Problems BFing with dummy

[clairepenguin]

My son is 3.5 months old and is breastfed with a bottle for his DF. We started using a dummy when he was a few weeks old as he was showing signs of silent reflux - arching and screaming after feeding. The dummy seemed to really help but it soon became a sleep prop  so I weaned him off it for sleep 2 weeks ago.
The problem is that he is still really wanting to use the dummy when feeding and seems to becoming more obsessed with it. Feeds are often lasting forever with him bobbing off the breast and rooting for the dummy after a few sucks.
He does seem to feed well when hungry and can finish both breasts in 10 mins. I'm feeding him every 3 hours through the day and then he still wants to feed every 3-4 hours through the night too. I feel that he's not really taking in enough milk in the morning and he's choosing to suck on the dummy instead. If I try to limit his dummy then he gets really angry.
Should I just stick with the dummy and NFs the way they are or should I wean him completely off it?
(He's otherwise a good size and can last well in between feeds during the day).

[barbaraz78]

Is it possible that he is starting the transition from 3h feedings to 4h feedings? My DS was about the same age when he started to be distracted during feedings and didn't feed well when I wanted to feed him after 3h or even 3.5 h. For this reason, he was waking up hungry at night, because he didn't feed properly during the day. When I decided to go to 4 h between feeds and it was much better.

[clairepenguin]

I'll give that a go! Thanks a lot

[Shiv52]

Maybe try 3.5 hourly feeds first?  Lots of BF bubs don't handle 4 hourly feeds well until they are 6 months plus and are on solids.

Is the reflux under control? Reflux bubs seem to really be helped sucking a dummy as the sucking helps soothe them.  I wonder if that is still an issue? 

In terms of NFs it wouldn't be unusual to have 2-3 NFs at 3.5 months for a BF bub and there is a huge GS at 4 months so you are probably going to hit that soon so thinking about it I wouldn't mess with your feed timings until you get past that.  4 hourly feeds are generally recommended from 16 weeks and thats even for FF babies. 

How many NFs is he taking?   How is his day looking?   Is there any OT do you think? 

[barbaraz78]

I also think it is better to try 3.5 h for a while, then you can see if he would start to have the same issues again and need to extend more. Anyway, I would keep all transitions slow, extending of 15 mins every few days. The uninterest in feed started for my DS at about 3.5 months and it was linked to the transition for extending feeding times. I was not expecting it, so it took some time for me to realize it. In the end, I understood he was not really hungry because I tried giving him a bottle (after he refused the breast) and he didn't want it.
It was in the same period that my DS started to eat very quickly, it took only 10-15 mins to completely empty both breasts, before it was taking 30 mins or more. I have to add that my LO was a big baby, he was well above the average in weight. I know every LO is different, you have to find what is better for yours.