Page 2 | SUPPORT thread for Formula Feeders

riab · 2006-11-13T10:34:25+00:00

Hi everyone, I'd like to start a thread for people who are forumla feeding or who plan to Formula feed. Whatever your reasons are for choosing to formula feed they won't be questioned here. This isn't a thread for long drawn out debates it is a place where you can ask advice from other parents on topics like; whats the best sterilisation method different brands of formula weaning of bottles etc riab x

mumfor1standfinaltime · 13/11/2006 15:20

pudding, I never used follow on milk. I just carried on with formula I was using. I used formula until ds was 15 months (mainly due to having bought so much!
He had a sips of cows milk from 9 months and cows milk on cereal from 6 months, then as a drink from 12 months.
I would give cows milk in the day and formula before bed or if he was having a 'grumpy' day!

xmasstocking · 13/11/2006 15:29

Mum - I hope I didn't sound like I was saying there was anything wrong with your DS for eating so much as that is certainly not the way it was meant - apologies if I did. I am concerned about my DS not eating enough and hearing that your DS ate that much reinforces my concerns really.

The bedroom bottle warmer was worth every penny and who knows, it may come in handy again sometime.....and I would rather have had a baby who slept through at 4 weeks anyday than one who didn't just to get my money's worth from it

mummaj · 13/11/2006 16:31

Firstly sorry Riab if I cased a stir in your other thread I was trying to stick up for FF'ing.

*Pudding 77 - My DD has always been on Aptamil, I asked the same question of my HV she said you can continue with Aptamil blue until you switch to cows milk, The Aptamil Green just has added iron.. it is cheaper though! I switched to it as we only use the cartons it worked out easier as Tesco sell extra value packs for £4.99 (for 15 cartons).

Polly - just wanted to second your top tip, DD had a problem with warm milk, infact hated it, hence us always using the cartons! But good tip wish I had it earlier!

xmasstocking - maybe this is a bit late but... if you look on the side of an Aptamil carton it has the feeding calculations it is better to work on weight rather than age though (I found as my DD never seemed to be drinking enough!) If you don't use aptamil just give the chart a glance when your in the supermarket it may help???

Amijee - another late one but I started my DD on SMA and it made her terribly sick, the MW reccomended aptamil and she has been as good as gold since, no sicky baby anymore!

mummaj · 13/11/2006 16:33

Firstly sorry Riab if I cased a stir in your other thread I was trying to stick up for FF'ing.

*Pudding 77 - My DD has always been on Aptamil, I asked the same question of my HV she said you can continue with Aptamil blue until you switch to cows milk, The Aptamil Green just has added iron.. it is cheaper though! I switched to it as we only use the cartons it worked out easier as Tesco sell extra value packs for £4.99 (for 15 cartons).

Polly - just wanted to second your top tip, DD had a problem with warm milk, infact hated it, hence us always using the cartons! But good tip wish I had it earlier!

xmasstocking - maybe this is a bit late but... if you look on the side of an Aptamil carton it has the feeding calculations it is better to work on weight rather than age though (I found as my DD never seemed to be drinking enough!) If you don't use aptamil just give the chart a glance when your in the supermarket it may help???

Amijee - another late one but I started my DD on SMA and it made her terribly sick, the MW reccomended aptamil and she has been as good as gold since, no sicky baby anymore!

TiggersBestFriend · 13/11/2006 17:18

Hello all. Have been formula feeding along with breast since DS was a week old and he took to both brilliantly. He is 3 months and is now exclusively ff. This past week he has started to be very fussy when feeding. Will take the first couple of ounces no problems then become very fidgety, turning his face away and kicking his legs. Am starting to dread every feed as it is beginning to feel like a battle every time to get him to drink. I check every time it is not wind and he does not seem to be in any pain at all. As soon as I remove the bottle and sit him up he is perfectly happy again. My mother has suggested gripe water but tbh I am not sure what this is, what its for and if it would do any good. The only feed he has no problems with is his dream feed at 11pm when he will happily take 5 - 6oz with no fuss. Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

xmasstocking · 13/11/2006 17:37

Tigger - you could have described my 4-month old DS although it is usually after 4oz that he starts fussing. I have tried winding him, reheating the bottle in case it has gone too cold (which works occasionally - fussy bugger ) and have now accepted that maybe he is just not hungry. I now leave the bottle in his mouth until he starts fussing or finishes it rather than break off for winding which I always used to - me and DH spotted that as soon as you take the bottle away to wind, there is no way it is going back in again. DS sometimes starts cryingwhen I try to continue to feed him which makes me feel like a bad mother for 'overfeeding' him but as from my previous posts, I am paranoid he is not eating enough.

Sorry, I know this doesn't help you as I have no idea what the problem is either but thought it might help if you knew others were having the same issues.

My mum helpfully told me I should make him finish his bottles so I can feed him less often - how???? (She couldn't answer that!)

TiggersBestFriend · 13/11/2006 18:39

Stocking - think you may have a point about stopping to wind him. This is usually when he starts refusing the bottle also. But the face pulling and leg kicking are what he does when he also has wind! His bottle is usually room temperature - he has never bothered before if they have been warmed and then cooled down.
I am starting to think he is just a nosey little so and so and is worried he is missing something if he is not sat up right and looking round the room

pollypeachum · 13/11/2006 18:56

i'd forgotten already (shows how the mind blocks out the memory of pain!) how difficult one of my DTs was with his bottle. from approx 2 - 4 months he reacted almost angrily if you tried to put it in his mouth. i wondered about wind, teeth, sore throat etc. it turned out that he liked to drink, indeed would only drink, if i carried him around. i used to walk around with him lying almost flat in the crook of my left arm and feed him that way. i'm not sure if it was soothing, or if the movement took his mind off being cross, or what it was, but it worked!!

mozi · 13/11/2006 19:04

3 mo DD also has phases when she stops half way thro and fusses and won't take more. Was worried but she seems fine afterwards and doesn't need feeding any sooner than if she finishes a bottle so reckon must not be hungry. Will be joining stocking in chanting must not stress must not stress!

