Tummy problems when combining breast and bottle feeding?

[Mull]

Hi,

I BF my 4mo but have given a bottle of expressed milk since he was about 8 weeks old. I really like that he takes a bottle with no problems but he started wanting more milk and I didn't think I could express all of that every day, as well as feeding him.

I started giving a bottle of formula instead about 4 weeks ago but he seems to be getting worse and worse and I think it is tummy problems related to mixing BF and formula. When BF, he can writh in pain and scream, he seems even more bunged up (he doesn't go very often at the best of times!) and he would only feed for a short amount of time so his night feeds increased.

I've gone back to the expressed milk for the last 2 days and he seems much better but I'm concerned about him not taking formula. I want to stop BF at 6 months when I wean him and had planned to give follow-on formula but might not be able to now?

Has anyone had similiar problems? Are these sort of symptoms 'normal' when combining the two?

Thanks

It may be a case that the huge levels of iron in the formula is upsetting his digestion, or that he is intolerant or allergic to cow's milk proteins. I'm not an expert on allergies so someone else may be able to dismiss that idea for me.

For what it's worth, if you do decide to wean at 6 months you don't need to put him on follow-on formula. Normal stage 1 formula is still fine.

jemjabella - in the UK, the iron levels in ordinary formula are not especially high.

There is a lot of iron in follow on.

Mull - it certainly seems that it's the formula that's making him react in this way.

He may grow out of this - it sounds more like an intolerance than an allergy.

Can you ask your HV what she thinks?

Sorry, yes, I was thinking follow-on but that wasn't mentioned til later on in the post.

Mull could be the cows milk he's reacting too . Although you say he;s writing when being BF? What's he like when feeding at night?

It could also be reflux made worse by the formula. Hence the writing when BF and tummy problems with the formula.

My DS cannot have formula - would make him sick. He also has reflux made worse by cows milk.

He's 10.5 months and no signs of growing out of it yet - I try cows milk every month (only teaspoons) and he still is sick! I know it's not an allergy as the reaction is not immediate. (I've spoken to my GP and would advise the same).

Can I ask why you're giving a bottle of expressed milk? If you're feeding him, it's probably easier to feed him from the breast, especially if he's more hungry.

If he's not feeding "well" when BF - he might also be getting distracted (common at this age). I would try feeding with little distractions - somewhere calm, dim or feed him when drowsy.

Thanks for posts.

I was thinking it could be reflux as he's always been a very sicky baby but, until recently, seemed to be a 'happy chucker'.

I'm giving the expressed milk so that he is used to a bottle and my husband does the feed when he comes home from work which I think is a really nice experience for both of them.

I'll keep goimg with BF and EBM for now and try formula again when he gets closer to 6mo and I think about weaning. I'll also talk to my HV about it all.