5 month old fussy eating

[babalicious]

my five month old daughter has started being really fussy with her feeds, she was taking 6-7oz 5 times a day. i started her on a couple of spoons of solids at her 11am feed, she was doing well then she started to get the run so i stopped soilds for a week and started again. i cant really remember when she start to be fussy but she starts off well, after a couple of oz she starts crying and refuses to take it, so we leave her for a few minute then try again and she will take a few more sucks then crys again. she has been doing this now for a few weeks. any suggestions?

[redcrx]

ok, firsty Id leave the solids for a while, current guidelines are 6 months, so if you can try and hold off that may help. Unless of course your HV has suggested starting early due to her weight

the bottle problems may be because shes getting confused with food and bottles. She could also be frustrated if she is struggling to get the milk out of the bottle. Have you tried a larger teat size, such as a variflow?

[babalicious]

yes she was on a no. 3 teat and was worse so put her back to a no. 2 and seems a little better! she also has started with a dry cough and is sneezing!

[redcrx]

has the cough and sneezing been going a few weeks too?
if so then perhaps a vist to GP will help.

[babalicious]

No, the coughing and sneezing has only started the last couple of days!

[Tallulah!]

Might not be ready for solids yet.
Are you sieving your home cooked food or using a moulie?
That might be more tasty.

[feebal]

My baby started doing this at about 3 months, she's 9 months now. We never really found a solution and had to give her bottle in fits and starts to get the milk into her. She's a bit better now she's getting bigger. The only thing we found that helps is to give her something to hold while she's drinking. Either the bottle lid or her dummy work best and she just taps them against the side of the bottle, keeps her entertained. Not sure if she suddenly just found drinking her bottle boring and wanted to be doing something!

The HV didn't offer any good advice and just said we should give her little and often if she only wanted a couple of oz at a time... Fine in theory but I was spending the whole day just feeding her on and off - v impractical!

Hope you get it sorted :-)

[Physicsgirl]

My (now 7 month old) did the same - suggestions were teething (the suction makes the pains worse), reflux (she was arching her back and trying to sit up), or generally being too interested in other stuff to feed properly.
In the end I found that I had to either take her to a quiet room with no distractions, or turn my face away when she started fussing. Both of these worked - I think she was taking on enough milk to stop the immediate hunger then wanting to look around for the next diversion.
Other than that (providing there is no immediate medical concern, of course), just keep repeating "it's just a phase" which is what I seem to be doing all the time!
Good luck!