Can anyone tell me when I should be thinking about swapping to no. 2 teats? We did use them for a week or so but DD seemed to gulp the milk so quickly that she got really bad wind and then wouldn't take the rest of the bottle (could that be your DSs prob tigger?) so went back to no 1s (DD is 14wks) Any advice gratefully recieved. XX

pudding77 · 13/11/2006 19:05

Well, still fighting to get milk into ds. Just had a 1/2 battle to get him to drink 2.5oz - which means he's just about had 5ozs today. This is a child who used to drain his bottles at the drop of a hat! Is it possible he doesn't like formula anymore?

pudding77 · 13/11/2006 19:07

Mozi - with the teats, we changed them when ds was sucking very hard on the bottle and sometimes he would also seem to get bored halfway through and give up. hth

Mrsmoocow · 13/11/2006 19:13

hi my ds is 3 mths and started being fussy with his bottle last week, only taking 2 or 3 onces when he had been having 5 or 6! I realised that he had a bit of a blocked nose and was finding it a stuggle to take the milk. I changed to the number 3 teats and he is back to draining 5 onces again!!

xmasstocking · 13/11/2006 19:14

Does it seem like we are all having the same problem even though our lo's are different ages - how weird!

Mozi - DS doesn't seem to want his bottle any earlier either even if he only drinks half of it so maybe we should all stop stressing and just accept that they are not hungry!

The advice I was given about swopping teats is that if your lo is falling asleep whilst eating (which it doesn't sound like he is) then it is time to go to the next size teat as it is becoming too much like hard work for them to get the milk out - that is the guidelines I used. But I am wondering if maybe that is the problem we all have in that our lo's are finding it too much like hard work to get the milk out so are stopping when they have had enough sucking and can't be bothered to do anymore. Ds has been on no3 teats for a few weeks now - I don't think they do no4 teats do they so what am I supposed to do to get the milk out faster?( Iam using Avent bottles btw) Maybe prick another hole in with a pin?? (I have heard of someone doing that)

Mrsmoocow · 13/11/2006 19:15

i can't spell ounces!

pudding77 · 13/11/2006 19:50

xmasstocking - I think a 3-teat is a medium flow, so after that you go onto fast flow. We only changed ds's teats to 3 a couple of months ago so don't think that's the problem...

thewill · 13/11/2006 19:59

my ds had the same problem whne he was 4/5 months, getting very agitated with his bottle. i never really found out what it was, but it did pass. I think it may have been he was a bit over tired or over stimulated, but he settled down, and has drunk his bottle fine since (now 2).

Mrsmoocow · 13/11/2006 20:02

I think they have funny little phases just like we do, some days i feel hungry some days i don't!

xmasstocking · 13/11/2006 20:25

Another question ( I like this thread!) - do you count the ounces in a bottle as the amount of water you put in? I do but obviously once you put the formula in, the volume increases in the bottle (IYSWIM) - what I class as an 8oz bottle (8oz of water/8 scoops of formula) actually becomes about 9oz once mixed together?

Mrsmoocow · 13/11/2006 20:28

I have the same debate with my husband! I usually count it as the amount of water.

xmasstocking · 13/11/2006 20:30

I always count it like that but my mother (god bless her) said I should be counting the actual volume.

Mrsmoocow · 13/11/2006 20:33

I dont suppose it really matters unless you are being very strict on how much milk they are drinking!

thewill · 13/11/2006 20:46

i always measure water oz. first, then count in scoops. or you could make up all mixture for however many bottles in a measuring jug first, save doing each one indivudually.

kylester · 13/11/2006 21:00

Thank you thank you thank you riab!!!! I was beginning to think I was the only mum using formula. Its so good to see that other mums are going through the same uncertainties that I am.
THings are going well just now - DS is a good feeder, burps noisly and is now eating pureed veg and fruit and (touch wood) no probs yet.
He does stop before the bottle is finished sometimes, but I think he's just had enough. Using Avent number 2 teats as he loses most of the milk down his chin when using a number 3!

Mrsmoocow · 13/11/2006 21:10

i just want to add that i tried BFding my first and managed 7 weeks. I had PND and found the whole experience very overwhelming. When i switched to FF the relief was amazing-i have never looked back. I have to say my health visitor (and husband!) was very supportive. With my 2nd i went straight to FF with no hesitation. My babies are happy and healthy and so am I!

xmasstocking · 13/11/2006 21:22

I planned on bf all through my pregnancy but DS just wouldn't latch on and after 2 days and nights in hospital of starving him - the MW would get him latched on and he would stay on for 5 minutes and fall off and I couldn't get him back on again and the MW were too busy to sit with me - I made the decision to switch to ff and he was like a different baby after his first bottle. Just like Moocow, I never looked back and if we have another baby, I wouldn't hesitate to ff rather than bf. Again, the MW were supportive of my decision and didn't push me to continue. However, I have since discovered that if you have pethidine during labour, it does make bf difficult for the first few days - nobody told me that and if they had, I might have perservered a little longer if I had known it was going to improve once the pethidine was out of DS's system - anyway, I think both me and DH have benefitted from ff so I think it was the best decision.

My sister ff her 3 children and they are very healthy children.