Some bottle q'uns from a newbie

[nike]

Hi there.  I am new to this site but already I have received great advice over on the EASY forum, so hoping to replicate that here

My DS2 is 14 weeks old, 9 weeks corrected due to prematurity.  At 10 weeks I weaned him onto formula due to health/medical reasons (his and mine).  I am still wracked by mother guilt since I fed DS1 for 9 months!  Anyhow, to cut a long story short, I'm new to this whole formula/bottle thing and we seem to be having some "teething" troubles.  DS seems to have trouble starting the bottle.  He'll cough, splutter, wheeze, draw a huge breath and almost stop breathing.  I immediately have to sit him up and give him a little whack on the back to get him going again.  When I was (.)(.) feeding I thought it was due to my fast letdown but I'm obviously wrong about that in hindsight.  It seems from that point on that he is almost afraid of the bottle and it takes me a while to calm him down and distract him, often with the dummy, till I can get him to take it in his mouth again.  If I start to lie him back down into the crook of my arm and he's not ready, he'll start squirming and start to get really upset   Some feeds are better than others, especially the night feeds which are very relaxed and calm.  We have no trouble at all, really, only the occasional cough or splutter.  I have read the thread on dysplagia and am thinking of chatting with the doc re. this one, especially since he was premmie and that may possibly be a cause.  Or do you think it's possible he's just adjusting to the newness of bottle feeding?  I should also mention that we are using Avent bottles and previously I was using the Pigeone peristaltic teats, the 3 month ones.  When this all started I thought they might have been too fast for him and switched back to the Avent #2 teats but it doesn't seem to be making much difference.  It is very frustrating and it takes about 45 minutes to get 100 ml into him if I'm lucky.  When we do get going, I'm almost scared to take the teat out of his mouth to break for burping because often he will refuse to resume feeding again.  He seems to get his burps up really well, though.

I should add that he's been on Zantac for silent reflux since 8 weeks of age, which has helped to some degree, although now I don't know if he really has it at all or if there is some other underlying problem   Any thoughts or do I just have a fussy feeder?

[donna_issabella]

When i started reading your post, i thought of dysphagia too. Did he have the same spluttering episodes whilst breastfeeding? Was he consistently doing this, except whilst drowsy?

I would have a chat with my GP if I were you. Have you read through the dysphagia post? Might also be helpful to post there and ask help/advice.

Here is the link to that post.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=18509.0

Good luck!

DI

PS: Might be useful to PM Nancy - Luke-n-me - as she is a speechtherapist and might have a better grasp on it as her LO had dysphagia.

[nike]

Thank you so much DI.  I have just copied and pasted my post over there.  I have access to a speech therapist through the Early Intervention programe run by Community Health, since my LO was prem.  I will most certainly make an appointment with them and also go back to our GP to discuss the dysphagia with him. 

[clarapist]

Hi there--  read your post. I posted like mad in dysphagia when DS was having similar issues.  Have you tried different kinds of nipples?  DS has always done well with Dr. Brown's. Soothie makes a bottle/nipple now-- not sure if available in UK. I didn't switch him from Level 1 to level 2 until about 3 months old and ONLY b/c I started thickening his feeds. Do you have access to Simply Thick in the UK?  It helped for us I'm not sure if he ever did have dysphagia-- the doc and Speech Therapist were pretty sure it was reflux, and I never pushed for a swallow study b/c he was having NO problems gaining weight. I know how frustrating it is to be feeding and wondering how this feeding will go. Feeding is supposed to be a bonding time, and it's so hard when both mom and baby are upset! 

Jill

[nike]

Hi Jill.  Thanks for your suggestions re. changing the teat.  I'm an Aussie, so I'm not aware of the brands you mentioned, but I have had a bit of success with trying the Avent #3 teat again.  I've also had some success with letting him have a bit of a suck on the dummy before a feed (and if he gets a bit upset during it) and while I'm cradling him in the feeding position.  It's almost like a "trial run" for taking the bottle teat  

I have had a bit of a breakthrough, actually.  I've had HUGE success with changing arms half way during a feed and after a burp.  Amazing, really.  I discovered this one day only by chance when my left arm (usual feeding position) was getting really sore, so I changed to the right arm and he gobbled up the rest of the bottle....go figure!  I've since been told that you should change arms when bottle feeding, just as you would when changing sides with breastfeeding.  Doh!  I had no idea   Everything I've pored over in relation to bottle feeding hasn't mentioned this at all!

Anyway, things aren't as bad as they were.  I guess he just took some transitioning from the breast.  I never did take him back to the GP because things dramatically improved, but he is due for his 16 week vaccinations soon and I will mention it then.

Thanks again!