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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

DS has decided he doesn't like the bottle after all, and can mummy come back from work now please

21 replies

BelinaTheChicken · 07/02/2012 20:30

Thought I had it all covered, I knew I was coming back to work when DS2 was 3.5 months, so planned ahead, got a freezer stock together, made sure DS2 was used to the bottle and had coped with nights away from me (obviously this was purely a selfless act to establish bottle feeding, and DH and I went and got pissed stayed in and pined for him). All fine, obviously preferred breastfeeding but also seemed quite content with bottles.

Then I started work (nightshifts) and was still fine as DH was using the milk I expressed at work and then the freezer stock as I couldn't quite keep up with the demand. Then the freezer supply ran out and DH gave him his first bottle of formula at about 4.5 months, which seemed fine, but then had an allergic reaction to it, and now he won't even contemplate taking a bottle. I'm well into my second week off work and am no closer to cracking it. DS2 has seen a dietician and has been prescribed a hydrolysed protein formula, but the dietician said it basically tastes like shit and is really quite har to get a bottle fed baby onto it, let alone a boob-obsessed, bottle refusenik velcro baby.

Help! How the hell am I going to convince him to take it?? Meant to be back at work on Sunday night but there is no chance, and going to have to get signed off for longer, which I hate doing, especially when work is being so understanding.

Any tips? Have tried a couple of different bottles (Avent and Tommy Tippee closer to nature) but can't really afford to go and buy loads of different ones. Have tried giving bottles myself and getting DH or my parents to try, but he just screams and turns his head away Sad

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buttonmoon78 · 07/02/2012 21:48

I can't help with the bf and nutramigen (I assume that's what you're on?) but I know when we went from aptamil to nutramigen I mixed it increasing the nutramigen by a scoop every other or third feed. Maybe you could express and do that?

You have my sympathies with the allergy though - it's rubbish!

buttonmoon78 · 07/02/2012 21:48

Don't know if that'd help with the bottle refusing though Confused

BelinaTheChicken · 07/02/2012 22:14

I think its nutramigen, but haven't picked it up from pharmacy yet. Can I mix it with breast milk?

When I put DS1 on formula I had no problems, but he would probably have drunk from a pint glass if I'd let him.

And just as an aside, did you have trouble introducing dairy once you started solids?

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MessNessPess · 07/02/2012 22:22

Try Mam Ultivent teats (fit Avent bottles).

I recently got a baby to get onto nutramigen and bottles in a day, the first two feeds were started 15minutes before the usual feeding time and I gently bounced on a gym ball and sang the abc song. He took 2-3ozs, by that night he was taking ~5ozs.

He did well and by day 2 both mum and nanny could do feeds 6-7ozs and he still took breast when offered.

He was 18wks and family had been trying for a month with no success.

buttonmoon78 · 07/02/2012 22:36

Can't do dairy at all. He's now nearly 7m but has had type 1 reactions to dairy, apples and pears, also possibly bananas and wheat. Waiting for skin prick testing on March 7th.

Just going from the description it's nutramigen or similar.

I don't see why you couldn't mix it. When we swapped initially it was before ds had his allergic reaction otherwise I couldn't have done that but if yours is ok with bm (obviously) then I don't see why there'd be a problem. I've mixed all milks when swapping types before and no HCP has ever said it was wrong. I just did it so the taste difference crept up on them!

DS is now on nutramigen for his milk feeds but I use soya milk in all his cooking.

BelinaTheChicken · 07/02/2012 22:39

Ooh, I have a mam bottle a friend got me in a nappy cake, totally forgot about that one. The teat is sort of flattened, is that the right one? It says 3 on it though, would that be too fast for him? I'm a bit clueless when it comes to bottle feeding, DS2 was a lot older when he started having bottles as i had longer maternity leave that time.

Did you bottle feed exclusively for the entire day, or let him have breast in between?

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BelinaTheChicken · 08/02/2012 00:26

buttonmoon that mustbe really hard with the allergies, really hoping DS will be ok, she did say that as he is fine on my milk and I eat a lot of cheese and ice-cream low fat dairy he has a good chance of being introduced to dairy when he is one. What is a type 1 reaction? DS2 had gut and skin reactions, but the dietician didn't mention any gradings?

