At this point he was taking half of his normal feeds and numerous visits to health visitors and doctors, saw no improvement. At the time we thought it might be teething (his 2 bottom front teeth have now come through) but it didn’t make sense. If his gums hurt, he’d surely cry at the start of the feed not the middle?

We thought it might be ‘wind’ so tried gripe water and all of the associated liquids, but still no results.

As a final idea, we tried him on a few ’sample’ sachets of alternative formula. He’d been on Aptamil and had really prospered, but it seemed it was time for a change. Almost over night he was back to taking 8floz at bedtime. We tried a few different formulas but it seemed that SMA Gold goes down the best.

Granted, it smells sweeter and might be slightly different in makeup, but the stress of a non-feeding baby, makes it an acceptable trade-off as we’re happier and more relaxed with him as well.

A Tissue!

Further to the Nobbo Virus (I should add that this wasn’t an aversion to Nobo white boards which are the best thing ever), me, the wife and the boy are all under the influence of coughs and colds. The inlaws and the outlaws are also affected which makes Christmas day look like a doctors waiting room at the height of the plague. I’d post more but a 5 month baby with a cold is like nothing I’ve ever witnessed. One minute sweetnesss and light, then the next 5 hours, crying, wingeing and most of all snotting.

Santa help us!

• Lots of biting
• Lots of chewing
• Red cheeks – to add to those already red ones if they have nappy rash!
• Trouble feeding
• Diarrhoea

Our little lad is currently very health and has tracked all of the graphs for weight perfectly, but with an impending health visitor appointment, we’re both concerned that he will have dropped off the curve as all of a sudden he’s started to feed very irregularly. That isn’t to say at strange times, but sometimes he’ll take loads in one sitting, then other times, he’ll pull off and start crying when the bottle passes his lips. This tends to mean that for most of his feeds you’re constantly waiting for the littlest wriggle and then a load of crying. This is immensly frustrating for me and is 4 times worse for his mum who has the majority of the feeds.

So what can be done?

Well, there are lots of suggestions:

• Cold flannels to chew on
• Teething toys
• Rubbing their gums
• Cold drinks/food
• Teething gel – see a doctor first!

But none of these seem to have any effect, which then makes you wonder if he really is teething! We’re fairly sure he is but again, we’re hoping that the health visitor can confirm it (good luck!). So if he is, what do we do?

We’ve found that once he breaks off, there is little chance of getting him to get back on the bottle. He’s definitely hungry and will even attempt drinking out of a cup, although trying to master a new way to drink whilst teething is a job in itself. Distraction can help. Try taking a break for 10 mins. Go and play quietly or read a book. It can make feeding a drawn out process but ultimately it’s about them getting the food they need, even if it’s very trying. Other than that, try and keep yourself sane by talking to other parents who have been through it. Perhaps they have an idea, or can just sympathise.

Finally, if you do find a solution, let other parents know as it might just save them the heartache as well!