Moving to bottle 7 week old

[NewMummyNew2021]

Hi, FTM here but been on mumsnet for a few years as taken 5 years to have our beautiful little boy. He’s 7 weeks now and just need some advice on feeding as feel like I’ve tried everything on this.

I have been breastfeeding him since birth, he had one bottle at one week old when I was in so much pain I couldn’t feed him. I’ve healed and his latch is better so we are getting on with breast feeding now. He took that formula well so I thought there would be no problem moving to combi feeding.

At 4 weeks old I introduced the bottle and formula at the 8/9pm feed to start the process. It’s not gone well, he started with Tommie tippee bottles and cow and gate powder. He would take 1 oz then cry and fuss. It was a long process. My DH fed him and I left room etc. Read all the tips to help the process.

So kept with that one feed for 2 weeks to try and get it established. It’s really up and down, tried Mam bottles and minbie, very slow and slow teats. An oz is taking an hour and it’s a battle. Then he won’t settle after, tried dummies to help comfort. Sometimes he takes it sometimes he doesn’t.

A week ago I started a morning feed to see if we persevered would it help and he would get used to it, nope just sort of stuck in this no mans land of it not really working but not full on refusal.

Don’t know what to do next, I wanted to slowly transfer him to fully bottle as never intended to do 6 months breast feeding but that’s seeming like the least stressful option at the moment, but then I always need to be around and DH can’t help if we won’t take a bottle.

The only thing I haven’t done is expressed and used bottle as don’t think the formula is an issue, tried pre made and aptamil as well as cow and gate.

Any thoughts as stuck on next steps, sorry it’s so long!

Have you tried the closer to nature bottles? I've had success with those.

Maybe try a faster flow teat as well.

You can try walking with him when feeding. Tapping the end of the bottle to encourage him to focus on what he's doing.

Make sure you burp him thoroughly as you go along and avoid serving the milk when it has just been shaken and is bubbly.

Make sure he isn't getting too hungry before the bottle is offered.

Try at whatever feed is his most alert.

Honestly I wouldn't bother. I spent a really long time getting DS1 to take a bottle so I could go to on2e day out when he was 7 months or so. It was such a battle and meant we had to get bottles and sterilise them and all that.

It was such a faff that with DC2 I never bothered. Just breastfeeding was do much easier and less work.

Your husband can still help. In the middle of the night if DS was unsettled I would feed then hand him over and DH would settle him. In the mornings I would feed him then get some lie-in while DH took him downstairs. Both options still easier than making up bottles for me.

Thanks for responding

I’ve tried closer to nature and he didn’t seem to get on with them, MAM he seems a lot better and have tried the 1st and 2nd flow teats, could try a faster one but there’s a bit of milk coming out his mouth on the 2nd one as it is so might be too fast?

Not tried walking so could try that, all the other points we do or have tried. This evening he was having none of it at all. Just spat it out!

I am considering just not bothering but then how do you ever go out for a few hours without him?

I know a few people who just gave up as it was too stressful and waited until they were weaned.

I’m wondering if I stop for a week and start again to introduce the bottle or does that make it worse?!

We combi feed and DD doesn't like the tommy tippee bottles. We mainly use Nuk bottles with a couple of Mam ones at GPs house for the odd time that she might need a bottle there. Have you tried the ready made formula with the teats included? They are nuk style and our DD took those no problem, which is when we decided to switch.

I haven’t tried the ready made with teats incl as assumed they wouldn’t be as good so was buying the most realistic to boob I could!

Funnily enough we have some in as I wanted to be covered should we need them. I’m going to try one in the morning and report back then, see if he will take it.

I am considering just not bothering but then how do you ever go out for a few hours without him?
You don't, but only for a short time really. By about 4 months he was reliably sleeping till about midnight so I could do bedtime feed them have an evening out. Around the same time he was going at least 3 hours between feeds in the day. At 6-7 months I was at pretty set 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm so gaps there with the 11am changing to a snack around 11 months.

I'm not saying not to persevere with the bottles if you want to and there's lots to be said for it. Just not to get too hung up on it if it is becoming more stressful than it's worth. I found it far more too stressful and far more work than the outcome justified which is why I couldn't be arsed even trying with DC2.

How long do you have before your maternity leave runs out?

