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Can a slow flow teat cause gas?

3 replies

CoalCraft · 15/04/2021 11:14

DD is nearly 5 months, adjusted to 3 months accounting for prematurity.

She has always been a good eater but over the last few weeks that's started to change. She's become fussy when feeding, wriggling, easily getting distracted, hitting the bottle, generally taking aaaages to feed. She's also become really gassy. Tbh she's always been a bit gassy, mostly because she's really hard to burp, but it's gotten way worse recently, not only in the sense that she farts more but also in that she pulls her knees up and fusses when lying on her back, and looks slightly bloated. She also sometimes gives a piercing cry immediately after eating, which is fixed by burping. The trouble is, as I say, she's really tough to burp and a lot of the air she swallows ends up going all the way through :( I do always try to burp her once or twice during a feed, and then again once she's done, but not always successfully.

I am wondering if a faster flow teat might help limit air intake - could it be her mouth isn't full of liquid so the rest of the space is taken up by air? Does that make any sense? She has always used slow flow so would be going to medium (Tommee Tippee). But then I am also wondering whether something else is causing the gas and the fussing when eating is actually due to discomfort. I sort of imagine a vicious circle - she has a lot of wind for some reason, so she fusses, and in fussing she takes in more wind.

We have also recently gone up in feed volume so I did think maybe it's too much, but she's not spitting up really (sometimes a few mL comes up with a big burp but she's always been like that) and she doesn't seem more uncomfortable when she finishes a bottle compared with when she doesn't. In fact, the good feeds where she doesn't fuss and seems to concentrate are generally the ones where she drains the lot.

Sorry for rambling. Basically the question is - have you ever known gas problems to be alleviated by using a faster flow teat or am I barking up the wrong tree?

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Vicky1989x · 15/04/2021 11:45

Using slow flow can definitely cause gas problems as they have to suck harder to get the milk and end up taking in lots of air.

Definitely sounds like you need to try a faster teat.. there’s no harm, it can take a few attempts for them to adjust. My DD was a little more sicky until she adjusted.

BunnyRuddington · 15/04/2021 12:34

I agree, I'd just try a faster test and if that doesn't help, come back and MN should be able to help Smile

CoalCraft · 15/04/2021 12:40

Thanks guys, I've ordered the medium flow teats to arrive today so hopefully they help!

I'm just a bit of a hypochondriac and prone to thinking "what it's" like "what if she's gassy / uncomfortable for some other reason and that's what's causing the feeding fussiness?", so it's reassuring to hear slow teats can indeed cause gas :)

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