My five month old daughter was ill with a virus about four weeks ago, and while she was poorly and ever since I am struggling to get her to feed. Before she was ill she would typically take around 35oz and now I'm lucky if I can get her to take 23-25oz in 24 hours.

I have spoken to my doctor about it and he says that he won't be concerned about her feeding until she has been off her feeds for between eight and ten weeks. He had no advice for what I can do.

When I took her to clinic to be weighed she had gained some weight but had dropped a percentile on her growth chart. The health visitors were quite harsh with me even though I explained that she has been poorly. I asked them what I could do to increase her appetite as she isn't interested in her feeds and they said to just offer her milk every 1-2 hours. This hasn't helped at all. I asked them about starting her on purèes as she is starting to reach for our food when we're eating and they practically branded me an idiot for even suggesting it as I've "got to wait until she's six months).

So I'm completely lost. I don't know what to do. I have a baby that is hungry but won't feed. I've tried different teat flows and different bottles but she's still not interested.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? And if you have what did you do? I'm worried sick and desperately need some help and advice.