Anyone else got a baby that (bottle) feeds with difficulty?

[ramblinhaggis]

Fraser is 6 weeks old now and I know this is around the some reflux can become apparent. I am seriously hoping its not that, as my first was a silent reflux baby.

Over the last week, fraser has gone from happily draining a 6 ounce bottle in around 45 minutes, to taking three ounces then coming off the bottle and squirming and crying. I then wind him and nine times out of ten, he brings up burps. But regardless of how long a break I give him, as soon as I offer him the bottle again, he takes it eagerly but almost immediately turns red in the face and starts fidgetting and making choking noises.

He was on avent bottles but for the first time ever, I changed bottle (never done that with my other three) and bought doctor browns natural flow ones. He has infacol but I also decided to try gripe water. I fed him just now and there is improvement, he took 3 ounce, burped and then took another two, still squirming and going red in the face....but within 30 minutes, not the hour and half it has been taking me to feed him recently. I know he needs to take more than 3 ounce at a feed, because if not he wakes up on his naps hungry, whereas before this started, he was very settled and sleeping well.

I dont know if its the dreaded reflux, wind (i doubt this as when he sits up and stops feeding he is fine, i can also lay him down fine, which makes me think its not reflux either) or if the feeding is making him strain and its hurting him, but something has gone very wrong somewhere, I miss my contented baby whom used to love his bottles and drink them so well.

 

[mummytobe]

Sounds like my LO, although drs dnt wana do anything to help her. Infact ive just fed her 3oz (only that as she screamed the house down) and am STILL in tears myself !!
My Lo can lay flat too and this is why drs say its not reflux and therefore refuses to help. If your LO isnt bringing up burps easy then it could be wind. Sorry i havent really got any advice but just wanted you to know i have a baby too that doesnt feed very well for the same reasons. You can go to your dr but i found HVs to be better as i have one who is trying everything for me and currently on lactose free formula which isnt helping. Your LO may not have whatever my LO has but hey thought id let you know... your not alone xx

 

[Eala]

What teat size are you using? The number 1 teats do tend to be *very* slow, and some babies can get tired trying to get the milk out. So they stop feeding, but are still hungry, so are very grumpy.

 

[ramblinhaggis]

The teat size that came with the dr browns area size one, suitable up until 3 months apparently. I am more experienced with avent bottles and had moved fraser up to size two teats on the avent, which is where things seemed to go wrong. I then went back to teat size 1 on avent and for a while things were much better again...then he started falling asleep mid feed with the effort to get the milk out, so I moved back to size two again and since then things have gotton worse and worse with his feeding. Its almost like the size two is too fast for him but the size 1 is too slow.

He seemed quite happy with the teat size of the dr brown one, no milk on the chin, nothing...til after the inital 3 ounces.

From watching him, it is really like he is straining to do a poo. However he is not constipated, goes regularly once a morning. Or its like he is trying to pass wind from his bottom. Its like the suckling stimulates him to start straining.

I dont know. My eldest was just the same and it was reflux, the only thing that was different is she hated being laid down, he doesnt. I have some infant gaviscon in the house, but I am so loathe to try it, without feeling certain, because it can make babes constipated etc etc.

I dont think its the formula either as he was fine, right up to about 4 -5 weeks.

 

[ramblinhaggis]

mummytobe....

are you giving your daughter infacol? I am thinking this may be frasers problem. I have been searching about the net and I notice quite a few people say that once they began giving their baby infacol, they began to stop burping so much...and passing wind through the bottom a lot more. Now thinking back, this is exactly what fraser has been doing. In fact just the other night i commented to dh about how farty fraser had become. I think this is why he is getting so distressed on the bottle and so I am going to cut it right out, and see how he gets on.

 

[mummytobe]

I dnt give her infacol anymore but when this started i was already giving infacol as she did have a lot of trapped wind i stopped the infacol at about 3 months when she was bringing up her burps easily. Ive had a HV whos watched one of her feeds and agrees it doesnt look like wind, her teats are fine, its not reflux and shes stumped but bless her shes really trying to figure this one out. Thanks for the tip anyways, unfortunately for us it made no diff, but i hope it works with your LO... its times like this i wish they could talk. good luck with it, i hope its really works. If not and you feel you need to chat just PM me... 4 months of screaming through a bottle and i know sometimes you just need to let it out lol xx

 

[2bananas]

Hey.

