Baby not eating formula

[Javarat]

72 gram baby female gray
Saturday - Baby appears hydrated... is demanding 4 ml of esbilac every three hours, grumps if she does not get it
Sunday - Baby's appetite is off... eating only 3ml to 2ml. not actively suckling.
Monday - 6am: baby only eats 2ml.. 9am: 1ml... noon and after: baby is refusing formula

I am pushing a little water into her each hour

She pooped a little this morning, and is peeing when stimulated
Only other symptom is that she is grumpy, and has a very visible heart pulse on the side of her face.
Stomach is soft, and looks mostly empty
She is warm to touch (not cool or hot) in bin with heating pad under half of tub
Only drugs I have on hand are gas x, children's benadryl, and cipro.
Have given her one dose of gasx

My current plan is to get a little water in her per hour (up to 1 ml)
massage the tummy and stimulate peeing
and test her with a taste of formula about once per 3 hours.

[Spanky]

The water and Gas X are good ideas I think.

Try experimenting with the temperature of the formula if you have not already. Stimulate before feeding and if she gets fussy during eating, try stimulating and try offering the formula again.

I am sure you would have mentioned it, but it would be good to confirm she is not clicking.

I assume her poo is still momma's poo and not formula. Maybe this is the transitional period and things will improve soon.

Hopefully others will have more ideas / suggestions.

[SammysMom]

You arent reheating formula, correct? Only using a mixed batch for 24 hour, correct?
Sorry if those are obvious things.. have to ask...

[Javarat]

Sammy's mom: Heating only what I use per feeding, hot to finger but not to wrist, throwing leftovers away.

Spanky: Last poop this morning looked like mother's.
Have tried different temps, and also half Esbilac half FV.

No sign of clicking, or problems breathing.

A positive reaction using Fox Valley electrolyte.
I have had to force her to drink 1 ml per hour of water...
...but I tried a second syringe of the FV electrolyte (found it in my cabinet) .. and she actually tried to suckle for half of it, even though she already had 1 ml in her.
So I'm swapping to just the FV electrolyte every hour for next three hours (at least)

If this is still going south around 10am tomorrow, I may call and ask if I can move her into your care for a few days, Spanky.
As you have a lot more skill, and more possibilities of drugs to attempt.
Unfair of me to ask, as I know you are typically slammed.

[Spanky]

If this is still going south around 10am tomorrow, I may call and ask if I can move her into your care for a few days, Spanky.
As you have a lot more skill, and more possibilities of drugs to attempt.
Unfair of me to ask, as I know you are typically slammed.

I would be happy to help however I can... and I will be hoping the FV electrolytes help to get her on the right track!


Edit: Is that the Day One Diastat? I have that on hand (FWIW).

[Javarat]

Edit: Is that the Day One Diastat? I have that on hand (FWIW).
Yes, FV Day 1 Electro Stat

9pm - she actively suckled 1ml of electro stat, and passed a small firm yellow poop (her first in 12 hours).
So that's a good sign she is processing, and not plugged up.

[Mel1959]

Just throwing this out there...I have had babies that did not like Esbilac or Fox Valley formula. Upon Redwuff’s recommendation I switched to the goats milk formula and they liked it. As time went on I gradually added Esbilac in and they seemed to tolerate it.

I’ve also had some that just took awhile to decide they liked formula...period. :grin2

[Javarat]

8 hours of forcing water/electrolyte into her every hour.. and she was suddenly starving.
Conclusion: Dehydration causing nausea.
She is back on schedule, demanding food, and fussing when I cut her off.
Her tummy has filled back out, and she is acting like a normal baby squirrel.
308076

[island rehabber]

The deadly cycle: Dehydration = Loss of Appetite = More Dehydration = Death

You were wise to re-hydrate her until her system kicked back into normal. So glad she is better!! :dance

[Javarat]

This was an odd one, as her skin was NOT tenting on her neck.
Maybe she has unusually tight neck skin.

[TubeDriver]

Good catch on figuring this out. :great Did any of her pops look dried out before you got her hydrated?



This was an odd one, as her skin was NOT tenting on her neck.
Maybe she has unusually tight neck skin.

[Javarat]

No, actually her last poop before totally refusing food was a large quantity and soft, bordering on diarrhea.
Since she has started eating again, she HAS passed a some very dry black poops, and some normal poops.

I don't consider it was a wise move.. it was just one of my desperate moves, to cover all the bases.
I also tossed out the open can of esbilac in case it was the source of the problem (it had been in the freezer for two months), and gave her gasx, and did tummy massages.
I saw no evidence that gave a valid reason to give her other drugs.
I was considering a light dose of children's benadryl, to make her more comfortable.

Also this was MY mistake... in apparently not hydrating her long enough when I initially got her.

If none of this had worked... she was going to be hustled up to Spanky's house this morning.. because he always has more ideas.

[TubeDriver]

I asked because I am trying to get a sense of how much correlation there is between poop appearance and dehydration? Does dehydration = dried looking poops?

It sounds like the answer is not always.



No, actually her last poop before totally refusing food was a large quantity and soft, bordering on diarrhea.
Since she has started eating again, she HAS passed a some very dry black poops, and some normal poops.

I don't consider it was a wise move.. it was just one of my desperate moves, to cover all the bases.
I also tossed out the open can of esbilac in case it was the source of the problem (it had been in the freezer for two months), and gave her gasx, and did tummy massages.
I saw no evidence that gave a valid reason to give her other drugs.
I was considering a light dose of children's benadryl, to make her more comfortable.

Also this was MY mistake... in apparently not hydrating her long enough when I initially got her.

If none of this had worked... she was going to be hustled up to Spanky's house this morning.. because he always has more ideas.