7mth old unsettled 1hr after a bottle

[missyb]

Hi, I am just after a bit of advice. I have a couple of questions so please bear with me.

Ds is just 7mths and has been fully ff’d since 5.5mths.  just after he turned 6mths I started weaning him onto the step 2 formula as he was starving all the time, and was just drinking SOOO much so thought that the heavier ceasin (sp) step2 formula would full him up a bit more and for a bit longer.  Which is seems to have done, and he has now been on it fully for about 2.5weeks.

BUT he is now getting very unsettled an hour after a milk feed.  I can almost set a clock to it. Initially I thought it was because he was unwell as at the time he had an ear infection but that has now cleared up and he is still doing it.

He does easily settle if he is distracted or has cuddles or his dummy. But remains a little unsettled for about 30min or so.  If I offer him solids he will happily eat them (he LOVES food) but it doesn’t really settle him.  And I have been a little reluctant to offer too much solids until I figure out what this unsettledness is about as I feel that I might just be impacting on the problem.

I also thought about wind but he burps like a trooper and is on the move so don’t think that is the issue.

He also has silent reflux that he is medicated for.  He has had a recent increase in his dose and the unsettledness is not like he usually is when his reflux is bothering him.  The only thing that dose make me think reflux is that he is addicted to his dummy at the moment, but again I am not convinced.

He will have anywhere between 200 and 250mls each bottle and feeds between 4 and 5hrly (another thing that I want to ask about).

I have also noticed that his poos have turned green.  They are like a pale green moussey like colour.  The consistency changes a bit but nothing unusual but they are always green. There is nothing solid wise that he has had that I can think of that would make his poos green.  When do you become worried about green poos? 

So is a change in formula worth a go?? He is currently on a “gold” formula so could either try the regular one, a different brand or going back to the step1 formula. 

Also since starting solids he has stretched his feeds out to more like 4.5-5hrly. Which is fine but we do tend to get in a bit of pickle at the end of the day trying to fit everything in.  So at what age do they drop down to 3 bottles??

For what it is worth our EASY goes

7 wake and bottle
8 solids
10-12 nap
12 wake and bottle
1pm solids
3-4.30 nap
4.30 wake and bottle
5.30ish solids
6.30 bottle
7pm bed

He still has a night feed anywhere between 1 and 3am, which I know he doesn’t need as he is getting heaps during the day, but at the moment it is easier for me just to feed him and get him settled quickly than battle trying to resettle him other ways.  But I am in the process of cutting down how much he is given at this feed.

I find myself kind of restricting his solids a bit so that he doesn’t push his next milk feed out too much.

I am not sure if he is over feeding and that is the cause of the unsettledness.  He finishes a 200ml bottle, whinges when it is has finished, but I give him his dummy and we have a nappy change and a 5-10min break before I offer him an extra 60mls, which 9/10 times he also finishes.

I stopped all solids for a few days to see if it helped but it didn’t and he just seemed more hungry and drank more.

Sorry, I know that this is a bit disjointed and probably doesn’t make sense but I am just a bit unsure what to do but I just want the little boy that I describe as the happiest baby in the world back.

[Lolly]

It could be the change in formula, the 6month+ tend to have more iron in them which could be what's causing the green poo. I would change him back to the formula he was on if he seemed better on that one. We switched DS back to the first formula as the second stage didn't agree with him.

If he is draining bottles I would add the extra you are giving into the bottle at each feed really and you could probalby increase his solids a bit too if he is hungry for them. If you find that increasing the solids reduces the milk then drop them back a bit. That said, if he's taking around 250ml (8oz) a bottle he is getting more than enough milk over 24 hours. The average amount with solids is 24-32oz (720 - 960ml) so he's not going to suffer too much if he has more solids and his milk drops a little bit. Most babies drop to 3 milk feeds around 9/10 months so I would keep things as they are for now to be honest. Your routine looks fine.

What meds is he on for the reflux, what's the dose and what is his weight?

Laura

[missyb]

Thanks for the reply Laura, I actually posted the other day but for some reason my post has dissappeared-no worries though.

I think I will take your advice and up the solids and swap back to the step1 formula.  He is getting heaps of milk so you are right in the fact that if his intake drops off a little it isn't going to hurt him

he is on 20mg of Losec for his reflux, 15mg in the morning and 5mg at night. I think it is working well and this unsettledness is not like his usual reflux type upsetness.  He is almost 9kg, so is on the 75th percentile for his weight, but that said he is on the 90th for his height, so while he is big he isn't too big IUKWIM.  It is a vast cry from the little 6lber that he was when he was born.  Seems like I bread them small then spend the next wee while fattening them up as DS1 was exactly the same.

Thanks again for you help.

[*Kara*]

We switched DS back to the first formula as the second stage didn't agree with him.

Same here   DD and the step 2 formula were not good friends at all.