Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Baby fussing on bottle, not on breast

5 replies

DairyIntolerantBaby · 03/07/2025 12:01

Hi! Hoping you mummies can help with some advice, or suggest if I need to see a GP/health visitor. I do struggle with health anxiety so trying to be more rational.

my baby is primarily breast fed (12 weeks old) but she was struggling with weight gain at the beginning due to me having severe mastitis and in the hospital so health visitor suggested 2 x formula a day. She is now thriving weight wise.

BUT, she fusses like mad on the bottle, screams, nose flares, and most scary- she acts as if she almost can’t breathe, she gasps for air and gulps the milk and then pulls off, takes huge breaths and screams. She never does this on breast, she feeds perfectly & falls asleep. I feel she is a little blue tinged around her mouth but my partner says he can’t see that at all, and that she is just fair (GP said same at 6 week check)

she is otherwise really happy and cheery, smiley and meeting all expected guidelines.

could it be the bottle? We’ve tried all sorts as she also has a high palate (no tongue tie) and she finally settled on nuk bottles but now she is dreadful again. Any advice? I am happy to just breastfeed as my supply has increased but I’m also worried it’s a red flag so don’t want to ignore!

please be kind I’m incredibly sensitive haha! she was such a wanted baby that we tried years to conceive. I already have 2 but don’t remember feeding issues like this, although I only breastfed

Baby fussing on bottle, not on breast
OP posts:
Hopefulbride18 · 03/07/2025 18:32

What size teat are you using OP?

Breastfed babies can be used to a slower flow so the teat may be too fast for her.

Second thing.. look up elevated side lying position and feed her like that when giving a bottle. It is the position which is most similar breastfeeding and often safest.

Hope some of that helps. I wouldn't ignore those cues, something is not quite right.

SunnyFTM567 · 06/07/2025 16:55

Teat size? My breastfed baby was on size 1 at 6 months (he was getting bottles of expressed milk once or twice a day at this age), I tried bigger sizes and he'd choke and gulp etc. Around 7-8 months he changed and wanted size 4 suddenly, he just lost patience lol.

CocoPlum · 06/07/2025 17:11

Who evaluated her for a tongue tie? Only those go hand in hand with high palates. While I don't know the full history I'd be dubious of a HV who would suggest feeding formula when a mum has mastitis as a) formula and BM have pretty much equivalent calories and b) it's important to get the milk moving with mastitis.

Slow flow teat and pace feeding, know she will take in more air on the bottle, and get her checked by the GP again because the cyanosis is odd (although I also had a child who would get that with a cold).

eccyspoons · 06/07/2025 19:07

Is there an IBCLC you could see? Most people just think of them for breastfeeding, but the one I saw does bottle feeding advice too. She assessed my baby for a tongue tie too when we went (he was 11 weeks), but we decided not to do anything about it because mom not in pain and he’s settled and gaining well. She was wonderful and if you’re in the Midlands I can share details.

BunnyRuddington · 13/07/2025 13:22

Who ruled out the TT @DairyIntolerantBaby?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread