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3 week old feeding advice

10 replies

Lottie917 · 06/02/2021 22:31

Hi all,

Looking to get some advice or tips please - FTM to a 3 week old, formula feeding.

Long story short, we recently switched to vari flow teats as DS was falling to sleep during feeds and only taking small amounts at a time. This switch has worked wonders and DS now wakes up every 3 hours for a feed like clockwork (we used to have to wake him up which was a mission sometimes!) and generally takes about 3-4oz per feed.

However we've hit a new snag which I can't seem to get to the bottom of...

Feeds typically now go like this: DS feeds nicely to begin with and takes about 2-2.5oz of formula, it's all calm and he doesn't have a problem at all with feeding, we break for burping/winding - generally about 5-10mins, we go to feed him some more and he does this thing where he takes the bottle teat and sucks but doesn't swallow the milk so once it gets too much to hold it all in his mouth, it dribbles down the side of his mouth and then he'll spit the bottle out and all the milk and cough/gag, etc.

He shows all the signs of still being hungry after being winded but also gets angry and cries that we've taken the bottle away despite him spitting it out and not actually swallowing any milk and gagging.

This all usually results in the second part of his feeds being quite clearly stressful for DS and then it's tough to settle him afterwards. On the very rare occasion we've been able to get him to feed nicely again after winding but can't figure out why / what we might have done differently.

We're making sure his tongue is down, that his body is angled slightly upright and the bottle is angled right to his mouth / teat is full of milk etc. The only other thing I thought of is perhaps the flow of the teat is too much for him now, but then he seems absolutely fine with it when starting his feeds so I'm not convinced it is that?

Anyone had anything similar happen with their LO and have any idea why it's happening? Or any tips/suggestions for what we can try to do differently would be much appreciated! Smile

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Lottie917 · 07/02/2021 08:46

Bump

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 07/02/2021 08:53

You could try paced feeding for the second half of the feed. If you think about the flow of how a breastfeed works, it starts off fast flowing and then as the feed goes on they have to work at it and it's common for them to do a bit of a nibble/suck and then wait a while before swallowing. With breastfeeding or paced feeding, this is fine because the milk doesn't keep coming out until he sucks again. With a teat full of milk, gravity is keeping it dripping into his mouth which is why he's dribbling it out. Maybe he is still following this kind of feeding instinct.

To do paced feeding you would hold him more upright in a sort of supported sitting position and hold the bottle close to horizontal. It doesn't matter if the teat is full of milk, it's a myth that it causes wind if the teat isn't full.

I'm not familiar with how the variflow teat works but if it means you can adjust the flow maybe a slower one for the second part of the feed would suit him better?

Icloud54 · 07/02/2021 21:41

He might just be sucking for comfort and not actually be hungry, try a dummy

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Cobbsgirl92 · 08/02/2021 08:33

Our baby does the same with the vari flow teats. It helped initially but now he chokes, gags etc as he can’t keep up with the milk flow. We had to return back to slow flow and although he falls asleep we find he wakes again a few minutes later for more milk and if he doesn’t wake then we just know he’s not hungry anymore.
Hope you find a solution Smile

dementedpixie · 08/02/2021 08:38

Do you really need a 5-10 minute winding break? What happens if you don't take a break or have a much shorter one?

MrsPatrickDempsey · 08/02/2021 08:39

Sounds like he has had enough milk. Just be led by him. Agree with pp about a dummy and paced feeding. Sorry but sounds a bit like you are trying to get as much milk in as possible so he goes longer between feeds. 2 - 2.5oz sounds fine. Little and more often is physiologically the norm for a newborn. Over feeding can cause reflux and tummy ache. Just let his little body and underdeveloped gastric tract get used to the milk.

dementedpixie · 08/02/2021 08:41

But if OP is stopping mid feed then maybe he hasn't had enough and stopping is putting him off his rhythm

Ginandshinythings · 08/02/2021 08:46

I would stop the mid wind, he could be frustrated and that in turn may affect his feed when you give it back to him.
When he falls asleep are you referring to night feeds, as this is normal just persist with it, try tickling toes. When feeding in the day, keep the area your feeding in bright and talk, sing to him. This will help him understand day and night over the next coming months.

Vicky1989x · 08/02/2021 10:56

I found if I winded my DD mid feed, she’d refuse to have anymore. I stopped winding her mid feed and let her drink as much as she wanted until she either let go herself or started looking uncomfortable. She started drinking more and was much more content.

Lottie917 · 10/02/2021 18:40

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I've started cutting the mid feed burping out and doing more paced feeding with holding the bottle more horizontal so he is having to actively suck to get any milk, instead of it consistently dripping into his mouth. He still gets a little messy but nowhere near as bad as before, until the end of a feed when he's had enough and doesn't really swallow anymore milk. The choking / gagging has pretty much stopped now!

He still does the lip smacking if he hasn't fallen to sleep but it's now a bit clearer when he wants more milk and when he is looking for some comfort, so his dummy works wonders when this happens Smile thanks again all

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