I’m taking the full year so I go back in sept 22. Don’t really want to be breast feeding that long though

What worked for us was warmer than normal milk, but it was around 5 months or so! Mam bottles were always best.

it sounds like you are worried about how you can go out/leave him? so I breastfed my little boy and found that from around 8-10 weeks I could increasingly leave him with DH if I timed it right. from 12-14 weeks i went off out on my bike for an hour or two, come back and showered etc, before seeing to baby again. he was fine with that. I left a bottle of expressed milk if he needed it but he often didn't and I stopped bothering. Once he got to 4/5 months the feeds dropped a fair bit, and then at 6 months you introduce food anyway! it feels like a long time off when you're at 7 weeks but the feed frequency really improves so much and then food is introduced and it isn't really that long. I wouldn't bother introducing a bottle more than you already are (unless you really want to for other reasons too) as you can leave him with a bottle of formula and it'll be enough to tide him over until you get back. then very quickly you won't be needed as often anyway. hope that all makes sense!

Have a perfect prep, don’t know how I would make it warmer? Traditional way and buy a thermometer?

Lochmaree. Yep I guess I want some independence! As much as I’m proud of breastfeeding so far as it’s really really hard (no one mentions this beforehand!) I didn’t foresee me doing it for 6 months.
But what you’ve said helps, I guess I’m thinking it will always be like this rather than the feeds drop.
We are meant to be going on a night out in December which I can’t see happening, he will be 3 months but if he won’t take a bottle I can’t leave him for c 4/5 hours with grandma.

Just seen dappledthings response, sorry I’m blaming lack of sleep! So in time it will mean I can get a few hours to do my own thing. It helps to know there won’t be as many feeds and they are a bit more set in the day, the unpredictability at the moment is hard.

Don’t mean to sound like I don’t want to be with my son, he’s amazing and im so happy we were finally blessed with him. I just want to know I can have a bit of me time soon! Go for a run or a night out

Bfeeding gets better after 12-16 weeks as they become efficient and feed way less so the crazy you're feeling right now will die down.

I say you go with feed and let your other half take baby for a few hours. Once he's a little older (month or two) he will go a lot longer between feeds.

With Ds1 I went back at 16 weeks and expressed for a year... Ds1 refused to drink it and I just stayed awake all night to feed. So at worst... Babs will find a way to obtain the milk if you're not around during the day 🤔

If you want to go for a run, just feed him immediately before you go. If you want to go for a two hour run and he can’t go two hours without a feed then go for two one hour runs or four half hour runs instead.

If you want to go for a night out just take him with you. If it’s past his bedtime he can sleep in the pram or in a sling. You’d be surprised how much noise a baby can sleep through.

My DS nurses very frequently at home but as soon as he’s in a new environment he goes much longer between feeds so it’s easy to go out with him. At home it’s hard work entertaining an easily bored baby and I’m always looking forward to his next feed because that’s when I get a chance to relax and browse the internet. As yours gets older he’ll probably be the same.

DH had him this morning while I got a nap and gave him a pre made bottle with the teat they come with, cow and gate one. He took just under 2oz over 45 mins so I got a longer nap which was good.

Still very slow and he took a while but he took some! The morning feed is always calmer so will try the same approach tonight and see if he takes it then.

Other than that looks like I’m doing 6 months lol. If it gets easier and less feeds it feels less daunting.

Thought I’d update, we tried the prepared bottle with teat tonight and he took 2oz so definite improvement. It wasn’t easy and took about 40 mins but he was calmer than the last few nights and managed to take it so a step forward. Will try a few days with them and see what happens!

Have you tried faster flow teats? Our daughter was taking a bottle of expressed milk okay weeks 4-7 then around 8 weeks became fussy. Swapped to the next size up teats with a faster flow and she was happier again. If they have to work too hard they tend not to like it! Also temperature can be important for some babies - some are more fussy than others!

I feel your pain re wanting to regain some independence. I echo others that as you get nearer 12 weeks they become a bit more predictable which enables you to leave them for longer. You can try to establish a gentle routine using wake windows so you know roughly how long you'll have between feeds if it's very sporadic at the moment. This worked well with our daughter from 8 weeks ish and has meant we mostly avoid the dreaded overtiredness!

it is really hard yeah! especially in the beginning. I found it was a faff and restricted me/independence in the first 8-10 weeks and then after that it got much easier and increasingly seemed to give me freedom rather than faff. you need to find what works for you, but the first couple of months are intense and it doesn't stay like that. I'm still using it to my advantage now as pregnant with DC2 and i can lie dozing while DS 22mo breastfeeds, giving me an extra half hour in bed!

Guidingspirit. Think it’s working with the premade bottles he’s had nearly 2 of the 70ml bottles this morning ☺️

Any particular nuk bottle that’s is the same or just the newborn one? Which teat did you try? Keen to see if this is the bottle that cracks it!

All the responses have given me food for thought on maybe staying on combi feeding for longer rather than full trf to formula (if he will finally take a bottle).