Struggling to feed my 18wk old - help!!!!

[gioella]

We've been giving my LO exclusively Pumped BM. Lately, it has been a struggle to feed him. After an ounce or so, he would start squirming or crying or thrusting out his tongue, sometimes even blowing raspberries. We would switch position, change location, make funny faces etc to try to get him to drink his milk. This would work but only for a short time. He was previously still on a level 1 nipple by born free so we thought maybe it was too slow for him so we are currently transitioning him to a level 2 but even with that, it still is a struggle. It takes about 45mins at least for him to finish his bottle. He just had his 4th month growth spurt so we increased his milk to 6oz per meal, 6x a day. Heis back to sleeping through the night after about 2nights of waking up hungry for a NF. But im really at a loss as to why it is becoming more and more difficult to feed him. He does finish the 6oz so at least we are ok in that aspect. Is this usual? Is it going to pass? Any thoughts? Thanks!

[Lolly]

How often are you feeding him? If he is still on a 3 hour EASY then I would stretch him out to a 3.5/4 hour EASY, his A times should be up for it by now too.

If he is taking 45 mins to finish a feed that will be having an impact to - a bottle feed should be done with by about 20 mins or they don't get enough time between feeds to get properly hungry so they don't take as much at the next feed and the cycle continues.

I would start fresh in the morning, give him his first feed and stop it at 20 mins however much he has taken then carry on with A and S and hold him out for at least 3.5 hours, 4 if you can and he should take a bigger feed faster because he will be hungrier. When he starts taing bigger feeds you may need to feed him more because he will be having less bottles.

Does he have any digestive issues like reflux?

Laura

[gioella]

Hi Lolly!

We are currently transitioning and slowly lenghtening our routine. He was on 3hr 30m, and today we move tom3hr 40min. We are adjusting by increments of 10mins. These struggles are usually just during his daytime feeds. We dont have mich issue on his top up feed and dream feed. He just eats straight and would only cry if we takeout the bottle to give him a breather or to burp him. He does have a fair amount of spit-up when buping but i dont think he has reflux though. He has good weight gain. He was 15lbs on our 4th month visit to his doctor. What would be the signs that suggest reflux or other digestive issues? Thanks!

[Lolly]

Keep stretching the feeds then and don't let them go on for as long as you have been.

Here is a link to the signs and symptoms of reflux http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0

Laura

[gioella]

Lolly, when you say not to let the feeds go on Lon, do you mean that after 20mins, just to stop altogether? What if he still acts hungry? He just had his 4th month growth spurt and we had to increase his milk intake which seemed to have help coz he is back to sleeping through the night. My worry is if we stop at 20,pins and he hasn't had enough yet, he'll start waking up again for a nf.

[Lolly]

It's up to you really - the trouble with letting bottle feeds go on for longer than 20/30 mins is that they start snacking which means they don't learn to take better feeds. A baby shouldn't take longer than about 20 mins to finish a feed from birth really. I know mine would suck down full bottles in less than 10 mins . If you think about a breast fed baby, in the early days feeds can take up to 1 hour but by the time they are a few months old most will be finishing a feed in less than 30 mins, many in less than 15 and a bottle feed is a lot easier work then a breast feed!

The way to stop the snacking is to cut the feed off and hold them for as long as you can until the next feed (hopefully the full 3.5-4 hours) and they should take more at the next feed because they will be properly hungry. The can take a bit less in the first couple of feeds but if you persist they will take bigger feeds.

HTH!
Laura