fussy bottle feeders

[babesnme]

My 4 mth old twins are being really fussy with their bottles. It started with my little boy. He'll drink the 1st half of his milk fine (usually!)but gets really stressy when offered the second half after winding. We've tried putting him down and waiting til he shouts for it again which sometimes works, as does tricking him by giving him a dummy for a few seconds then swapping it for his bottle. But we end up spending at least an hour trying to get him to drink it and eventually he does but it's v stressful. We've also tried assuming he doesn't want it but then he's hungry again shortly after the bottle's no good. Now my baby girl's started doing it too so it's driving me mad! My eldest girl did a similar thing too and we never solved the problem. Any ideas?

Is ther any other signs like not sleeping well during the night, rashes etc .. ? Have you changed the milk you are using ?
It could be a reaction to dairy product.

Have you tried changing to a faster teat. One of my twins did this at about 4 months, it was so frustrating - but then we changed her to a faster teat and she was much better. I think she was just getting bored when the milk wasn't coming fast enough.

Thanks. My little girl has been sleeping well at night generally. Baby boy was sleeping from about 9pm til at least 5am but has started waking up for a feed earlier - about 2/3am. Have started them both on solids this week which they seem to like, but he's still not sleeping thro' again. No rashes, etc, other than bit on neck where he dribbles!Haven't changed milk.
Hv suggested faster teats a few mths ago, but didn't make any difference. He just dribbled more!
They occasionally drink most of a bottle in one go which makes it even more confusing when they mess.
Saw a couple of other messages re gastric reflux. Wondered if cld be that, especially if can run in family.

babesnme, I would just try different possible solutions.
Perhaps start again with a faster flow teat.
If you really want to try another type of milk, I would recommend Nestle NAN HA (No1). It's an hypoallergenic milk so if they are reacting to dairy, they souldn't have such a strong reaction if any. You can get it from the chemist but need to order it. Cost wise around £8 ~ £9 so a bit more expensive than normal milk but not too bad.
Don't really know about gastric reflux.
Just another comment. I have notice with my two children that if they were going slightly under their normal entile, they would start waking up during the nigh and would carry on until they have come back to it.That might be what your son is doing : starting to eat more solids but need some time to make up for it!

Thanks. He's started sleeping better again. She's waking at about 2am again tho! She's not as keen on solids as him and both being even worse with milk now. Am struggling to get him to have enough fluids in this weather. Won't drink water or even juice. Any ideas? Have booked docs appt to see if they suggest anything re not wanting milk.

4 months is quite early for solids ... I certainly wouldn't push them to have them. And it just brings up the whole problem of water etc.

Hv suggested solids. Baby girl just has a little bit. Baby boy wolfs it down!

Your HV is working from out-of-date information. 4 months is very young for solids. It's best for them to be on just milk to 6 months.

I don't know much about bottle feeding, but myabe he prefers smaller amounts more often?

Recommendations re weaning are as close to 6 months as possible, but if babies not getting enough milk (like mine) then it's ok to intro solids froms 16wks and try to get some milk mixed in with them. I know it used to be 4mnths from when my 1st little girl was a baby.
Small amounts of milk often would be fine if I only had one child!
Saw hv today who said not to try persuading them to drink more if started solids as will get what need from food and sneaked in milk. Apparently they'll only need about 5-600ml by time they hit 8mth anyway.

sorry to butt in we were recommended to wean dd early by a doc at the hospital (she had reflux but before we got help it was a nightmare feeding her) i did not wean early i should add, i immediately phoned my HV who if I remember correctly told me not to (dd was coming up 5mths at the time) try changing the teat if that doesn't work try some different milk and if that doesn't work see your gp, you baby could have silent reflux?? does he arch his back whilst feeding or cries when being laid down after feeding?

We've tried faster flow teats but that made no difference. Yes he does often arch his back and sometimes cries when put down (we've just assumed he's annoyed at being put back down!). She doesn't arch her back as much, just shouts and tries to push teat out for a while then will often suddenly start drinking again (sometimes only 1/2oz but better than nothing). We never know whether to bother trying them again, that's the stressful thing. Have booked gp for monday to see if they think it might be reflux.

I think you're right to see your GP about reflux.

Our baby didn't throw up much at all. She would just suddenly startle and start screaming. She would do this while feeding or even up to an hour after feeding. Have you noticed if your babies sound a bit wheezy? That can be a sign as well as the baby can inhale some of the fluid as its going up and down.

If it is reflux then keeping the babies as upright as possible after a feed may help a bit. As should putting their cots on a slope (stick a couple of big books under the legs at one end).

Heres a good summary of symptoms

Just seen GP who says probably reflux so has prescribed Gaviscon. Fingers crossed....!