4 month old only eating twice a day

My 4 month old dd has recently decided she would only take 40 mls from her 10am and 2 pm bottle then 250mls from her 6pm feed and 120mls from her night feed. Her morning feed is breast.

Ive let it go for a few days assuming that she is just not very hungry but we are now on day 4 and its getting worrying.

Any ideas?? She isnt teething either I thought that might be it yesterday but theres no sign of teeth any time soon.

By the way yesterday was really hot and we have no airconditioning she wouldnt even take a bottle of breastmilk or water she went all day on a total of 60 mls of fluid in over 30 degree heat.

I guess the first thing to look at would be the number of wet nappies. If they seem dry I'd get off to the dr.

are you able to offer the breast between formula feeds through the day? Maybe she's thirsty and formula is a bit too heavy for her? A quick drink at the breast would quench the thirst without having to have a 'meal' as such.

Sorry, don't have any real advice, but I'd definitely keep an eye on those nappies.

I have a very minimal bm supply. I have done everything to get improve it but its just getting worse. It took me 2 weeks to get one bottle of milk.

While I am home I am offering the bottle every half hour and breast if she doesnt take it but yesterday I wasnt home from 10 till 5.30 hence the bottle of ebm. She had child care yesterday and they only offered her the bottle once then didnt bother again even after I told them she didnt drink that morning. They didnt even bother offering the bottle of water that I supplied (GRRRR).

If she's only had 60ml of fluid in a day in hot weather I would personally be inclined to take her to a doctor. Is she lethargic or overly sleepy, or generally not happy?

Also because it is getting up to day four with reduced fluids (and nutrition) I would suggest getting her checked to make sure that she's not dehydrated.

Hope she's OK. :hug:

i would def be taking her to the dr.. that amount of fluid is def not enough for a baby..

In my experience the longer they go the more larthetic they ge tthe less they feed.. they need food to get the energy to feed..

Hope bubs is ok !!

The doctor seems to think she is compensating for the day fluids at night. No fever nothing wrong with her sleeping normally still playful and happy albeit a bit quieter then usual (not crying when tired or waking up, frustrated or bored).

I still dont think it is right that she wont drink during the day. It seems the tireder she gets the more likely she is to drink her bottle. She fell asleep in her bouncer while having her bottle last night but continued to take it. I let her sleep for a little bit bathed her then gave her the rest resulting in a whole bottle drunk plus 20 mls of water plus some mushy banana plus breastmilk.

Today I gave her the bottle at the normal time she only had 30 mls, I waited another hour till her bedtime and she drunk the rest. I am thinking maybe I should change her routine a little so she eats before her sleep rather then when she wakes.

I am happy to keep offering until she takes it, as frustrating as it gets sometimes (changing positions bottles teets warming the bottle cooling the bottle). but Childcare seemed to be toop busy to keep to her routine and because she doesnt cry often she seems to get looked over a bit. I understand there are 14 other children and they always seem to be busy when I pick her up (lucky its only once a week for now but in the next few months it will be 3 times a week) so I havent said anything but we are going to an open day on Saturday so Ill mention something then.

Point is, today I have been quite lucky that she decided to have her bottle before bed previous to today i havent been able to get her to do that. Hopefully this is her way of telling me she needs a bit of a change and feed times arent suiting her. Ill try feeding her before nap times for the next few days and see if this helps.

Well, I'm glad the doctor thinks she is okay.

How long has she been on solids? Introducing solids early can sometimes result in them decreasing the amount of milk they drink. Having said that, what you said about feed times not suiting her rings true, ours have always been feed before sleep girls.

And grrr at the childcare - regardless of how many children they have there, they need to ensure children are hydrated in hot weather. There's no excuses for that. I would definitely be raising it with them.

She has only recently been having a bit of rice or pumpkin and banana for the first time the other day. I dont necessarily give her solds every day, its more just to 'taste' things and its really only when she finishes her bottle and still seems hungry.

I did adjust her feed times and she is doing better now. I also had a talk to the director at the child care centre and she said she would have a talk to DD's room leader.