At three weeks of age my now eight week old baby boy developed acid reflux, we tried to see if it would pass but it didn't and he was bringing up lots of breast milk all the time and therefore even hungrier than a normal three week old, he was breast feeding literally all day. We started him on the reflux medicine Ranitidine at six weeks old and it has been a godsend, he is no longer screaming in pain all day and is a happy baby. He only spits up a normal amount now yet seemed to be totally starving all the time and desperate to feed every 20 minutes after which he would usually feed for ten minutes every time then wait another 20 mins and then feed again. I am sure he was going through a growth spurt as he was so hungry and yet I still worried my milk supply was too low due to the fact i wasnt leaking milk dring the day ever and could not express milk out with any pumps i tried, including the hospitals one. Et whenever i hand cpressed milk cae out and often when breastfeeding baby my breast would literally spurt milk out like a sp, continuously in s thin stream for sometimes a minute withut stopping, so it was confusing. So two weeks ago around the time when we started the Ranitidine I was so paranoid about not having enough milk I introduced some bottles of Aptamil breast milk substitute type formula milk. He LOVED them and guzzled down two 8oz bottles in a hour!
He gained a lot of weight though I wasn't sure whether it was because of the bottles of the fact that he as now properly medicated for his reflux and therefore wasn't vomiting up most of his feeds like before and so gaining weight normally now. I think it was a bit of both as formula milk has a much higher caloric factor than breast milk. I know this breastmilk is more quickly absorbed by the babies system and that's also why he wanted to feed more, and he had regular wees so it is confusing as to whether the amount of breast milk he as getting was totally fine and I was and am just being a paranoid first time mum. Anyway since the introduction of the bottles two weeks ago he has been fussing at the breast, not latching properly and only feeding for short amounts of time before screaming for bottles. He would still feed wen he woke up at night at his usual times of 3am and 6am but for three days now he has refused point blank those feeds and I have had to give in and give him night bottle feeds too. Day feeds are very short and often only three times and the rest all bottle. He SCREAMS the house down hysterically for his bottle and spits the breast out now. He is definitely nipple confused and loves the fast let down of the bottle even though it is the slowest teat. I have tried breast feeding him when he is in a good mood and not starving, when hes just waking up, everything- no dice. He screams and screams scrunching his face up, flailing around red faced crying hysterically. When he gets his bottle he is so happy and relieved its traumatising. So today I decided to go bottle cold turkey for fear of my milk supply dwindling to nothing as I can't pump as I mentioned earlier. It was honestly so horrible. I practice Attachment Parenting and to hear my child crying in any way fills me with dread, and these were heart-wrenching, guttural sobs of his sheer desperate hunger, anger and confusion. He latched on to feed twice today for ten mins each time and in between I gave bottle as I was advised by a La Leche League member I called up on their helpline to not go cold turkey as it can be too distressing and give bottle in between the bf attemps. She told me to treat it like a drug addiction and wean him off the bottles by decreasing their amount but my milk supply will dwindle too as I can't hand express enough and also Im pretty sure her advice won't work as he just thinks If he cries enough he will get his bottle no matter how much is in it and will keep crying until he gets the amount he wants either way. When I tried the cold turkey today he just refused to feed almost all day. I don't want a starving baby on my ands and yet I am desperate to breastfeeding him at least to two years old and have that bond with him and give him what my body was made to do. I will check his weight if I can stablished breastfeeding again to check if my milk is enough by if he's gaining weight. If not obviously will just go to bottles only but if he is I'll be very happy. In the mean time though I am feeling so desperate. Is it possible to break this horrible cycle and get him to breastfeed again? How do I get him to stop screaming so hysterically for his bottles? I tried holding him, the sling, shushing, it all works to placate him but doesn't end his hunger or lead to him breastfeeding. I also tried placing a nipple guard over my breast and it didn't fool him. Please help I am so depressed and desperate and it's now or never. Sorry for the rant but I so badly need advice.