Author Topic: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing  (Read 2036 times)

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Offline pooperman

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5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« on: September 21, 2011, 18:29:47 pm »
Hi there,

My son is 5 months old and has been breast-feeding almost exclusively until we started trying to give him a regular bottle (once a day) about 2 weeks ago. We figured based on his weight and number of feeds per day he should be expected to go through 180-220ml per feed.

Typically he will start off keen and quickly go through ~50ml. Then he starts to fuss, arching, pulling his chin down, spitting out the teat and crying. Long attempts to burp him, whether they yield a burp or not, don't seem to make a difference. Distraction and trying again and again will usually see him manage to take a total of about 120ml with a lot of effort. If you do something distracting, e.g. play peek-a-boo or have a suck on the bottle yourself he finds this great fun, stops crying and reaches for the bottle. As it approaches however, he starts the fuss again. None of this happens if he has a breast-feed instead.

The whole experience will usually see him wound up and grumpy and as his wash and bed time ritual progresses he gets more inconsolable until only a breastfeed will see him settle down.

Any advice appreciated.

With thanks
F

PS: our EASY for reference, our goal is:
Morning
7:00 E
9:00~9:30 wind down, S (1.5h)
10:30 wake up, eliminate
11:00 E (bit of rice porridge and breast feed)
Afternoon
12:00-12:30 wind down, S (2h)
2:30 wake up, eliminate
3:00 E
5:00-6:00 nap (37 minutes)
6:00-6:30 wake up, eliminate
6:30 E (bottle)
7:00 A (wash)
7:30 E (final cluster feed - breast)
8:00 S
11:00 E (dream feed)

This doesn't always go to plan with the following commonly happening:
Morning
~3-4am wakes up and needs to be resettled.
5:30 wakes, doesn't go back to sleep
7:00 E
8:00-8:30 wind down, S (1.5h)
11:00 E (bit of rice porridge and breast feed)
Afternoon
12:00-12:30 wind down, S (sometimes wakes at 37min, doesn't go back to sleep)
might squeeze in another 37min nap
3:00 E
~5:30 S (37min nap)
6:30 E (bottle, fusses)
7:00 A (wash)
7:30 E (final cluster feed - breast)
8:00 S
11:00 E (dream feed)

However, the bottle feeding problem described also seems to occur when the EASY routine goes fine.

Offline Lolly

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Re: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2011, 18:35:23 pm »
What are you giving him in the bottle? Is it formula or EBM? Are  you warming it? What flow teat are you using? Is this how he has been from the first bottle or has it got worse recently?

Sorry for all the questions but the more info we have the better!

Laura


Offline pooperman

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Re: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2011, 20:07:42 pm »
Hi Laura, thanks for responding.

It's expressed breast milk, warmed.

The teat we've had the most luck with is a silicone wide neck Nuk. The only identifiers on it are "M" and #14? I'm guessing it's size 1, medium flow maybe. We changed to that from one which was impossibly slow - a "Tommee Tippee" #1. Have also tried the Nuk narrow neck and latex, with which he seemed to dislike the taste experience immediately. He's a very wriggly guy, so attempts at using a cup haven't gone so well.

His very first bottle was at a few weeks old and it went very well, however subsequent bottles didn't. Every now and then there'd be a successful one. We've only been aware that it's a persistent problem every time now since we've been persevering every day lately.

Thanks
« Last Edit: September 21, 2011, 20:10:13 pm by pooperman »

Offline Lolly

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Re: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2011, 20:16:10 pm »
Maybe it's the time of day, if it's always an evening bottle you do he could just be too tired after the day to be bothered with a bottle. Have you tried giving him a bottle earlier on in the day? Even if that's not ideal it may be worth trying to see if he will get used to it more easily when he's fresher and then switch it back to the evening.

Laura


Offline pooperman

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Re: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2011, 20:21:33 pm »
That had occurred to us and we've tried at the 11am and 3pm feeds. It goes a bit better but he still starts fussing before reaching 100ml, with similar behaviour. Maybe a good idea to persist with that for a while (although it means I can't do it because I'm at work unfortunately).
« Last Edit: September 21, 2011, 20:23:57 pm by pooperman »

Offline Lolly

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Re: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2011, 20:38:51 pm »
It may actually be better for you not to do it, he knows you have the nicer option so he may take it more easily from someone else!

Have a look at this link too if you haven't already seen it! http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=178500.0

Laura


Offline pooperman

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Re: 5 month-old bottle feeding fussing
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2011, 06:19:21 am »
Hi Laura. Actually I'm the guy - it's my wife who has both options :) Thanks for the link.