Our twins have, just recently stopped feeding well on either formula or expressed breast milk – they have been having approx 190ml at a sitting but over the last few days they have been feeding well till about 100ml then playing/spitting out etc. We can normally get them to have about 130/150ml after lots of work and lots of dribbling.

I am sure they are still too young to start introducing solids as they were born at 37 weeks and can barely hold their heads up yet. But it seems odd that all of a sudden they don't want as much food – they are still having 5 feeds a day as they were before, they are just having less at each sitting.

If it had just been formula I would have considered trying another brand, but they are doing it on EBM too.

Mrs M_F seeing the health visitor about it today, but I am sure there will be good advice on here too…..

Don't worry about it. Some days my kids don't stop eating, other days they won't touch a thing. They're bigger than yours are now, but it was the same then. (Furthermore, my son started having solids at ten weeks. It was the only way to get him to sleep for any length of time the greedy little pig.)

I'd just use their body weight as a measure of whether they're feeding well or not. Even babies seem to go through 'spurts' of eating/growing more quickly and then back off for a bit.

Health visitor is the best to advise obviously but if they're feeding and stopping voluntarily and without distress then there's probably not much wrong.

and without distress

That is something I forgot to add – Izzi will get to the 100ml mark and has taken to screaming (to such an extent yesterday she wouldn't take any more at one feed). We think that may be wind, but it is a new thing – just sudden and really distressed screaming. At her late feed last night she did it at 100ml but I settled her (just a little burp) and she took another 40ml.

Last week we were considering upping the 190ml as it didn't seem enough!

I appreciate they will go through stages but I would have thought that meant they don't increase their feed if they are not in the middle of a growth spurt, not drop it by 25%.

You haven't left any heat mags nearby? Maybe they have noticed that their bum is getting bigger.
Mrs Muggo says,
It could be one or a combination of many things. Speak to your health visitor next time they are weighed. In the mean time you could try spacing the feeds out a bit more.

may have finished a growth spurt and just not be as hungry now, if they are hungry I'm sure they will let you know.

In the mean time you could try spacing the feeds out a bit more.

But as far as I understand it, this will mean they won't gain the weight at the correct rate (more time between feeds should be in conjunction with larger feeds)?

We went through something similar with our daughter. At the time Mrs AB and I were really concerned but he advice was if they are hungry enough they will eat.

Obviously you don't need to be told to stick with BM as much as possible and ideally 100%.

I can't speak for the 37 week issue which is posibly a strongly related issue, but it's commonly known that the body mass charts used in the UK are up the creek, and are dominated by unnatural records of fat kids boosted over the years by too much formula milk. Supposedly the charts are going to be revised downwards in light of more modern thinking, and the normal growth rate on BM.

don't get too hung up on ml and bmi. TRHjnr would only take enough to satisfy his hunger and then refuse to take anymore. If they're still smiling and giggling then they're probably fine. They'll feed more when the next growth spurt comes along.

I have no idea how much ours had, or how often. An advantage to breast feeding on demand.

Don't stress it – sometimes kids eat more or less.

slightly unhelpful reply from M_C I think. I'm not even going to enter a debate over BM vs formula; nor the question of relationships with childhood obesity and the like.

To answer M_F's point. Don't stress at this point over the qtys, the most telling part for me would be that they are both 'off' their food at the same time which would indicate to me that they are both fine (on the basis that it'd be unlikely they both contract some eating disorder simultaneously). As long as they remain healthy and continue to gain weight, they'll be fine. In a few more days you'll be shovelling it into them like billy-o.

On the question of Izzi's screaming – we all get wind sometimes. Could be many things, maybe her suck has got strong enough that she's pulling in more air and getting more bloated, for example.

As for the switch to solids. It's not a single great leap to steak and pies; to start with it'll be runny pastes of a bit of powdery rice or cereal in wth the milk. I think the 37 week issue is a bit of a red herring, on the continent where folks aren't as anal about the due date as we are they consider anywhere from 37-42 weeks as 'normal' and being twins too, I wouldn't class them as premature.

