tips to get him to take bottles

[cleoowen]

Posted on here before about my 12 week old fussing on breast for last 2 Weeks and finding it increasingly hard to bf. Not put on enough weight according to the Hv so trying to switch to combination feeding.
But he is very hit and miss taking,the bottle and there are times when he has not taken either which had,stressed,me,out.

We tried the bottle previously on and off and my hubby was giving it to him in,the morning but it was my expressed milk.he would mess around with it in his mouth for a while trying to feed,like he would wham on breast but eventually gulp it down.

However, now I am trying to give him a bottle of formular the last two feeds before bedtime feed so around 3 and 5 but he will only take an oz and today it took am hour for him to have that. Because I am having to feed him every two hours he's not always hungry. I have squirted some into his mouth first but he just constantly moves his head around and when he does suck it's momentarily.

Could he not like the formular? How can I get him to take it better? I am worried,he's not going to put on enough weight and if won't take either we will be stuck. Plus I've had enough of breastfeeding and would like the bottle as the option. Everyone else seems to find giving the bottle so easy.

I'd give one of the bfing helplines a call. Have you got the numbers?

He won't eat if he isn't hungry, every 3 hours unless he asks before would be fine tho some formula babies may go upto 4 hours between feeds.

Bf babies will only drink an ounce an hour, so if he's had a bottle with 3oz at 3pm for example, he probably won't be hungry till 6pm. Just like with bfing, if you are ffing the advice is to feed on demand.

If your HV is having concerns about the weight gain, what exactly are her concerns? Has Lo been checked for tongue tie? Has the HV recommended getting it checked or checked herself? Has your HV talked about other methods of spacing feeds, like making sure you feed from both sides at least once each feed and do breast compressions? Kellymom suggests that 5 to 7 ounces is average weight gain each week at this age, see here, is Lo doing this? Is there a bfing support group near to you?

When you say you've had enough of bfing, are you wanting to stop completely, or to do a mix of ff and bfing?

Whichever you decide, a BFC will be able to talk you through your options and how to move forward. Try one of the bfing helplines.

Thanks for the replies. He had tongue tie but had it cut in the hospital when born. hv and me are both concerned as he is only on the,5th centile and although putting on weight he has gone down a centile. Hv said do 7/8 feeds a day and because he sleeps so well at night I don't want to interrupt that so are fitting them into the day and a,dream feed which is hard.

Yes, I agree I probably am trying to feed him,when he's not hungry but I have no choice. Not sure about the each onze per hour thing. He took a 4oz bottle of formular and had a 45 minute feed an hour later.
Want to go onto combination feeding as feel want to preserve with breastfeeding despite finding it difficult for the time being.

My question is how can I get him to take the bottle more easily and consistently especially for,the dream feed? He just plays with,the,teat and,sucks with his,tongue or moves his,head.

A guide is 1-2 ozs per lb in weight in 24 hrs so a 8lb baby will drink 8-16ozs or more in 24hrs so 3 OSS a feed on average, like us it depends on energy levels, being asleep conserves energy and being awake uses energy.

Out of interest has the HV measured his head and done his length? 2 of the 3 on the same ish line are an indication he is where he should be.

The current dcharge is on 98th for head and length but only 44th for weight and is fine, she was 50th when born and quickly slipped and stayed on this line.

OSS? Ozs

Haven't got any advice really on the bottles, both of mine were bottle refusers. Know how tough it can be but I'm really not the best person to help you with that one sorry.

Has the tongue tie been checked recently, sometimes it can reattach. Perhaps a local bfing support group will help you with this.

As for the sleep, I can understand you not wanting to wake a sleeping baby but if he was mine, I'd be tempted to treat him like a newborn and not let him go more than 4 hours without a feed in the night and not more than 2 hours in the day. If you are concerned about his weight, the best way to increase it is to feed him more often

I've also heard that night feeds are important for milk production, but hopefully someone who knows more will come along soon

Also agree that if your HV is concerned she needs to measure his head and length too.

I experienced the same thing with dd1 she wasn't really thriving on my breast milk alone (think it was all the dieting I did) so I decided to add a few formula Feds in and she did well after that. We tried all sorts of bottles to get her to take the bottle and perhaps with ur ds it might b a case of try a few see what works. I did however watch an episode of baby whisperer an he tried a medela bottle which they use for special needs babies. It's on amazon and when giving the child a bottle she placed her hand on the babies cheek (the hand holding the bottle) to simulate the same warmth the baby would feel when against the breast.
I know a lot of people would say preserver with the breast blah blah blah but I know what it is like when ur child isn't gaining weight very well and at least mixed feeding will mean they r still getting breast milk too. When I had time I also used to express whenever dd would have a formula so tht meant I could give her a bit more breast milk too.
I don't know if anything I said will work for you but I hope u can take something from this even if its just knowing that someone understands what u r going through :)

Just one point cupcake, it was very unlikely to be the dieting you did. You would literally have to be in famine mode for it to affect your milk. Have a look here .

Really? The hv said it was my fault and it made me really feel terribly guilty. Still does to this day actually. Why do midwives and hv always say are u eating lots of high calorie foods? If all the health professionals just gave out the same advise to bf mothers I think more would continue to bf. all the conflicting advice just confusses us and we end up just think we can't do it and go to formula or ask the lovely mother of mn ;)

That's so sad that you've been told that and I totally agree with all your points. If it was recently, its probably worth writing to her supervisor saying that the advice given was wrong, the effect it had and that perhaps her training needs updating so that she is more able to support mums who wish to ebf.

cleo I didn't mean to come across as not understanding your situation, my DS was a tongue tied, lip tied, bottle refusing nightmare so you have my full sympathy. I just wanted to offer some strategies for improving Los weight and how you feel about bfing.