Hi there, i was in exactly the same boat as you, when Caleb was 3 months old we used to force feed him as well, holding his head so he wouldnt squirm away from it and putting the bottle into his mouth.... this led to a feeding aversion, i eventually went to the hospital because he was only taking 100mls per day. it turned out he had a suspected Milk Protein Intolerance and poorly treated reflux, these were causing him pain with eating and then we were forcing him to eat which made him ill so he associated the bottle with pain.
what we did was this: we offered him his bottle, thats it, just offered it, if he took it then fine, if he didnt then we just said "its ok, you dont have to drink it" it was tough for a bit, we ended up getting his formula changed and that made a huge difference because it wasnt hurting his tummy anymore but we still had to deal with the feeding aversion.
If you suspect there is a reason for him not eating as much then you should mention it to the dr (mind you the amount of times i was brushed off was ridiculous!)
as long as he isnt dehydrated, isnt losing weight then i think just be gentle with him for a little while as he gets used to taking the bottle gently.
and dont be too harsh on yourself, i was the same way, i basically sobbed my heart out when i realised what i had done, but its nothing that cant be fixed and these little ones have short memories, in a months time he wont even remember it!
please let me know how you get on
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