colicky baby, spitting out the infacol, doesnt latch on properly but loves a bottle.... any advice?

[MrsRhettButler]

dd is 4 weeks old, she's always had trouble latching on and the first week or so was painful but she's settled down a bit now although she still doesnt latch properly and gulps loads of air with her feeds, if i give her a bottle she drinks from it no problem but then she's not used to the formula so made her bunged up which probably made her colic worse or at least given her belly ache? :(
i'm trying to use infacol for the colic but she just spits it right out!
I'm sooo tired, i've been expressing some milk so she can feed more easily (from the bottle) and have been giving her some of that, some of formula and some breast feeds too.

i just don'y know whats the best thing to do and i badly need sleep, my head and eyes hurt constantly.

went to the health visitor today and she didnt really have time to talk about it but is going to call and make an appointment for next week but i dont know what to do until then.

i feel like just putting her on formula full time to stop the confusion and ive heard that ff babies have less colic than bf?

thanks if you've got this far, its longer than i meant it to be.

Worth speaking to a breastfeeding counsellor about this, I think....there could be other reasons for your baby's gulping and apparent colic.

Hope you get good help soon.

There is no truth in the idea that ff is less likely to cause colic than bf - you usually hear it the other way round but colic is a mystery anyway :)

My 11 week old ds has had varying degrees of colicky symptoms on and off since birth (bf until 4 weeks now ff) and his colic made no noticeable improvement after the switch. That's not the reason I stopped bf by the way! Anyway I am posting to say that I don't think you should stop bf unless you are sure that is the reason your Lo has colic....which I don't think you can be 100%. Please seek advice from a professional before you stop bf, if bf is your preferred choice.
Oh and fwiw I found dentinox much more effective than infacol and my ds much preferred the taste. But I know that differs from one baby to the next.
Good luck and keep us all posted.

thanks tiktok, where would i find a bf counsellor? i take it thats different than a HV?

what sort of other reasons do you mean?

i heard that the mothers diet can sometimes cause/worsen colic i.e garlic, onions and so on but i do have a healthy diet.
i was just worried about the amount of air she seems to 'eat' whilst bf.

x post beckie, thank you, i will try dentinox then as she really seems to hate infacol :)

i really dontt want to stop bf and its probably not the cause anyway its just the air intake i'm worried about and she seems to suck easier from a bottle which is why i was expressing too but it seems to be getting very complicated.

is your baby showing any signs of stopping yet? its so hard when you're sleep deprived!

MrsRB, there are contact details for breastfeeding support on the mumsnet Breastfeeding pages - under 'Babies: Useful Mumsnet stuff' on this page.

The 'gulpy air' thing could be

• position and attachment of baby needs amending
• over-supply of milk overwhelming the baby... *....linked with fast let down

Diet is the least likely reason :)

Yes...he's a whole lot better than before....I'm not sure if that's because of the meds or age....but it has improved. If you continue to express some feeds dentinox can be added to the bottle. I was worried that the taste difference would put him off, but he never seemed to notice.x

tiktok, that makes sense then because she definitely doesn't do it right, she will only put the nipple in and doesnt grab enough around the nipple.

i will check those details now thank you :)

glad to hear that beckie it must be a relief :) and thats really good to know about the dentinox being added to feeds.

One of the nurses in hosp was a real help with bf and showed me the rugby ball method which for me (big boobs) was the best position for us and when he latched he took just about all of the dark bit (forgotten the proper name!) of the nipple too. You need to get the latch checked and explore other positions if necessary. You'll get there!

Have you tried Gripe Water? I am no expert my mum swore by it.

Also, which formula are you using? DD1 had SMA which I think bunged her up a bit. Am usimg Aptamil (mixed feeding) for DD2 and she seems better on this/