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buttonmoon78 · 08/02/2012 06:57

As far as I'm aware type 1 is the most severe but he doesn't have anaphylactic reactions. He vomits immediately and comes up with hives within minutes which then turns into eczema.

I'm only introducing ultra safe food until his tests and certainly steering clear of egg! It's not too hard really as I make all my own baby food. If he was relying on readymade he'd have an incredibly restricted diet!

BelinaTheChicken · 08/02/2012 09:00

Oh dear, your poor DS Sad. My dS2 isn't nearly that bad, doesn't throw it straight up, he just got really really colicky and developed a rash, but not a particulary bad one, no way near hives.

Will definitely be doing homemade, didn't use jars for DS1 to start with, so when I eventually tried one when we were out he turned his nose up at it! So expensive anyway.

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abigboydidit · 08/02/2012 10:03

Just a quick reply as on my phone (so please excuse spelling). You may be having same issue as i am at moment. Nutramigen is most expensive and most palatable but seems to be rarely prescribed. The stuff we got is something like Nutramill 2 (can't remember exact name but will update once home) which smells and tastes vile. Allergy.UK recommend the other one but my GP refuses to prescribe it.

abigboydidit · 08/02/2012 11:47

Am talking rubbish - Neocate (or similar) is the nicer tasting one.

Bramshott · 08/02/2012 11:50

Could you go back to expressing with a decent, hospital-grade electric pump? You can hire them (or the hospital might lend one out) and they are a world away from the small hand-held ones.

buttonmoon78 · 08/02/2012 12:18

I didn't want to say anything abigboydidit but I was wondering what on earth could be worse than nutramigen! And if neocate's even more expensive then it must be a fortune! If we were to pay for ds nutramigen ourselves we would be £4-500 per month worse off.

Thank goodness for the NHS...

BelinaTheChicken · 08/02/2012 19:28

Good grief that's expensive! We won't go through much as he will hopefully only have 3-6 bottles a week, depending on how much I can express, so maybe I could convince the doctor to prescribe that? I haven't even tried him on that yet, still trying to get him to take expressed milk in a bottle. Have got the mam one and hopefully try that tomorrow, but he's really snotty today and having trouble feeding from me, let alone a bottle.

How big are the hospital pumps? I would need to be able to easily take it too and from work. How much do the cost to rent? Thanks for all the advice

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Bramshott · 09/02/2012 09:16

The hospital pumps are quite heavy unfortunately - not easily portable unless you're driving to work and parking very near. You can hire them here or your Health Visitor might be able to arrange access to one more cheaply.

Bramshott · 09/02/2012 09:19

You can also hire through the NCT which might well be cheaper.

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 09/02/2012 14:59

I don't really know much about the feeding issues but just seen that you say he is snoty making it hard to suck. Boots/Lloyds sell something called Sterimar, it is an isotonic sea salt nasal spray and is fabulous at clearing noses. My DS was admitted with bronchiolitis and they gave me some and told me not to waste my money on the Calpol or other cheaper versions of infant nasal spray as the Sterimar is just brilliant. It's around £8 a can but lasts absolutely ages. DS uses it every day nearly and we still havent used it all since December.

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 09/02/2012 15:02

here is the sterimar

MessNessPess · 09/02/2012 16:14

Belina you ideally want size 1 slow flow.

We did bottles the whole day alternating 2 nutramigen with 1 of EBM, mum then did a bf on the Thursday afternoon and after that did 3 bf and the rest as bottle with at least 2 formula feeds.

We didn't mix the milks and it was more the bottle than the milk that we had to get over at the start, after a bf we did a formula bottle and he was fine with the different tastes.

HTH

MessNessPess · 09/02/2012 16:18

nasal aspirator this I have found the best, and for the squeamish this is good.

BelinaTheChicken · 09/02/2012 18:58

He seems much less snotty today so hopefully was just a sniffle, couldn't get the slow flow teats today, will have to go further afield for them, don't want to risk trying the 3s incase it freaks him out. might get the sterimar just in case

And good grief the nutramigen stinks, poor babies! He's really not going to like this.

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