Is this an ok way to prep bottles?

[McFox]

I've just been advised by my GP to start moving my 4 month old DS from breast to bottle as he's not gaining enough weight, has reflux which maybe CMPI related (he'll be weighed early next week and she'll decide whether to refer him for investigation then),and has generally been grumpy and unsettled. We also have to continue with using Colief.

The Colief guidelines for ff are to make the bottle up, add 2 drops, and put in the fridge for more than 4 but less than 12 hours.

Now my DS is the loudest screamer of all time! When he's hungry everyone in a 5 mile radius knows about it (and we live in a block of flats...) so what I've done over the past couple of days is make up the bottle as directed but with only 1/2 of the near boiling water, cool it rapidly, add the Colief, refrigerate, then add the amount of boiling water needed to bring it up to the full feed when he's hungry. It takes less time to boil the kettle than wait for the bottle warmer to do it's thing, and it means that it's at the perfect temperature for him to drink.

Does anyone see any problems with this?

Sorry, that was long!

Sorry your having difficulties.

Are you using normal formula or a special one for CMPA?

Gp's don't receive much training in infant feeding/breastfeeding so are not always very knowledgable. Do you want to stop breastfeeding?

sounds like what I did
she survived
so it seems ok

Thanks Superworm. We are using a normal formula for now, we're basically running through all the options to see what works so moving onto a special one would be the next option.

I do want to give up breastfeeding - it's distressing my son, I don't think he's getting enough, but being bottle fed isn't. I'm getting round giving it up entirely by expressing at least one full feed every day and he'll latch for 5 minutes a couple of times a day anyway.

I've been to the breastfeeding clinic 3 times as I wanted to make ebf work (he started on formula as we were both ill after his birth but I pulled it back and managed to feed him myself from week 2 until week 18) and every time I've come away simply feeling guilty, that I'm not doing enough (even though I'd been expressing after every single feed to ensure that my supply was adequate) so I've given up on dealing with them.

Thanks Julia, that's good to know.

You poor thing, sounds like you have really been through it. I've been there. DS has CMPA and it was tough going.

Don't feel guilty about stopping breastfeeding if that's what you feel is best for both of you. It's hard breastfeeding a baby who small and dropping centiles.

CMPA should be ruled out first if it's suspected and your GP should prescribe formula as a trial to see if it helps. If you LO is more settled on it, you can then make a decision based on that.

CMPA baby struggle with weight gain, so your supply may be fine, but he it might be the proteins from dairy in your diet that he is reacting to.

Thank you. I've accepted that bf is over now, sad though it is, but my DS is happier already and that's what matters.

I can't tolerate dairy very well so I actually have very little in my diet, 1 coffee with milk per day is my maximum and I don't really see where else it could be coming from as I cook everything from scratch.

Hopefully we'll get a referral to the allergy clinic if his weight gain doesn't improve. As I said he's definitely happier on the increased formula but is vomiting a lot more, and the explosive poos are unbelievable, we'll see what the GP has to say next week.

Thanks again.

It's a complicated process eliminating things from your diet as it sneaks in to all sorts of goods. Plus you have to want to do it. I think you have done really well to feed him yourself for so long, especially after a difficult start.

I would really push for neocate or an prescription formula if he's vomiting and has diarrhoea on normal formula. You know him best so don't feel you have to wait - if you know it's making things worse, go back asap.

There will be more cows milk protein in the formula than in your breast milk so I don't understand why you would use that rather than breastfeed. Also Colief breaks down lactose in the milk not proteins so I don't understand that either.

Lactose is the sugar in all milks so will be in breast milk and formula. Have they given you a dairy free formula to use? If not, why not?

Mcfox has he ever been checked for tongue tie? If not, it sounds like it is definitely worth getting him checked out

Superworm, I've been through an elimination diet before so I'll be able to do it again if need be. I'm pretty strong willed! I'll push when I go back to the GP, she's pretty good so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Ilove, it's lactose that I have a problem with, so it made sense to try the colief for that reason. We are working through all the options. The reason for moving to ff is because my DS is getting distressed when trying to eat, he's pulling away, quite often screaming with hunger but unable to be satiated. It therefore made sense to give formula and it has made him happier.

Jilted, he had a minor tongue tie cut at 12 weeks but it made no difference.

Thanks everyone.

McFox if that's the case I would have it looked at again, just incase he has a posterior tie that has been missed. Did any of the symptoms on the list sound familiar?

Just realised that might be interpreted as me being ant-formula. I'm not, I'm just naturally cautious

Whoops, wrong thread!

I asked the registrar that cut the tt to check for a posterior tie too (I had to fight to get it cut as it was) and she said that he didn't have one.

So many of the symptoms he's experienced can relate to tongue tie, CMPI/A and straight forward reflux that's it's hard to know what's causing what.

Thanks.

So many of the symptoms he's experienced can relate to tongue tie, CMPI/A and straight forward reflux that's it's hard to know what's causing what. that is so true. From my experience, its worth getting the tt checked again. There was a whole thread a while back on MNers who had babies where tt had been missed, sometimes by several people.

If it is tt it can cause problems with bfing, bottle feeding, weaning and speech.

Yup, I was on that thread! I diagnosed it myself, had to explain it to my GP who admitted that she knew nothing about it, and push for the referral which took 6 or 8 weeks. It looks fine to me now, but I no expert. Unfortunately there are only 2 registrars in my region who deal with tt, they hold 2 clinics a month, and they are booked up months in advance. We couldn't go private because my DS was deemed too old at 11 weeks when I tried.

I have a new GP though so I'll have a chat with her about all of these things next week.

Thanks.