Fussing on his bottle..is this normal

[Pheebe]

My 12 week old son was drinking well from his bottle on #2 teats but fusses and spits it out and cries now. I moved him up to #3s but he often chokes and needs to stop often as if to catch his breath. He's still eating well, gaining weight and getting enough milk but every mealtime is a real struggle now. He isn't colicky and brings up plenty of wind on his own. Is this just a normal phase??

i was just about to say try a no. 3 teet but you already have. maybe go back to no. 2 though - sounds like its too fast for him.

maybe he has a cold and cant breathe through his nose when feeding? cant think of anything else.

Hi there,
I have been having the same trouble with my little one, he is 9 weeks old and for the past 2 weeks he has been taking a couple of gulps and then crying as if in pain. it takes him about an hour to drink one bottle and this is becoming a bit of a tie, if i feed him less he still roots for food, i have tried a couple of teats but nothing seems to help, any advise would be much appreciated.

Not sure I can offer advice but we also go through these stages & I've played around with teat sizes too to see if it makes a difference. Sometimes think it does and sometimes not (ds is 10 weeks). I remember my first doing this too (she's now 2.5), so think it's pretty normal.

The only other thing could be the temperature of the milk - I've tried to get ds to drink his milk fairly cold so that it won't matter if we're out somewhere & it's not easy to warm it up (did this with dd & she was pretty good - would drink milk at any temperature). However he really doesn't seem to drink it well when it's room temperature, so have gone back to warming it up (on the other hand he will take back a half finished bottle sometimes up to an hour later & that is cold, so perhaps it doesn't really matter after all)

jbadgirl - I've started mixing teats the last couple of days (a bit of a bind when making bottles up but seems to help). He gets #2s for his bedtime and dream feed when he's tired (or asleep) and #3s for his daytime feeds. I've also found it seems to help if he's sitting almost bolt upright and I take the bottle out of his mouth every time he starts to turn his head away then give it straight back when he seems ready. Doesn't work every time but at least its less of a battle! Another thing someone suggested which I havnt tried yet is to feed less often (but offer more milk) so he only eats when he's really hungry. I'm a bit wary of changing his routine too much though. Hope this helps

Hi again, just been out and bought some #2 teats but they dont do them in #3 in the shop, they r the nuk teats but i know i can get them online! Today he has been worse with feeds or it seems like it! It seems to me that he is having trouble pooing yet he isnt constipated. He is on farleys milk and some expressed milk but not sure whether to try another make.

Hi jbadgirl, I'd be inclined to stick with the same milk for now if he's been ok with it until recently and he's gaining weight etc. (check with hv but i think it can upset their tummies even more to change brands). DS has changed poo habits as well, he's gone from regular once a day to once every other day although he doesn't seem distressed and doesn't have trouble going when he's ready. Maybe this is all something to do with their bodies getting ready for solids???

My son is 5 months old and has been bottle fed since 10 weeks. He started fine, taking about 8 or 9 oz at each feed with no problem. In the last 4 weeks, though, he has started to fight the bottle, pursing his lips and flicking his head to avoid the bottle being put into his mouth. We eventually get the botle intohis mouth and he will eventually drink 5-7 oz, but we feel awful for forcing the bottle into his mouth....why is he like this all of a sudden?

He still has 25 oz a day, and now some solids, but the milk feding is a real struggle.