I had this problem with Belle from around 2 weeks old - and it lasted until about 4 months.

Gp and hv said it was trapped wind........ didnt matter how much i winded her, bottle feeding was a complete battle. bright red squirming baby at every feed - it was a nightmare, then one day it just sort of stopped. but she was always pretty fussy with a bottle after that but all the squirming stopped.

i dont know what to suggest. the one thing that did let us get a couple of extra ounces into her was if we stood up to feed her and swayed gently from side to side - but even then this didnt always work.

even worse - xander has started doing the same thing with his top ups!

hope it doesn't last long for you and Fraser settles down with it. x

 

[2bananas]

ps - im not using infacol x

 

[New2Bumps]

Ethan has trapped wind and a bit of colic and won't take more than 4oz at a time so he wakes up more often. We stopped infacol and tried Dentinox which is much much much more effective for us. We burp every ounce and he burps right away usually with this, whereas with the Infacol he doesn't. We also swapped to Dr Browns and they're great aren't they. He latches much better. I think Ethan got wind a lot through a poor latch on the teat. He's on size2. I think the Dr Bs size 2s are a bit slower than the TT ones so maybe it's the same comparison with the Avent? Try a Dr Browns 2.

 

[ramblinhaggis]

Hey.

I had this problem with Belle from around 2 weeks old - and it lasted until about 4 months.

Gp and hv said it was trapped wind........ didnt matter how much i winded her, bottle feeding was a complete battle. bright red squirming baby at every feed - it was a nightmare, then one day it just sort of stopped. but she was always pretty fussy with a bottle after that but all the squirming stopped.

i dont know what to suggest. the one thing that did let us get a couple of extra ounces into her was if we stood up to feed her and swayed gently from side to side - but even then this didnt always work.

even worse - xander has started doing the same thing with his top ups!

hope it doesn't last long for you and Fraser settles down with it. x

Thanks hun, sounds exactly the same, thats how we manage to get a wee bit more into fraser, by walking with him when feeding the last couple.

The Dr Brown bottle does seem a lot better for him than the avent ones, I will see how he goes over the next day or two, as he has only had one feed on the bottles, before going up to size two, but I will keep it in mind for sure. He just woke up on his nap crying, I picked him up and popped the dummy in...straight away a load of bottom burps. He then got tired again and I put him back down. I think with fraser wind is definitely the problem and from the bottom end. I think anyways. Its so hard to know for sure.

 

[PineappleHead]

sounds like it might be reflux. Zander is nearly 6 weeks and we suffered from the same thing since about 2 weeks. He's gotten better now as we switched his formula to a sensitive brand. We also recently found out he's lactose intolerant so he has a rice based formula instead of milk.
Another thing to consider (just thought of this after I'd said it was reflux) he may not like the taste of the formula you're using anymore. Zander's doctor explained to us that babies are changing so much and they get bored with tastes the same that we do. Is there another brand you can try to see if it's the taste?
Hope this helps.

 

[loopdido]

mirren was the same, at around 3-4 weeks she started going red, stiff and screaming and not wanting to finish bottles! she was also bringing up milk though - so i know she has reflux. But i also read up on lactose intolerance and milk protein allergies/sensitivity. If the lactose in the formula cannot be digested it can produced hydrogen gas in the stomach/intestines and cause painful wind etc. My docs were not willing to prescribe lactose free formula without it being proved by a horrible test - so I ordered so cow and gate infasoy from my tesco pharmacy and after the first fe feeds on it we noticed a difference and after a week it was like we had a new baby! she drained the whole bottle contended and sat up after, brought up burps straight away, and I hardly ever hear/feel her fart tbh! lol. She still brings up milk, but in a happy way if you know what I mean she smiles with milk coming out of her mouth!

i'm not saying that's your babies problem, but just to let you know what my experience was.