slow feeder

[moominsr]

My second born is a very slow feeder and only drinks half a bottle at a time. Has anyone got any advice as to how I can speed things up a bit and or encourage him to drink a whole bottle at a time? I started mix feeding but now only botttle feed. By both methods he drinks very slowly and not a full amount. thanks

Hello,

What bottles are you using, could you change up to the next teet? My dd can sometimes be a slow drinker, I think it just depends on her mood! I'm sure I've heard that it's normal for some babies to have a break whilst having their bottle. Xx

This is normal, moominsr, for babies at any age....just as grown ups are 'allowed' to put their knife and fork down to have a break before resuming, and not to eat the whole meal if not hungry for it, babies can do this too :)

It's quite important for bottle fed babies to 'pace' their feeding in this way, and not to be 'speeded up' - trying to get them to have more than they want at any time, and to resist normal breaks is not a good thing.

Your HV - if she is any good - will confirm this :)

thanks for getting back to me. i guess i have to persevere. I have already tried the next size teats

No.....don't persevere :)
Enjoy the feeding and the breaks in the middle of the bottle, and let your baby set the pace :)

I would just let him feed little and often and take breaks if he wants too. Eating too much, too quickly is something a lot of overweight adults have to un-learn, so you don't want to deliberately teach it to a baby. You do have to be careful with bottles that you don't overfeed them.