Bottle Feeding - at my wits end!!

[sjxoxo]

Baby boy is 11 weeks & combi fed both boob & bottle. I’d love to breastfeed only but I don’t think I have enough supply (a whole other thread). So he has some bottles too.

Almost every bottle feed is a struggle with him whining, writhing, kicking, spitting milk, crying, gurgling. He sometimes starts well and then point blank refuses the last third of the bottle.

We have tried slowing down the feeds, different milks, different positions, with no change.

My gut instinct from his behaviour is that it’s wind… rumbling tummy / trapped wind. I wind him regularly through the feed but still this writhing around, spitting, flooding and flailing persists. I have tried several bottles and teats (all slowest flow). Bottles I have tried are Avent, Elhee, Mam. All claim to be anti colic blah blah - all crap.

If you had a gassy baby what did you do & did anything work for you.. any bottle and teat combinations that actually really make a difference in air intake??? I am at my wits end and dread the bottle feeding because it seems like torture for both of us. It means he doesn’t finish the feed so we have lots of small feeds throughout the day which also means he struggles to sleep long stretches!
Zero of this when he is on the boob.

Please help!? Xo

Him fussing in the evenings could be cluster feeding which is increasing your supply. I agree with everyone else that you should put him on the boob as much as possible, eat plenty and drink plenty. Oats can help to increase supply a bit. Anytime he fusses or shows any signs of being hungry, put him on the boob.

My DS is exactly like this if the milk is too cool for him. I've found the bottle warmer didn't bring it warm enough for him so I give it a quick blast in the microwave and give the bottle a good shake to make sure there's no hot spots. I've also moved him up a teat size as size 0 was too small for him

At that age DD2 would feed for 2-3 hours at a time from 6/7 o’clock. It’s cluster feeding, or getting their order in for tomorrow so make you produce more milk to fulfill how much they need in future. If you want to increase your supply demand breastfeed trough this.

Also you’re doing amazing. Breastfeeding is hard work so is pumping at the moment you have the worst of all worlds. It does get easier.

Mine were all on 6+ feeds until at least 6 months. One of mine much preferred being bottle fed so was only having one breast feed a day from four months old, one was mostly breast fed with a couple of bottles a day at four months and my last baby had pretty much rejected bottles by four months as preferred the breast.

@sjxoxo

I hope they help while you are figuring things out. I also liked them as they are compact and aren't made for large feeds.

I know how you feel about reducing bottles though... I had so much anxiety the first month or so that we used no bottles, it really did take a while to get comfy with it. It feels like swimming without armbands doesn't it!

I reduced the amount he got by bottle very, very gradually. I wasn't strict with it, but I just tried to reduce it oz by oz. Some days he would have 4oz, the next maybe 8oz, then 6oz, then 4oz, and then a few days without, then a night with maybe 2oz... until we were completely swimming on our own 😊

Good luck! I hope everything works out for you both so your feeding relationship feels more harmonious, which ever way it goes x

Not read all the posts so sorry if someone’s said but have you tried infacol? Few drops in the bottle really helps with wind.

Also sometimes BF babies sense your milk and refuse a bottle from their mum so could you try your partner giving the bottle so they are like oh that’s ‘daddy not mummy yummy this is different’.

Hello all, thanks so much for all advice - some interesting things here I’ve not thought of so Thankyou!! Typically in a bizarre twist of fate for the last 48 hours baby boy has been happy on the bottle but started refusing my right boob on and off.. he’s fed from it three times today but refused three too! Really odd. Last night I have some calpol as I thought perhaps sore throat (DH has had a cold) or similar discomfort, didn’t help much, it’s such a guessing game.. makes me feel like a failure only a few months in. Him rejecting the boob is horrible although I know obviously theres a reason, as his mama it hurts! He’s been better taking the bottle ironically but still we could improve it as I still feel like he’s uncomfortable.. lots of wriggling squirming, on, off… so reassuring to read all your replies, thanks so much for taking the time to post xxx