Why is my baby drinking less milk?

The number went down and you noticed

You measured it, wrote it down and saw less than yesterday. Of course your mind went straight to: is something wrong?

Often, a baby is simply distracted, teething, getting over a cold or becoming more interested in solids. Sometimes feeds also get shorter because they have become quicker at drinking.

Look at the baby, not one bottle

One smaller feed does not tell you much. The whole day, wet nappies, energy and weight over time give you a clearer picture.

A quiet, dim room helped when Ari suddenly found everything more interesting than milk. We also checked the teat flow. Too slow can make a feed tiring; too fast can make it overwhelming.

Offer, pause and try again later

We found that pushing usually made everyone more upset. Offering calmly, then stopping and trying again later, took some of the pressure out of it.

A sudden bottle refusal can also be about the bottle itself. That happened to us, but it belongs in the bottle-refusal guide rather than being squeezed into this one.

If wet nappies drop, your baby is hard to wake, or they are refusing almost everything, speak quickly to your baby’s doctor or nurse.