All the above is from a Dad of 2, not an expert, so speak to the health visitor before making wholesale changes, but above all don't fret.

"I have no idea how much ours had, or how often"

I learnt to sleep through the whole process too 🙂

If food's available, and they're otherwise normal (ie not ill, listless…) they won't starve. Don't sweat it, and ask the health visitor / your doctor the next time you seem him/her.

The age at which you should wean your babies as both our started about that age and were also small(had to see specialists) though not early.

Both ours were under the [average]line but were fine when compared with height etc (both parents are small /skinny types though). Statistically nearly a third (32%) of kids will be under or overweight based on that chart so no real point taking any notice of it unless dangerously so or they are not putting on weight IMHO.
One health visitor told us to give our eldest lumps of butter to get his weight up to the right bit in her chart …. we ignored that advice.
As other say they are unlikely to try and starve themselves just to annoy you. Our children still vary how much they eat on an apparently random basis. Wait till they are older and wont eat tea as they are not hungry and then ask for pudding!

I think the 37 week issue is a bit of a red herring, on the continent where folks aren't as anal about the due date as we are they consider anywhere from 37-42 weeks as 'normal' and being twins too, I wouldn't class them as premature.

Yeah, the due date is a total guess based on most likely conception time and assuming a standard length pregnancy is normal for you. I think the system in Oz is much better, where they're just told a rough estimate ("late October") rather than a date.

My daughter was always in the bottom 20% of the chart but always followed the line of the graph and gained weight consistently so we weren't worried.

She's now 8 and still in the bottom 20% for weight but about average for height. We've reached the conclusion she's just naturally skinny. But then so am I so it's not a major shock.

MF, with respect, are you and your Mrs looking for problems?

You were on her looking at monitors here last week?

I know it can be hard and My Mrs worried about every little thing with our first, she went through some real panic attacks, but settled down in the end.

Try if possible to chill out a bit, nothing worse than stressed parents 😉

Anyway, it won't be long I can promise you, you will be worrying about what boys they are bringing home 😉

all the best ski

My daughter was always in the bottom 20% of the chart but always followed the line of the graph and gained weight consistently so we weren't worried.

Mine were always the same; bottom of graph for weight and and top of graph for height – eldest has just turned 6 and is in age 7/8 clothes.

Could be teething, that starts quite a while before you see any teeth, they get grumpy, dribble lots, feed less, and start to chew things rather than suck them, their cheeks go red………..and their poop goes funny.

Look forward to that one

Are they sicky babies, our daughter was, after much internet searching / health professional interrogation we tracked it down to reflux where some of the milk comes back up into the throat, we used to have big problems with that on occaision. Seem to remember giving her something called infacol ? The screaming thing made me wonder if it might be that.

Growth spurt suggestion is also a good one.

We also found ironically that she didn't feed so well if the flow rate was too low on the teat, think she used to get bored. Sorry for being a bit vague, it's been five years and her brother has never been a problem with feeding, complete opposite in fact.

One of my friend was weighing her son every week and having panick attacks if he wasn't putting on weight at the same rate every week. Said boy was happy, smiley and healthy looking. NUTS!

I only weighed my son when he went to compulsory visits. Now, he's 1.5 year old and i have no idea how much he weighs. He was breastfed, never thought about quantities.

Absolutely no point in worrying as long as they look healthy and behave normally. They will go through phases and you won't know why.

With your kids, obviously you want to be on the ball if something is wrong but there's no point in making up problems.

Also, I'm not suggesting that you don't talk to the doctor or health visitor but without wanting to be disrespectful, i always found them utterly useless with their advice. To be blunt, I think they don't have a clue.

Also, I'm not suggesting that you don't talk to the doctor or health visitor but without wanting to be disrespectful, i always found them utterly useless with their advice. To be blunt, I think they don't have a clue.

