It is increasingly difficult to feed Darius lately. He’s starting to reject milk which we read from forums, is quite a common problem with babies around 3-4mths.

Starting week 12, he would drink and push the teat away, refuse to drink the milk after only drinking a little. He usually drinks 120ml every 3 hours but with this refusal, he drank only 50-60ml.

He was taking too long to finish too. Around 30 minutes or more each time. (15-20mins is ideal)

He also seemed to have a lot of gas, vomiting a bit of milk out after a burp or after sometime. We were worried that he might not be getting enough to drink.

So our question: Maybe he does not like the teat? The level 2 teat for the latex teat was still too slow for him to suckle, hence he sucks for too long and generated a lot of gas?

So our solution #1: Changed the teat to level 1 silicone teat because the latex was too soft and he would push it out of his mouth.

Changed to level 1 silicone teat on 5th Oct:

The problem still persisted and he drank still too slowly for comfort.

Week of 13th-18th Oct, he started the ‘fountain action’ again (See ‘Updates on Our Tin of Similac Infant‘), spewing milk out after burping which has not happened for sometime ( See also ‘Similac Infant Short Updates’). Sigh. We then noticed that it was because we had just bought a new tin of 30th April batch, the problem batch.

He could drink with the new teat now since he could not push it away but his stomach just couldn’t accept the milk for unknown reason.

Every feed of that batch was a struggle as once I fed Dar, he would either immediately cried or cried after drinking 20ml. He seemed to have a lot of gas only after drinking a little. He was also smart enough to know that he would be uncomfortable later and cried the moment I put him into the position to feed. Dar would also cry if he spilled out milk and I had to feed him water to wash out the taste.

So our question: Maybe it’s the milk powder this time? Maybe the level 1 silicone teat is still too slow for him?

He has been constipating too despite me constantly feeding him water(similac is known to be heaty) as when he moved his bowels on alternate days, it was rather hard.

That’s the ultimatum for us.

So our solution #2 and #3: TIME to change milk powder. No more of that ‘S’ powder….grr. Changed to level 2 silicone teat.

After consulting my mum on what my nephew who was on full formula ate as a baby, we changed his feed to Enfalac A+.

Changed to Enfalac & level 2 silicone teat on 20th Oct:

We saw the change immediately. He no longer ‘merlioned’ after a burp. He started talking more and cooing and ang-gooing after every feed. Instantly he seemed so much happier than before. He no longer constipated, moving his bowels everyday. Even if he does it only on alternate days, it wasn’t hard at all.

Alas, he gasped on the milk with the increased flow from level 2 and they overflowed out of his mouth while feeding. He also still had some gas problems and would refuse to drink anymore after burping.

So our question: Maybe it’s time to change the NUK milk bottle since all the teats doesn’t work for him? He might also need greater volumes now since he’s growing and an upgrade of the bottle is needed.

So our solution #4: Changed to BFree plus bottles (BPA free bottle) with an air vent tubing system.

Changed to BFree Bottle on 23rd Oct:

He finally feeds right til the last drop or last 10ml on certain times and has less gas issues. At least, he doesn’t scrunched up his face only after drinking 20ml wanting to burp or reject feeding right from the beginning.

‘On certain times’, because he still spills out milk ocassionally due to gas, drinking too fast or moving too much.

Have we finally solved the milk problem? Wanted to say ‘Yeah!’ but Nah…

He does talks more with the change in milk powder, ang-gooings and ooh-aahing a lot to stationary and familiar objects after his feeds.

BUT He still rejects the milk at certain feeds after drinking til the 60ml mark. He will be looking here and there and very distracted. We had to coax him with songs, carrying him with one hand and walking around (agony!!!) to drink.

For the past few days, drinking depended on his mood and sometimes he would only finish his feed when he’s going to sleep or in a half-awake state.

Even the carrying him with one hand and songs does not always work. Now the new strategy is to feed him while he’s totally lying down on the mattress. There’s a danger of choking him but he’ll only want to drink that way.

SOoo…it’s back to square one. Feeding is a battling affair when he’s active. After eliminating gas issues and digestion issues, the only thing left is,

• He just doesn’t like the taste of MILK sometimes?
• He just isn’t hungry? (despite having drank only 60ml in 3hrs)
• The milk is rich enough to keep him full, yet watery enough to make him less heaty?
• We fed him too much water before feeds? (feed him every hour a few suckle to prevent heatiness)
• He didn’t pass motion, hence not hungry?
• He’s just trying to torture his parents and drive them to nuts? 0_0

I don’t think it’s time for cereals. At our wits end. Sigh. T^T

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