Tomme Tippee Vari Flow/teething

[lay82]

My 15 week old daughter has been using the above teet since she was about 4 weeks and has always drowned bottles. She has recently started teething and is really struggling to take any more than 3 oz a feed and this can take up to an hour, she gums the bottle rather than sucks. I have changed the teet to a size 2 but it made no difference.

Really I have two questions:

Am I ok to keep her on Vari flow all the time?

Does teething usually effect there milk intake this much. She has dropped from about 32-36oz in a 24 period to 18 at the very most. (this has been going on for a week now)

oooh yes, i remember this. DD started chewing the teats at about the same time i think. I was going mental trying to keep her milk up to previous levels and all she wanted to do was chew.

i think it is fine to go back to the vari flow if it was working for her before. The issue isn't the teat as such, it is that her gums are now quite sensitive and she finds it quite satisfying to squish the teat with them. You could try putting some teething gel on her gums about 20 minutes before you try to feed her. We had some success with that.

Just to be on the safe side i would also check her mouth for thrush. it can really throw off their willingness to suckle. Before you feed her look for any white coating on the tongue or roof of the mouth. also any white spots on the roof of her mouth or inside of her lips. It doesn't have to be crusty, just spotty or coated in white. If you see anything get some dactarin oral gel and apply it a couple of times a day and most especially after her last bottle of the day. Also wash and sterilise everything that has or is likely to go into her mouth.

HTH.