Long feedings

[ProudFTMum]

Hi mummas

I don’t know if anyone has experienced this before, I have a gorgeous 10 week old who is bottle fed (breast milk) and feedings have been an absolute nightmare lately. He takes forever to eat, most of the time fusses and wiggles around after the first break to wind, and at times it can take over an hour to finish the feeding. It also stops us from doing anything else as most of his awake time is spent on the bottle..

I don’t really if anyone has experienced anything similar and if there is a way to make things better? I am getting really exhausted by this and dreading feeding times - I just feel like every day is a battle now and there’s no enjoyment at all.

On the positive side he does eat a good volume (once we eventually manage to eat) we are over 1000 ml-s over 24 h (he’s just over 5 kg as he was born premature)

Try a faster flow nipple

We tried but it’s too much for him. We had some issues earlier with him eating slowly when in the bottle but he seem to have overcome it, so when he actually eats he is feeding well. It’s just so broken up, it takes up pretty much his entire awake window

Have you tried adjusting how tight the collar is screwed onto the bottle, if its too tight, the valve thingy that lets the air back into the bottle (so the milk can flow out) cant operate. Of course if its too loose, the milk will leak out, so you have to judge it carefully.

The other option is dont stop to wind him half way through, not every baby needs it and he might just want to keep going

Is he fusses and wriggles about after you stop to wind is it possible he just doesn’t want anymore?maybe he would be better with smaller feeds more regularly, I know the thought of more feeds probably isn’t what you want to think of but maybe it would be less traumatic if you just stop when he fusses and try again later.

@SeaToSki yes we tried the bottle, he is doing much better now in terms of how efficient he is when he is actually eating, it’s more like the fact that he starts fussing halfway through. I don’t take him off the bottle, he actually stops eating himself and then I burp him, but I always let him keep going as long as he wants.

@MotherOfDragon20 I did think that but then he seems to be hungry and wants the bottle, he just starts fussing after a few sips..what I might try is let him have the first half, then nappy change and a bit of playtime to give him a break and then offer him the second half before his next nap...not sure how that’ll work

I have the HV coming tomorrow, I’ll ask if it could be anything physiological or maybe something with my milk..?

What are you eating at the moment? Have you had any meals with a lot more garlic, onions, cabbage, broccoli etc? All that can cause discomfort in a bf baby. The other possibility is that he has developed a sensitivity to something, its about this age when it starts to show. Does he have red cheeks?

First of all, congratulations. Your baby sounds gorgeous.

I think you have to put up with it for a bit longer, being as your baby was premature. Premature babies do take ages to feed, that's life I'm afraid.

Just accept and go with the flow.

It won't last for much longer, he'll soon be nicking chips off your plate!

@SeaToSki I am trying to think but I don’t think I eat anything different to what I used to before this started..no broccoli or cabbage at all. I do tend to have quite a lot of dairy though, could that be it? I thought if that was an issue we would have noticed that by now? Although if as you say this is the time sensitivities start showing that could potentially be it.

@Maggiesfarm he is a superstar . I wouldn’t mind the long feeding times if I knew that was normal and he always fed like this. He used to really enjoy meal times and used to feed really well up until maybe last week or so. Now he is not finishing his bottles, only over a long period of time and at multiple attempts and he very often cries and fusses even though he is still hungry and he is asking for the bottle only to spit it out after a few sips, and then it starts all over again. Something clearly distresses him and it breaks my heart

It can take some time to build food sensitivities as their immune systems don't start up right away (they rely on your antibodies for the first couple of months before they start making their own). Maybe try eliminating all the dairy from your diet for a week and see if it helps (you will have to read labels as it hides in loads of foods). Google all the alternative names for milk products. Make sure you get your calcium though, maybe take a supplement?

@SeaToSki thank you so much for explaining it makes perfect sense! Will give it a go and see how we get on, I just need to be very careful checking all the labels now. Thank you for your help