Tips for first formula feed?

[hopefulfor1st]

Jace is only just over 3 weeks old but night feeds are terrible.
I've gotten about 5 hours sleep in 3 days, he vomits up his milk and then screams for more ALL NIGHT.
tonight we are trialling a formula instead at the midnight feed (the one he won't settle after)
Any tips for me to make it a success??

 

[mommy0629]

Well, there's nothing special you need to know other than keep him on a bit of an angle while he eats so he doesn't get too much air from the bottle.

When is he spitting up? Right after he feeds or is it when you lay him down? I'm going to suspect it's when you lay him down since your problem is at night - prop up whatever he sleeps in. So, a basennette - put books under the legs of it at his head, crib - put a pillow under the mattress at his head. Or, let him sleep in something else that keeps him on an incline - swing, bouncy chair, rock n' play etc. Nothing wrong with giving him a feeding of formula, but just want to give you a heads up that I doubt it'll help with the spitting up, it's not any thicker than bm unless it's the kind for excessive spit up.

Also, I would just suggest that you try him on formula for the first time at some point during the day to see how his tummy does with it other than waiting until you're ready to get some sleep, only because it may give him some gas since he's not used to it.

 

[aliss]

Did you see some of our advice about getting him evaluated for infant GERD? I know I've said it before but I will say it again, IF it is GERD, formula is going to make this a lot worse.

That being said, you don't want to do this at night - try it in the day. If the formula upsets his tummy, you probably don't want to deal with it at midnight. Use the bottle at a 45 degree angle.

Good luck, but I do think your son has a medical condition from what you described in your other threads and formula will not fix that. IF it is infant GERD, it can take months, if not years, to resolve if you do not seek out medication.

 

[hopefulfor1st]

Hi ladies, I'm on a diff time zone so got this too late.
Well hubby gave him 2 formula feeds at 1130 and 2 ( I know a bit close but I didn't know) I had 5.5 hours sleep!
Breast feeding now (530 am)
Hubby stayed up with bub and said he slept perfectly and had a 3 hour stretch!
That hasn't happened overnight for over a week!
That being said I'm seeing my HV tomorrow so will ask about his other issues again

 

[hopefulfor1st]

Ps. The same sheets r on his bed too!

 

[Peggy O]

I might have to try this. I need some sleep too! Lily doesn't vomit, she just eats every hour and 1/2 to at the most 2 1/2 day and night. I am HORRIBLE at getting to sleep in that time and have been averaging 3 hours total per night for almost a month, it's rough. I am considering ff at night. We have been bf ing since she got out of the nicu a day after she was born, but she did have some formula for almost two days while we got the hang of bf ing.