Feeding FAQ: 4-6 months – Formula Feeding

At nearly 5-months-old my son is beginning to refuse milk feeds

I have two problems. My first concerns feeding. My son of almost 5 months is refusing his 7am bottle. He’s not crying, but is turning his head in all directions and pushing the teat out with his tongue. He just doesn’t seem hungry. I persist, but he still doesn’t drink. I’ve stopped his 10pm feed, cause I thought that this would make him more hungry, but that hasn’t made a difference. He has also started refusing his 2.30pm feed, but for this feed he starts crying and arches his back. Then when I take the bottle away he still continues crying unless I stand up and distract him. If I persist with this feed he eventually drinks. I thought that it could be cause he’s teething, but even if I rub teething gel on before, he still cries. I’m so worried that he might lose weight. He eats his 11am feed and 6pm feed fine. I’m following the complete guide to weaning, so I don’t know what the problem could be.
At present he takes: 7am 180ml, 11am 210ml, 2.30pm 180ml, 6.20pm 240ml. He also has juice at 8.30am 25mls, 1pm 10mls and 3.30pm 50mls. At lunch he has 2 tsp rice cereal with 1 cube turnip and at tea he has 5tsp rice cereal and 2 cubes veg or fruit. He weighs 8kg.
My second problem is that my mother-in-law looks after him in the morning because I work, and since I finish work at 1pm I let her put him down at 11.30am so that he can have an hour and half sleep before I fetch him. When I start pushing his 11am feed later in the day, how can I change the routine, so that I can still collect him at 1pm and spend quality time with him when I’m not at work, without causing a problem? At present he sleeps 9-9.45am, 11.30-1pm, 4-4.30pm and settles at 7pm.

The amount of milk your son is taking satisfies the recommended minimum amount of 600mls needed by a baby of his age who is being weaned. As he appears happy and well then, he may be beginning to cut back a little on his milk now that solids have been introduced. He is also receiving milk from the rice cereal he is having twice a day which is added to the daily total.

When he first wakes, let him have a little play and kick before feeding him, perhaps waiting another 20 minutes so you are feeding him nearer to 7.30am. You may find that he is hungrier by then. As babies get older they are not so ravenous for their milk when they first wake as they are when very young.

This later milk may begin to have the effect of him beginning to cut back a little on his 11am milk. As more solids are introduced in the next month, you will begin to use the “tier” method, which means he is offered about two thirds of his milk then solids, then the rest of his milk. He will gradually cut back on this feed making way for the introduction of protein in the sixth month. At present he is having a larger bottle at 11am, followed by solids, then a small drink of juice at 1pm which means he is not so hungry at 2.30pm. This feed is often smaller than the others until the 11am is dropped in the sixth month. Again, try offering it slightly later, perhaps 2.45pm and see if he takes it a little better.

Juggling your son’s sleeping and feeding times may take a bit of thought. Already he is only sleeping 2hrs 45 minutes in the day and it would be unwise to cut back on this much more for a few months. Once he becomes more mobile by rolling and crawling, he will probably need a longish sleep of about 2hrs in the middle of the day to avoid getting over-tired. By six months he may have pushed his morning nap forward and therefore his lunchtime nap will be pushed later, usually about 12.30pm. If he is given a slightly longer morning nap, he may get to 1pm and then have his nap once collected from his grandmother’s, or you may have to wait until 2pm to collect him if you find he is unable to get to 1pm without becoming over-tired. Balancing your needs with those of your son, is all part of parenting. It is probably better to have a well rested baby for the rest of the afternoon than one who is overtired and cranky. It is difficult to predict how he will adapt if you try to juggle his sleeps; it may be a case of trial and error and finding what suits all of you best.