feeds and wanted more. They are still taking 33oz a day plus all that solids.. If you had told me this would be happening a few months ago I would have laughed.
Also the scale is a curse. I am JUST like you and would weigh the girls at every bath and sometimes in between, I have finally asked my husband to take the scale away because we are on the charts and eating well. I think it's a NICU thing about weight and feedings and a really hard habit to break. I look at it as De-Nicutizing. Weight wise we used to pack on the oz and now seemed to have slowed down quite a bit even though they get A LOT of food. I've really worked hard and have stopped stressing about it and it's SO much better. As long as they are happy, healthy and gaining weight then I'm happy. I think this is a age stage thing as well between 6 and 9 months like someone said. They are so much more active right now it has to be hard to not keep burning the calories off.
As much as it sucks I would just grin and bear it until this stage wears off and I bet that it eventually will. Set a time limit for yourself so you are not sitting there for an hour fighting them. Let one just chill while you feed one or two of the others. I read somewhere that you can throw off their internal full switch by forcing them to eat when they don't want to. I feel your pain and hope things get better REALLY soon!

Erin

http://identicaltripletgirls.blogspot.com/

Erin
http://identicaltripletgirls.blogspot.com/

Avery, Morgan and Tatum
33 Weeks: 3lbs 8oz, 3lbs 11oz, 3lb 13oz

Erin,

Thanks for posting your schedule. My kids seem to want to be on almost the same exact schedule as what you've posted(adjusted for 6-6 vs. 7-7)! This makes me feel so much better!

I have to say I feel a little strange because my pedi took my kids off high calorie formula on their true due date, 2months actual. I didn't realize so many kids were still on it!

I also just added the 3rd solids meal this week and they are loving it.

Joey

http://berubebabies.blogspot.com/

Joey- I read the other thread about solid foods that you wrote and felt a lot better about how much I was offering my trio. Several of my triplet mom friends close in age only do twice a day but I worry their not getting enough taking all full bottles. I follow your blog since we are basically the same age. You weigh a bit more (we are all just over 15lbs) but have from the start. Sounds like ours hit milestones very close. We have yet to see any teeth though.
Now that I think about it, we were off high calorie formula at 3 months actual. My pedi did tell me that she only requires you to be on it until their due date as well. Most of my friends with babies same age or older are STILL on theirs. One will be a year old soon. I just didn't think to ask to change it before that time due to the feeding issues I mentioned in my last post I was trying just about anything to get them to eat more!! Some of them are also still struggling to get on the growth charts actual age and I think that contributes. I know we are in the 25-50% actual for everything so you must be as well!

Erin

http://identicaltripletgirls.blogspot.com/

Erin
http://identicaltripletgirls.blogspot.com/

Avery, Morgan and Tatum
33 Weeks: 3lbs 8oz, 3lbs 11oz, 3lb 13oz