16 Wk Old Wriggly While Eating

S.,
I have a baby boy that did this same thing and he is now 8 months old. He has bad reflux and the wiggling is due to the reflux. When he was 4 months old he refused baby food and I tried to feed it to him till he was almost 6 months and then I told the doctor. He ordered all these test for swallowing disorders. He was fine, turns out that he has serious texture issues and he is being seen by a feeding therapist. He eats a lot better now. The doctor said there is actually a syndrome that is caused by the reflux. I forget what they call it but it makes the baby want to arch and squirm while eating a bottle. I would let the doctor know what is going on. We had him on Zantac, but we had to switch to Prevacid because the Zantac did not do the trick.

My son is only a few weeks older than your son. He is primarily breastfed but when I do feed him a pumped bottle he does this too. We have discovered that it's gas. Our pediatrcian suggested we give him a dose of Milicon before each bottle and burp him every two ounces. It has definitely helped and he isn't wiggling or spitting up nearly as much. Good luck.

I have a 10 week old who is very active when I nurse her I tell my husband that I don't remember our now 3 year old being like this until she was 8 or 9 months. But if my newborn is not extremly hungrt or sleepy she keeps unlatching and looking around and smiling and kicking her legs and moving her arms she's not fussy just active, she doesn't have reflux so I know it's not pain, now she isn't really arching her back though so that I'm not sure but if he desn't seem to be in pain he probably isn't. That said I notice my daughter is more active when she's not really super hungry so maybe you can try and wait an extra half hour or so maybe he's ready to space out his feedings more. Good luck,

There are several things he could be trying to tell you.
He's pooping
He's gassy
Reflux may be bothering him
Just try to evaluate all of them to see what is causing it.

I have a now 18 mos grandson who also squirmed, arched his backe, just uncomfortable. When he was aith me, I dilutted the forula, and he could hold the lk and rest better. The parents finally listene an changed his formula, which cleard his problem, well not all, we also found out he has allergies and asthma. But otherwise a happy, good baby.

Wiggling could mean that he's gassy or pooping, but it is likely because he is simply active. And who knows, it could actually be a sign of comfort and not discomfort. My LO does the same thing, and has done this since birth. (She did not have reflux) She insisted on wiggling and finding something to do with her hands during feedings. I too worried that she was uncomfortable. Now that she's older (6 mos) she does not wiggle as much any more, but she still uses her hands to stroke her hair during feedings. Now that she's mobile, she is into EVERYTHING. She insist on getting down off of my lap to "get going". Enjoy him being imobile and wiggly while you can because it only gets better!

Hey, I have a 5 month old daughter who does that, and we've have gotten to where we will put her in her bouncer (doesn't acutally bounce, not sure why its called that), and prop her bottle up w/a blanket, and it helps eliminate some of the squirminess, lol. With him having reflux, I think this would be good for him too, b/c he would still be elevated. We don't do it for every feeding, but whenever she gets all squirmy, I will, just b/c I think she prefers it anyways. If thats not an option, or something you don't feel comfortable with, have you tried feeding him in a quiet place, no t.v., or turned down low tv, somewhere with little distractions, and trust me I know this is almost impossible when you have other small children (I have a 2 1/2 yr old son) but maybe try it b/c at 16 weeks they are getting some good control, and are wanting to see everything and everyone, and know whats going on in his surroundings, not wanting to miss anything. So maybe if theres alot of noise, its contributing to this. If your really worried about it, then you can call your ped. but I think its just curiosity!

Hope this helps!
~T.~

Mommy to Noah 10-22-05
Mommy to Bailey 12-21-07