Teething or indigestion with weaning onto formula?

[Firsttimer1007]

Where did my pleasant good natured baby go?! Since last week ds has been just generally irritable. I think he might be teething as he is trying to bite everything and drooling loads. He was also getting difficult to feed, refusing to feed yet acting hungry. I'm still exclusively breastfeeding and it was becoming very difficult to feed him in public. So....

Yesterday I decided to introduce a bottle of formula at ds 2pm feed. ( felt very guilty but had had a very difficult day and night before with him)
I mixed it 50:50 with ebm and today just formula. Both times I breastfed him first then gave the bottle, both times he took about 4oz and took the bottle really well. This evening and yest evening he had been really unsettled and isn't feeding well, crying and arching his back and pulling off during feeding.

So Does this general irratability sound like typical teething? Or do you think switching to formula could be giving him indigestion or could he already prefer formula or bottles and that's why he won't feed from me this evening?

Incidentally using aptamil as I heard its best for combining, and ds just turned 5 mths old so prob want to be introducing a ff at this stage to emotionally prepare for stopping breastfeeding!

Firsttimer How is he now? Has he had more formula? Is he still uncomfortable?

The crying and arching his back whilst feeding could well be teething. Have you tried putting a teething gel on his gums before you feed him, like Dentinox, or giving him some ibruprofen?

If you want to continue using the formula it might be worth swapping brands, to see if that helps. If you talk to a BFC on one of the helplines they will be able to talk to you about his fussing, different types of formula and how to stop Bfing if that is what you want to do.

Thanks, this morning he's ok-ish. Have had to try different breastfeeding positions (rugby ball)which I haven't used in months to confuse him into feeding better.
Have tried bonjela and teething powders but not sure if I should be using these too much as I'm not sure he's teething, no sign of any teeth under gums!
Going to try another ff at 2 today, maybe 50:50 ebm/ formula, so will see how he goes with that... Last few evenings have been so horrible with crying, maybe I should dose myself up with teething powders in preparation!

It's unlikely to be bottle confusion so quickly but it might be a reaction to the formula. Aptimil isn't "better" to combine feed but some babies do react differently to different formulas. It could well be one of a few things - as you say, teething, maybe a reaction to the formula upsetting his stomach, or possibly just a 5MO acting like a 5MO which is a normal time for them to start being very distracted by things around them and not feeding well.

Let's go back a step. You mention getting ready to stop BFing. Do you want to or need to stop BFing? Did you have a plan to stop at a certain time or did you just not see yourself feeding over 6 months? This would be important to know to try to work through a strategy that's right for you.

Would you be able to try stopping the FF for a few days and see if he improves (as this would answer the question as to whether it was the problem)?

I hadn't planned a time to stop really, had thought get to weaning onto solids stage and see what happens, think whatever I do I'd like to keep up at least 1 feed a day for a few months yet.
I'd like to get a little bit of freedom back, and whilst I love breastfeeding I expressed a few times a day for months to build up a good supple and freezer stash and don't want to go back to expressing!
However on Monday I had one of those days where I thought as soon as DH walked through the door after work I'd hand him the baby and walk out, just had had enough. But after a glass of wine and a bath and got my rational head back i thought that now I've introduced 1 bottle of formula I might as well keep it up.
I have a friend who still breastfeeds her son in the mornings (now 8 months) and she says the only way she was able to keep up bf and stay sane was to introduce 1-2 ff a day.

I could drop the ff for a few days but think if I do I'll just go back to the status quo and continue to bf exclusively again so think now I've started I might as well keep it up as I found it hard enough introducing this time!

That all makes sense and I think I understand better what you're trying to achieve.

The thing is that to be able to work out whether it's the FF that's causing the problem you need to remove it to see if the problem stops. If it is the FF then there are options that mean that you don't have to keep EBF if you don't want to.

What do you think? Would it be an option?

Bearing in mind that between about 6-12 months ideally around 1/2 the diet should be breastmilk or formula and the other 1/2 solids there's a lot of milk to be found from somewhere, so if the FF is upsetting him then another option needs to be found.

I think this baby might aldready prefer formula, is that crazy? Took a very short feed from me at 2 then would take no more pulling away, arching back and no way cooperating! Had decided to take your advice and not do the ff today to see if it helped, but as he was refusing to feed thought I'd try ff just to see if he'd take it, and... 4 oz no probs and mmmmm noises (would have taken more except I only put 4oz in bottle), and as he was still looking more out him back to breast and once again having none of it.

Will see how he is tonight- windy/crampy etc but can babies develop a preference for formula/ bottles that quickly?

Glad I didn't try this last week would be in tears if he was refusing to nurse before I'd gotten my head around the idea of dropping a feed but didn't think ds might have an all or nothing approach

You could try giving him pure EBM and compare his reaction?

Just a thought....my 5.5mth old DD is teething and does often has days where she does the same during feeding. On those occasions she will take a bottle. It doesn't seem to matter whether its formula or EBM so it seems to me that the action of BFing is hurting her gums and a bottle is just more comfortable. She does it for a couple of days then it calms down and she'll be ok feeding again. It also often gets worse as the day progresses so early morning feeds are fine. My advice would be leave things as they are for a few days and see if it settles.

Thanks everyone for all your advice, have had a much better evening this evening, much less crying although DS slept much better this afternoon (as I held him the whole time so he could get some rest!).
As I've read on here before I must keep telling myself that this too shall pass!