Baby guzzles bottle

[Beckabub]

Hi! My 10 week old baby is combi fed but mainly formula due to issues with my supply and his ability to transfer milk. When he drinks from the bottle he guzzles it so quickly, it's always frantic feeding, he screams when I give him breaks or go to burp him. He feeds between every 2/3 hours during the day and night; with the occasional 4 hour break during the night if he is asleep. He is fed on demand but goes from fast asleep to screaming for food straight away. There are no cues or anything, just sudden screaming/crying. How can I make feeding calmer as he ends up windy and distressed which exasperates his reflux? Or is this likely to just be something he will grow out of in time? He acts like he's never been fed!! He drinks on average between 100-150ml per feeding from bottle. Appreciate any help/advice!!

I have a 10 week old too. Same issues with supply. She was a guzzlers aswell with bottles. I've given up breast feeding now though.
What typ of bottles are you using? I was using mam with stage one teats, then stage 2 teats, and she had so much wind and was gulping it in in scary amounts. People kept telling me mam were the best but one day I was in sainsburys and they had dr Browns bottles ( on half price at the moment) so I grabbed 6 of them and 6 stage 2 teats. The difference was instant. She still struggles about a bit but that's moreto do with reflux I'm sure. She is so much calmer taking her milk now, and has muchness wind.
I used Dr browns with both y other kids but I was sucked in with mam because of the self sterilizer function. I wasted so uch money on them. Should have gone with my first instinct.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion hi thanks for your reply! I have been using tommee tippee anti colic ones and also mam anti colic ones. Born with the slow flow stage one teats. My baby was a month premature and small for his age so don't think he's ready for the faster flowing teats yet. So did dr browns make the feeding calmed or just improve the reflux? I have been toying with purchasing some dr brown ones but wasn't sure if it would make a difference or if it is just the way he feeds!!!

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion sorry seen your said it made feeding calmer! Will give them a go!!

You may be giving the milk too fast and causing him discomfort. Look up paced feeding and give it a go. This will also help prevent breast refusal if you want to keep breastfeeding.
Chronic true low supply is actually very rare. The best way to build your supply is to effectively remove milk. Do you know why your baby is having issues with milk transfer? Has he been checked for tongue tie?

@Crikeycroc hello, thanks for your reply. He was born premature only by one month. I tried breastfeeding from day one and my milk didn't come in for weeks. I hand expressed into tiny syringes the colostrum multiple times a day and pumped every 3/4 hours when in hospital, whilst continuing to try and breastfeed first. As he was only 4.5lb I had to give him formula as he was getting no milk and we were worried about him losing too much weight and his sugar levels. He was on antibiotics for infections too. He had jaundice and would fall asleep on the boob after two seconds and slept all the time. He had tongue tie badly which was snipped after a couple of weeks which improved latch slightly. After a week in hospital When We came home I continued to attempt to breastfeed first, pump every 3/4 hours and give him expressed milk but it took me all day to even get a full bottle so I had to give formula. He would scream with hunger after even 2 hours feeding from the breast straight. I've had input from the infant feeding team who have said the only thing left I can try is prescribed medication which is a route I didn't want to go down. Natural milk enhancing supplements did nothing. Every suggestion medically and otherwise I have tried. I have been doing paced feeding too but he just seems to guzzle even if the bottle is only in his mouth for a few seconds, it's just not calm at all!! I still breastfeed about three times per day usually in the morning when my supply is slightly higher, it only fills him for about half an hour tho. People told me put him to the breast again even if it's only been half an hour-I tried this which resulted in a 9 hour constant feed (a couple five minute breaks for nappy change) and he screamed after with hunger and had a bottle of formula like he normally would, his nappies were barely wet either which implies he wasn't getting milk. I have continued with trying breastfeeding/pumping for ten weeks every day, I wish I could breastfeed but it just hasn't happened for us.

I think the mam bottles just have big holes in the teats to be honest. I had her on stage one for about the first 6 weeks and she choked on them too. The Dr browns bottles are sold with stage one teats so the holes in them should be OK. Honestly though, he could be a bit frantic and screaming because he's not getting enough out?

Ok I'll probably get pounced on for this but OP I would really advise giving up the breast feeding. I had very low supply. Couldn't even express (this has happened with all my children) I saw specialists, I tried every pump you could think of. My nipples were agony. I couldnt even put clothes on at one point. My health visitor heavily hinted at me giving up, although they are not allowed to actively advise that.
After a few days, I got over the guilt (which I only felt because of reading threads on here. No one in real life made me feel that way. Infact everyone was telling me to stop). Once I did and switched bottles everything got so much easier, calmer and I felt like a weight had completely lifter off of me, and my baby was happier. She was also frantic on the breast, and that's because she was basically getting nothing out. I had high blood pressure, low iron. She was 10lbs 6 when she was born, and I just couldn't produce enough for her.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion he finishes a bottle in about 5/10 minutes so I don't think it's because he's not getting enough out? I could be wrong tho! Bigger teats we tried before on ready made formula bottles he choked on and struggled with. I do have stage 2 teat here from a set I bought I could try next time. I've ordered some dr brown bottles which are coming today tho! Yeah I keep thinking about giving up breastfeeding but I'm finding it hard personally to give it up as it's something I wanted to do so much. And when he does do it (even if only for such a short time) he seems so happy. But I think I am going to stop soon as he's not getting enough and it makes him hungry and then he has little bits of formula throughout the day but seems always hungry as he's out of sync. Thanks for the advice, it is hard not to feel guilt!

Definitely look up paced bottle feeding on YouTube.

It is hard to give up OP. I cried on and off for a few days. It still annoys me that I couldn't feed her myself because I had a hard time with my boys with formula and I was convinced thus would fix everything, but it fixed nothing. Infact it was worse.

Good luck. I hope things get better for you and him

Just wanted to say well done for trying so hard for so long with the breastfeeding, sounds like you're doing everything you can. I bf my first for 6 weeks then combi til about 3 months, it was one of the hardest things I've done.

Good luck with all the fab advice you've got on here

Breastfeeding can be so incredibly hard I personally know how utterly draining it is to feed baby, pump and top up. Of course, it is totally fine to stop if that is what you want and it will probably be a relief.

Is the prescription medicine that has been suggested called Domperidone? If you are finding it too upsetting to contemplate stopping breastfeeding I would encourage you to go on Facebook and search for a support group. You will find masses of women there who are taking this medicine so you could talk to them about any concerns you have about it.

We had this with DS too. Definitely try paced feeding (if you haven't already). We also gave him a dummy during feeding just to slow him down a bit. As he likes the sucking but let his milk settle in his tummy. He also bought his own wind up sucking on the dummy. Good luck OP x