Hi Hetal,
You have helped me earlier and i need it once more. My daughter is going to be 4 months old soon. She bites her fingers and drools a lot,i guess they are signs of teething. But what bothers me that she doesnt have my milk for more than 5 - 10 mins when she is awake. I started her on formula around a month back. She is fed on bottle as long as i am at work, that comes to around 3 times. Her intake from bottle varies, some times she has around 150 ml and sometimes as less as 30 ml. When i reach home in the evening and feed her, she has my milk only for 5 - 10 mins and then turns her face away. If i try to force her, she starts crying. She sucks her thumb a lot, drools and bites her finger and today i saw her doing something new, she was trying to suck her lower lip..from within....what shoud i do? Please advice. Hetal replied. thanks meenakshi for putting your case in notice,,yes its the same case.

drooling, lip sucking,,all are prilimnry signs of teethng and gums gettng ready to push the teeths/bones upward direction,,,baby feels itchng and so drools..droolng helps thr teethg process bearable..about droolng,
check the post below :
http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1776&table_name=dis_healthissues
about thumb sucking, baby sucks thumbs when:1.hungry,try feedng him 2.axty due to exposure to excited environment,3.teethng, reduce his itchng feel...
check your baby gums,,if swollen,reddsh or hard that you can feel the bones inside,,it means he is teethg,,and put some soothing gel or orajel(in US), or give him some small rim teethers to soothe himself whenever, he sucks thumbs,drools, or bites finger,,it will soothe him and will not make it a habit !
trying to suck his lower lip,means his lips are gettng dried up, try feeding him or offer water a couple tsp,,it will help him avoid that,,also some babies do that just to practice thr lip movemnts and tongue muscles,,give him something to chew on, or a toy,,or else he will make it a habit !
good luck meenakshi replied. Typo correction.

\" What i have done: I shall try my best to BREAST feed for 2 more months.\"
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If it continuous further, i shall let it go. Meenakshi replied. I put up same question few days back to Hetal.
I m working person, 5m baby, bottle feed when i am away and facing similar probs when i bf.
You can refer to my message at

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?table_name=dis_milestones&messageid=1096

I saw one more relevant message today, with a great reply from Hetal. I think it was asked by Sania/sowdha. Pasting that link

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?table_name=dis_breastfeeding&messageid=1305

Regarding sucking thumb/drooling/lower lip sucking, Hetal wd be right person to answer.

My baby just puts fingers in mouth but that is normal.

What i have done: I shall try my best to bottle feed for 2 more months. When i go home, i give BF, let her feed as much as she wants. Then, if i am not tired, i offer her semisolid/formula with bowl and spoon. At night i again try to bf as much as she wants (she is quite tired and sleepy by this time, so feeds well as she sleeps). If she doesnt, i offer bottle.

Mornings - same things. Offer bf, whatever she takes, fine. Else bottle.

Weekends i hv time. So i offer bf only. Apart rfom this i give her semisolids and formula with bowl and spoon. Weekends make her forget bottle a little and she suckles well on the breast.

This is what happening with my, my friend. Shall try my best to give her bf.

Good luck to u.
meena