Justin had his last bottle at 9 o'clock last night so you would think he'd be starving when he woke up this morning. But he just barely took the 1 oz bottle with his meds and only took 1/2 oz of the remaining 2 oz bottle. And I had to revert back to the tricks used when he first started nippling in the NICU (rubbing his cheeks, holding his chin) just to get him to take that last 1/2 oz.
I just don't get it, for his weight he should be taking in somewhere between 14 and 18 ozs /day. On average he's only been taking in 11 ozs for the past week and it's been a struggle to get him to eat. He gets really fussy and starts crying at the top of his lungs so I thought his reflux was getting worse. We took him to the doctor on Halloween and they took x-rays to check his digestive tract, checked for thrush, and drew blood to check for infection. But nothing was found so the only thing they could think of was that because he's getting my frozen breast milk he could be reacting to something that I ate and recommended using infant gas drops. That has helped in terms of the fussiness but he still doesn't eat much. He is growing, slowly, so I guess that's all that matters, but it just doesn't seem right.
I seem to remember that Justin's weight gain was more when he wasn't on breastmilk. The formula probably is sweeter and agrees with his taste buds more.
ReplyDeleteAnika, yes, at one point they stopped giving him breastmilk but they reintroduced it prior to his first discharge and initially he did well with it. But when we got him home he began to choke and gag on it so I started mixing the formula with the breastmilk so he's getting both. It's been tough trying to find something that works.
ReplyDeleteI was just gonna say that. He probably doesn't like the breast milk - ESPECIALLY since it's been frozen. Yeah - Breast milk is better - but he'll drink more formula. Perhaps you can mix the two. Oh - but I see that you do mix the two. Maybe the breast milk has the frozen freezer taste that some food gets. Maybe it's just not a good idea anymore.
ReplyDeleteBabies are fickle eaters too.
Has your pediatrician thought about colic? Although Zoey really didn't have it (we found out later), the doctor suggested Similac Alimentum. It's used for colic and fussiness. It is expensive and comes in one sized can.
ReplyDeleteJustin, remember our manta: "Grow, Grow, Grow!"
ReplyDelete