Breast to bottle feeding 11 wk old

[Nefertare]

hi i'm a first time mum to an 11 wk old girl who has recently gone from little angel to total nightmare and i really need some advice!

Alex was on a great natural schedule till 8 wks (fed every 3 ish hrs, regular naps, bed at ten, one feed at 4am, awake at 7ish). i have had a lot of probs with feeding which meant two two day periods of bottle feeding (expressed and formula) which she took fine. This lasted throughout christmas, even with the upheval of going to my parents.

but since 8 wks shes been increasingly fussy at feeds on me or bottle, eating less and waking a lot at night (i assume because she's not eating enough in the day), napping for no longer than 35 mins at a time (unless she's asleep on one of us) and doing a lot of dirty nappies a day whereas previously she'd go 2/3 days without one. There has been a few occassions where she has spat up a whole feed as well and she's not putting on enough weight.

Unfortunately this has coincided with us starting to try to get her on bottles (fussiness started first) as I go back to work in March and she has to be on bottles by then. But she's only taking a maximum of 3oz from the bottles, we do the lunchtime and early afternoon feed as bottle at the moment.

Does anyone one have any advice on a structured approach to getting her on the bottle and ensuring she eats enough?! Or any idea what might be causing the problems, she had her BCG and 8 wks shots within 5 days of each other, but no illness that we can detect. Shes drooling a lot and gnawing a bit on her cheeks, but not chewing on things so not sure if teething is the problem? The health visitor suspectgs reflux and will weigh her again in two weeks and monitor symptoms, but if that is a problem I don't think it's the only one.

Am so very very tired due to her waking sometimes every hr at night and not napping and I just want her back to being healthy as the slow weight gain has me worried, she was a big baby (9lb 2oz) and despite numerous health problems I had (dermatitis, thrush, recurrant mastitis, burst blood vessels...all at once!) she was putting on plenty of weight and now it's all gone horribly downhill!

any help would be much appreciated!

I think personally if it was me I'd jig her nap routine about a bit. By this age you can ease them into a routine (at least I could with my 2).

Mine was roughly:

6am feed (or whenever they wake if slightly later.
Put back to bed once they've been awake only an hour.
11.30am nap
3.30pm ish another nap to get them through to bed time
5.45pm bath time
6.30pm bed and feed in darkened room.
11pm dream feed in dark room

Feed at 2 or 3am whenever they wake

If BF'ing I usually BF every 3 hours or if a growth spurt every 2 hours in the day, my son was 9lbs and 8oz and was fed every 3 hours and closer to weaning it became every 2 hours. He always emptied both my breasts and I had to eat and drink like a horse. Lots of tips on the kellymom website for BF. Once on formula, every 4 hours will probably be fine...

I suspect once her nap routine is settled a bit she'll sleep better at night.

My second child wouldn't take a bottle AT ALL and I finally found one he would take and liked at 6 months old made by NUK. You could try that brand and see if she likes it better?

It is often easier if someone else introduces the bottle, as the baby will smell your milk and refuse the bottle. It's best IME to use your expressed milk in the first instance. Once she is used to bottles switch to a formula. You could try an easy digest one? If it is reflux you need Gaviscon Infant or something similar, get your GP to prescribe it as then it will be free with your NHS exemption card on prescription

Another thing to try is Colief drops added to the milk in the bottle, in case it's a lactose intolerance if the above doesn't help? You can buy this in a pharmacy.

Formula does make them poo a lot more and can even make them constipated, compared to breast milk, but you've got time here to experiment with different formula's, bottles and various other things to see what helps. Try not panic March is far enough away to do this.

Good luck x

The other thing I was thinking is, do you always have an identical method of settling for naps, so she knows it's nap time? Or a different place she sleeps in the day, so she knows it's a daytime nap?

The Baby Whisperer book is excellent here for advice and when she's bigger, it has a great sleep training method that doesn't involve leaving them to cry it out. But does teach them to self settle.

My son has a certain blanket for daytime naps and always needs his bunny in his right hand to stroke against his nose whilst sucking his thumb. LOL I always make sure he has recently had a feed/ food. A clean nappy and teething gel as he is teething already. This combination and of course having a good routine, means he settles for naps without too much resistance.