Switching to formula at 6 weeks and in a complete mess HELP

[Bunnikins]

I finally made the decision to switch to formula feeding on Friday and my health visitor agreed it was for the best. My baby is no longer gaining weight as well as she should be and my other little girl is being slightly neglected as i sit on the couch feeding my baby who fed on demand very very regularly (I was lucky if i got a 2 hour gap). She also suffered terrible colic and cried LOTS and generally very very needy cos of this.

Trouble is shes still feeding on demand like with the BF. Shes having about 1oz at a time and wanting more a bit later. I know formula only has a certain time before it has to be thrown away so i feel im constantly making up bottles.. no idea how much to put in... throwing lots away or rushing off to put a bit more in when she seems to want more.

At the minute im stuck feeding bottles on demand, just as frequently as i was breastfeeding and if anything its LESS convenient cos im STILL not really free to play with my little girl (infact i now have 2 hands taken up, at least with BF i had 1 hand free) and i have the hassle of washing/sterilizing/making up formula.

And the colic is the same, if not worse.

Has anyone sucessfully switched from BF on demand to FF? Please someone tell me this awfulness doesnt last much longer? I have no idea now whether to go back to BF (even though my supply wasnt great before and will be even less after a few days not being used)

Argh what do i do help?

 

[TTCaWee1]

Maybe she is in a growth spurt? I breast feed but supplement with formula bc I don't make enough breast milk. When my DD is in a growth spurt, it doesn't matter whether it's breast milk or formula, she wants a lot of it and often. Does she only do it at a certain time of the day? Maybe she cluster feeds? DD did that a lot in the beginning.

 

[MumMumMum]

I would think that she just needs to break the cycle. If she went a bit longer she might be hungrier, take more milk and then last longer before the next feed.

Does she sleep in the car? Could you take her for a drive shortly before you think she will be hungry again. Then she might sleep through it and wake when you stop and take more milk?

Could she be comfort sucking? Does she have a dummy?

 

[The2mums]

If she has colic a comfort baby formula might help.
It can take babies around 2 weeks to adjust to new milk and of course not all formulas suit every baby my son started on aptimil and it did not agree with him he was fussing and pushing the bottle away only drinking 1-2 oz etc he is now on cow and gate comfort milk and is doing great.
Your little one might be sucking for comfort as well a dummy does help that I have found.

 

[Rosie06]

it could be a couple of things, the teat flow could be too slow for her have you tried the next size teat? Also she could also want to comfort suck maybe try a dummy, ive just switched to FF and sometimes more so if hes getting tired he tries to comfort suck with the bottle but gets frustrated when milk comes out, if igive him a dummy he settles immediatley,

DD had terrible colic and the best thing we bought was Colief drops, its around £11 a bottle but if you try it and it works some drs give it on prescription also we switched to mam bottles too x

 

[Bunnikins]

Thanks for all the advice. I tried the next teat size 2 and she got very angry choking and dribbling everywhere. I then tried variflows and she took them ok but still only drinks very little and often. Yes she does have a dummy I will try using it more often. Rosie i have bought some colief drops tonight, but im finding it difficult as they say to add to a feed 30 mins before, and since im feeding on demand its quite tricky. Is it really important that its 30 mins? Is that to give it time to work or something?
The2mums thats interesting about aptimil as thats exactly what im using. She seems to take the 1-2oz ok and then act as if she doesnt like it and is very fussy. I got it cos of all the clever advertising saying its "close to breastmilk" or whatever. Now i think about it my first little girl never like aptamil when i changed her from BF to FF at 4 mo but i thought that was just cos she was fussy as she was older and was more used to BF than my youngest. Trouble is formula is so expensive to keep trying different types isnt it! And the little bottles of pre made stuff i dont think actually taste like the powder...they certainly look different in texture/colour.

 

[Rosie06]

im a naughty mummy and i make feeds up in advance and store in the fridge (it can be done as long as you do it properly) i done this with DD 3 years ago when i used colief, so i would make the bottles up with freshly boiled water add the colief drops and then rapidly cool them and store in the back of the fridge and then warm up when needed, they are ok to be kept for 24 hours in the fridge, when you first move up a teat size they do generally splutter gag etc for a day or two until they get used to the flow so it could be worth trying them again to see, when aptimal was 1st released they marketed it as the closest to BM but they arent aloud to anymore, not sure if you know already but cow and gate and aptimil are made by the same ppl just a different brand! and more expensive!

 

[Bunnikins]

Ha i dont think thats naughty, just organized! I think once i know how many bottles and amount she has per day il do the exact same.

 

[Rosie06]

another suggestion that might work is, (again what i used to do lol) and do now! i make a spare bottle up with 4oz in then if he finishes a bottle i just pour 2 oz into the one hes just finished and warm it up, i guess you could make bigger one up then just have some bottles ready sterilised and just pour and go warm up until she settles more into a routine saves alot of wastage? x

 

[Bunnikins]

Thats a very good idea, thankyou.

 

[zorak]

I switched from breastfeeding at 4 months and to this day my LO still feeds on demand (he is 9 months now). What I do is pre-boil water and store it in a thermos, I then just mix it with the powder and shake it whenever I need a bottle. It's always the perfect temp and is available in 30 secs. Much less fuss than trying to reheat bottles.

 

[The2mums]

I have found the Tommie tippy perfect prep bottle maker an absolute godsend for formula feeding the perfect bottle in less than 2 minutes. I could not do without it it's not cheap you can get it for around £60 but it's well worth the money. A few friends who are bottle feeding thought that it was a waste of money and did no think that it would be any good but I showed them my machine and they both went out that afternoon and bought one straight away saying they did not no how they coped b4 that.

 

[cruise]

Sorry you are having so much trouble. If you're willing to pay for the convenience, there are formulas that come in liquid form. Some of them can be purchased in bulk online. I buy Gentlease ready-to-feed from Diapers.com.

 

[Bunnikins]

thanks for the advice everyone it has been very helpful. unfortunately its no better and my breastmilk has gone now so im just having to stick with it.

its the colief thats the trouble cos of having to prepare 30 mins in advance (or 4 hours if pre making) its a nightmare really but shes definitely not fitting into any routine. she has 5oz, stops n wont have more then an hour later wants another couple oz and so on.

 

[Wannabe Mommy]

Lexi was drinking an ounce then stopping. I found if I burped her, waited a couple if minutes then offered the bottle again she would drink another ounce. It meant feeding her took ages for a while but she soon got used to having 3 ounces in a sitting meaning a 3 hr break between feeds.

We use the flask method to make up bottles, we have a thermos which we refill about every 6 hrs and a water bottle filled with cooled boiled water in the fridge (good for 24hrs)

For a 3oz bottle use 2oz hot water, add the powder then top up with 1o of cold water and you have a perfect temp bottle in 30 seconds.

 

[cruise]

Also, not sure if the colic is complicating things still, but if there's no medical reason why the baby is a 'snacker' here's what I did to break the LO out of snacking in the very beginning.

At 6 weeks a minimal full meal is probably 2 oz. A snack is anything less than 2 oz. I fed him on demand, but gave him opportunity to snack only once. If he snacked, he was out of luck until the next mealtime (set between 2 to 3 hours after the last full meal). The pediatrician suggested this approach to me, in fact.

Also, you might be mistaking hunger for tiredness. It took me a while to realize that LO screamed the loudest when he's tired. For me, I figured out he was tired when I would walk around & he stopped crying. If he was hungry he continued crying.

For me it was mostly the tiredness that caused the snacking. I was feeding him when in fact he was tired and didn't really want to eat. He doesn't snack anymore.

 

[M2B83]

I really feel for you as was in the exact same boat a few weeks ago!! It defo does get better!
firstly I too am a naughty mummy and make up bottles and keep them in the back of the fridge. I dont do the flask thing as I understand that the water needs to be a certain temp to ensure any bacteria in the milk is killed etc etc so for me making up before and then just taking the edge off the coldness is good for us!
Have you tried infacol?? it took a good 5 days for it to start working and we give him the double dose but its worked wonders!!
when I was BF he was feeding ALL THE TIME! so I feel your pain. at points it was pretty much every 30 mins. he started like that on the bottle soooo I would do anything I could to try and spread out the feeds. we would go for a walk, put music on and have a dance, give him a bath etc. this worked for the first week or so. enough to get some of the feeds more than a couple of hours. he really was a classic grazer and would also comfort suck.
he still cluster feeds a bit first thing and then before he goes to bed but at least I get a good few long stretches too! have you tried to offer cooled boiled water inbetween feeds too as little one could just be thirsty (I found this also).

I wish you luck and hope things get easier for you xx

 

[Bunnikins]

Thanks cruise and M2B.. I was wondering about the tiredness thing cos she does feed to sleep (she did when breastfeeding and still does). I tried to stretch feeds today and did get some 3 hour gaps and some full 5oz bottles drunk happily...then she went crazy at 5ish crying and eating her hands so I fed her and she only took a bit and had bits every so often until bed at 9. Now I feel bad making her go 3 hours between feeds during the day cos she's only had 25oz for the day and shesvsupposed to have 30 according to the can (?)
Hopefully on the right track though. May try cooled boiled water if needed

 

[Rosie06]

dont read too much into what the can says, its only a guide my little boy has way more than what the tub says! (hes a right fatty!) yet my little girl never had what the tub said way way less! x

 

[M2B83]

Totally agree with Rosie! its only a guide line, not exact. some days my little one guzzles loads down and other days not so much! I think the first couple of weeks switching is really hard as both of you getting used to a new way of feeding. little ones tummy will still be getting used to formula and not breast milk. also their little tummy is stretching for the extra feed rather than just feeding when ever they want on the boob!
I'm still kinda feeding on demand and thankfully the feeds are now 3-5 hours apart (depends on time of day). have you tried a dummy? might be a way of seeing if baby is hungry or just wants to comfort suck to get sleepy? I did this with my one and thankfully he has now found his hands so sucks his thumb now rather than demand a bottle just to comfort suck and take no feed!
oh, another thought, maybe baby is going through a growth spurt also?? xx