Baby arching back and pulling from bottle - HELP!

[WishUponAStar]

Hi everyone

A few days ago our baby started being awkward whilst feeding from his bottle - he will kind of pull away, arching his back, keeping the teat in his mouth and make a noise somewhere between a grunt and cry. If I take the bottle away he will scream/cry until he has the teat back in his mouth, then suck normally for less than a minute until the whole performance starts again. I've tried winding him after every 1 to 2 ounces but it makes no difference. It's not like this at every feed, but I would say out of the 6 or 7 feeds he has a day, 4 or 5 of them are like this. I BF him in the evenings and if he wakes in the middle of the night, and he has done the same thing whilst BF-ing.

Has anyone else experienced this and offer any advice?

It's so frustrating and he brings up more milk than usual after he eventually finishes the bottle due to all the wriggling around (I assume).

xx

 

[Carrie76]

Ethan used to do this aswell, It turned out to be reflux in our case. I think other things can cause it aswell like trapped wind. Is he showing any other signs of reflux like not being able to lie comfortably on his back for any lenght of time, hiccups or wet burps? xx

 

[WishUponAStar]

Thanks for the reply.

Well, he does actually get hiccups at least twice a day! He had them all the time when I was pregnant too. When he burps after feeding he will almost always bring up some milk too (but not much so I didn't think I should worry about that). As for lying on his back, I haven't noticed an aversion to this from him - he will lie there before / after feeds for quite a while until he's ready to be picked up and cuddled again.

I do try to wind him quite a bit while he has the bottle (unless he's having one of his calm feeds - and then I will wind him once in the middle). He will always have a big burp! Another thing I noticed is that he can be quite windy at the other end too, if you know what I mean.... I find that having him in the bath with me can relieve any trumps he has, and there can be quite a few which must be quite uncomfortable for him. He will also trump when he's struggling with the bottle. I've tried gripe water which my mum suggested.

 

[LittleMadam]

Agree with Carrie. Definitely sounds like reflux. Get a prescription for Gaviscon from your doctor, and if you can, just angle his mattress slightly, say by 15 degrees, so that his upper body is slightly above his feet. This is meant to stop the stomach acids from coming back up.

My LO was very windy too. Lots of winding and gripe water (given direct or with cooled boiled water) helped. I also used Dentinox (like Infacol) in her feeds. I never did figure out why she was/is so windy but I've always suspected it was milk related.

Sounds like you're doing great with the bathes, etc.

Hope he gets better soon.

 

[WishUponAStar]

Agree with Carrie. Definitely sounds like reflux. Get a prescription for Gaviscon from your doctor, and if you can, just angle his mattress slightly, say by 15 degrees, so that his upper body is slightly above his feet. This is meant to stop the stomach acids from coming back up.

My LO was very windy too. Lots of winding and gripe water (given direct or with cooled boiled water) helped. I also used Dentinox (like Infacol) in her feeds. I never did figure out why she was/is so windy but I've always suspected it was milk related.

Sounds like you're doing great with the bathes, etc.

Hope he gets better soon.

Thank you! I will be trying the mattress trick! Do you think it is something that will eventually just go away....?

 

[kerry m]

it does sound like reflux it can be mistaken for colic my Lo has acid reflux shes on infant Gaviscon and small dose of meds its under control and a happy baby.

if you LO has reflux it will improve once your LO is able sits up etc. My son had reflux and went by the time he was 12 months old.

 

[mrsthomas623]

Sounds JUST like Nolan before he was on Zantac for silent reflux. It just makes the stomach acid not as acidic when is goes up and down the throat.