Midwifery (and health visiting) always seemed, to me, to be a weird mix of old wives tales and up-to-the-minute science.

I wouldn't have been at all surprised if a midwife had hung a wedding ring on a bit of thread over the bump to try to predict the sex of the baby.

I think the system in Oz is much better, where they're just told a rough estimate ("late October") rather than a date.

My sister's not long had a baby in Oz, she was given a date, as were her friends who were also expecting.

My sister's not long had a baby in Oz, she was given a date, as were her friends who were also expecting.

Oh well, whatever country where they just give a rough idea then 🙂

"Midwifery (and health visiting) always seemed, to me, to be a weird mix of old wives tales and up-to-the-minute science."

Ha ha. 🙂 We also had a laugh when the (hugely obese) health visitor at 4 months looked at her chart and advised us to feed our daughter more carbohydrates!

Obviously you don't need to be told to stick with BM as much as possible and ideally 100%.

As twins it really became difficult to feed them on BM alone – they get as much breast /EBM as possible but it is supplemented by formula, especially on evening feeds so they sleep well.

MF, with respect, are you and your Mrs looking for problems?

You were on her looking at monitors here last week?
That will be because we have two newborns and they are our first – we have lots of questions as it is all new to us. Generally I can get good advice on here so I thought I would open the question to you all. I honestly don't think we are looking for problems and we are generally quite relaxed about their care (with perhaps a little over-zealousness from my wife).

You will have a nervous breakdown if you ask on here every time something doesn't go according to the textbook!

Relax, your kids won't sleep through every night, they will sometimes leave their dinner.

Just wait until they are having fights, under age sex and taking drugs

You will have a nervous breakdown if you ask on here every time something doesn't go according to the textbook!

Probably because of the minority of unhelpful responses 😉

Look I was pretty critical of the breathing alarm question but to be fair this question is pretty sensible.

MF, I know what you mean, it was bad enough for us with our first and we only had the one. Good advice or at least a point in the right direction can be very helpful. As alluded to above the official help was very hit or miss. We are quite lucky in the that one of our neighbours is a midwife and another is a nurse, both of whom know their stuff and are quite down to earth. I suppose if you are going to ask for advice on here (and alot seems pretty good judging from my own experiences) just expect to be given lots of conflicting advice, filter out the stuff that doesn't float your boat and ignore it, take the rest in and adapt it to your circumstances.

Why not ask the doctor? He's probably more qualified to comment than us lot.

Growth spurt over.

Only worry about feeding if they stop gaining weight. Seriously. They aren't machines, they're people with all the whims and fickle behaviour that comes with it 🙂

And stop changing their clothes every 5 minutes! 😉

Have you got a copy of 'what to expect, the first year' ?

Every single query we had about our kids was answered by that book – can't remember the authors though, sorry.

And the 'what to expect, the toddler years' is equally good, looking into the future… 🙂

Why not ask the doctor? He's probably more qualified to comment than us lot.

That was covered in the OP…

And the health visitor gave us lots of unhelpful and conflicting advice. Pretty much like here then 😉

Seriously – they said it is probably them wanting to move to solids but it might not be and anyway they wouldn't advise going to solids anyway because it is actually probably teething but it isn't because some of the signs aren't there so it must be the end of a growth spurt. And they are paid to give this advice!!!

Last night though… Izzi had half her bottle and then went mental screaming again. Wouldn't have another drop or settle in my arms so I just put her to bed and she fell straight asleep. It is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle enveloped in a mystery.

It is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle enveloped in a mystery.

And in that one sentence, my friend, you have cracked the basis of parenting small children. No-one, least of all the experts, actually knows what's going on. They might have slightly better ideas what to try next, but that's about it.

Perhaps I should write a (very short) book on it 😉

Our twins were exactly the same, sometimes they just wouldn't take that much milk, even now at seven months they go through phases, as long as they are happy and putting on weight I wouldn't worry.