What the heck?

[Moogleit]

My DD is 7 months old and just finally started happily taking a bottle of pumped milk. She's been drinking water out of a sippy cup for about a month but there is just too much spillage still for me to put milk in there...it pains me to see that much liquids gold wasted
I started to give her a bottle before bed about 5 days ago now, the first 2 nights she only drank a few ounces and I nursed to top her up and then the last 2 nights she downed the whole bottle happily! I put her in her crib and off to sleep she went. These past 2 nights also happened to be my first nights back working out so about 30 minutes after bed I went out for just over an hour and both nights she woke up 5 minutes after I left and was basically inconsolable until I got home. As soon as i got home both nights the crying started again and the only thing i could do to calm her was breastfeed. She doesn't cry very much so this is unusual. Now I may be posting this on the wrong board but I'm wondering if this may be her way of protesting the bottle at bedtime? Or separation anxiety? Or a combo?
Any noughts would be greatly appreciated!!

[jessmum46]

Gas?  OT at bedtime?  The 30 minute wakeup is usually discomfort or OT here..... I'm assuming its EBM in the bottle so not an issue with a new formula?  Has her routine been ok?

[Moogleit]

She definitely wasn't gassy. OT maybe, we are working towards an increase in A time right now so her naps are a bit wacky. But she's never been the best napped so those days weren't really much different than others. You are correct about the bottle, I pumped so not a formula thing. Her routine hasn't really changed other than we started bathing her before dinner about 10 days ago as we were starting to think the bath was overstimulating right before bed. Well that and the addition of the bottle.

[*Kara*]

SA really gets quite strong around 8 months... she might be a touch early with it??

[*Ali*]

How many ounces did you feed her in the bottle? Could she have been still hungry or uncomfortable from taking too much? BF LOs are better at regulating their intake with the breast as the bottle is so fast they take longer to know if they are full or not.

[Moogleit]

As this week has progressed I'm starting to think that it is SA, she gets upset if I'm out of her sight "too long" and she is whining and reaching for me when she's with Dad. I've kept up the bottle feeding at bedtime and she actually seems to enjoy being able to feed it to herself. She's loves holding it!
She has been drinking about 4 or 5 ounces before bed, this is after her dinner of solids. The nipple we're using is actually a newborn slow flow leftover from failed bottle feeding attempts when she was only a couple of months old. I had a 6mos+ bottle and nipple that I tried and she didn't seem to like it too much, I think the flow is way too fast. She didn't really suck on it, more chewed on it.
I'm just trying to give her lots of independant play time, making sure I talk to her if I'm out of the room and she starts to get upset, playing peekaboo etc in hopes that the SA passes....