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What Causes Poor Feeding In Infants?
Question: Hello, I am reaching out to you about my twins (girls), they are 3.5 months old. One of them has reduced the milk consumption by 50%, she drinks only 300ml of milk per day. This has been happening for almost a week now.
She is very cranky whenever we make an attempt to feed her, she has not been on mother's milk since the beginning, we are feeding her Lactogen.
We initially thought it could be due to colic and started to give colic drops once every few hours (up to three times a day) but this has not helped much and we are worried about her losing weight.
We have tried different ways of feeding but she just won't accept milk, this is only observed for the past one-week. Can you please advice.
We have observed the following:
1. She does not show signs of fever, cough or cold
2. We don't see any UTI symptoms since she does not struggle while passing urine or stools
3. She is playing fine when she is not forced to have milk but does show signs of low activity.
Thanks.
She is very cranky whenever we make an attempt to feed her, she has not been on mother's milk since the beginning, we are feeding her Lactogen.
We initially thought it could be due to colic and started to give colic drops once every few hours (up to three times a day) but this has not helped much and we are worried about her losing weight.
We have tried different ways of feeding but she just won't accept milk, this is only observed for the past one-week. Can you please advice.
We have observed the following:
1. She does not show signs of fever, cough or cold
2. We don't see any UTI symptoms since she does not struggle while passing urine or stools
3. She is playing fine when she is not forced to have milk but does show signs of low activity.
Thanks.
Brief Answer:
I would suggest you that don't get overly worried
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thanks for the query
Usually the decreased feeding in a baby is due to some illness.But as you have mentioned that the baby is active,playful and does not have any symptoms suggestive of illness these causes are very unlikely.
The decreased feeding in a well baby can be due to pain aggravated by feeding.This can be abdominal colic,oral thrush or cold sore in mouth.You have already tried colic drops.I would suggest you to examine her mouth for any thrush or sore.
If there is no thrush or sore I would like to know if there is any recent change in your routine.
Does this decreased feeding led to decrease urination also.
If she is passing urine at least 4-6 times a day, I won't get overly worried.
Don't get anxious.Just keep trying.Try feeding in a quite,dark room without any distraction.
Sometimes due to changes in surrounding environment or mood swing which can cause transient decrease in feeding.
This should become normal within few days.
If you notice any abnormal behaviour or the poor feeding persists for longer duration consult a pediatrician for clinical evaluation.
I shall be glad to answer if you have any more query.
Regards
I would suggest you that don't get overly worried
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thanks for the query
Usually the decreased feeding in a baby is due to some illness.But as you have mentioned that the baby is active,playful and does not have any symptoms suggestive of illness these causes are very unlikely.
The decreased feeding in a well baby can be due to pain aggravated by feeding.This can be abdominal colic,oral thrush or cold sore in mouth.You have already tried colic drops.I would suggest you to examine her mouth for any thrush or sore.
If there is no thrush or sore I would like to know if there is any recent change in your routine.
Does this decreased feeding led to decrease urination also.
If she is passing urine at least 4-6 times a day, I won't get overly worried.
Don't get anxious.Just keep trying.Try feeding in a quite,dark room without any distraction.
Sometimes due to changes in surrounding environment or mood swing which can cause transient decrease in feeding.
This should become normal within few days.
If you notice any abnormal behaviour or the poor feeding persists for longer duration consult a pediatrician for clinical evaluation.
I shall be glad to answer if you have any more query.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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