Struggling with FF Baby

[westonx]

Hi everyone,

Our DS is 8 weeks old and formula fed on Aptamil 1. We have been struggling with his feeds for weeks now - half the time he is fine, half the time we can hear him gulping in air, bubbles in his tummy & he is pulling away screaming throughout the feed. We then have to wind him every half an oz.

We have been giving him Infacol which seemed to work sometimes but he has been projectile vomiting - this happens 2 hours after a feed. I have read similar experiences which got better after swapping from Infacol to Dentinox so have ordered some to give it a try.

We are using mam bottles, size 2 teat.

Does anyone have any other advice please? Is it worth trying Comfort milk?

I spoke to my health visitor who said as he is gaining weight and usually content that they would not advise speaking to GP/ gaviscon.

:-)

The teats might be a bit fast and/or he might have reflux. Follow the advice to feed him little and often, sat upright, burp frequently and if that doesn't help the GP can help. Our 12 week old has the milk thickened with carobel which has almost completely solved the problem

Do you do paced feeding? That helped a lot with our DS who had reflux. Sit baby upright and keep the bottle at a horizontal level so they aren't flooded with milk. You could also try a smaller teat. My DS was on size 0 mam teat and then size 1 for ages as it stopped him guzzling which made him worse. Some things to try maybe? It can be tough though OP so hang on in there x

I came to say the same as PP, we didn’t move onto size 2’s until 4 months and size 3’s at 7 months. It sounds like they may be causing some issues.

You could try on another brand of milk, many in my latest babies Facebook group switched to kendamil.

I second trying a different milk. My first was on cow and gate and was absolutely fine but with my second I’ve had to try a couple of different ones. He was very constipated and gassy on cow and gate and the GP advised trying a different milk, I hadn’t thought of it as everyone constantly bangs on about how all infant milks are the same.
We’ve settled on hip organic as it seems to have eased the digestive issues.

I think the teat size is too big. Try size 0, and also I’ve heard loads of babies have issues with Aptamil.
We use Kendamil or Hipp Organic and that solved a lot of wind/sick issues for us

Why size 2 teats for an 8 week old baby? Way too fast. Try size 1’s and maybe try a different bottle.

I also think the test sounds too big ! I don’t think we moved to 2’s until 5 or so months

Definitely this have a try with different teats see which one suits best and as for gaviscon do try it my DD had it in every bottle and helped lots don't know why HV said that

Also doctor can prescribe special formula milk which DD also got and again worked amazing so it might be a good option to explore if your still not happy x

Agree that teat seems too fast. Are you sure he's gulping air and not just struggling with the speed the milk comes out?

Thanks everyone!

We changed his teat size as he was taking over an hour to feed and seemed to be trying really hard to get his milk - I still have the other sizes though so will switch back and see if it will help.

How can we tell @Hugasauras ? 😊 he doesn’t dribble milk while he is drinking it and we can hear him sucking to get the milk… FTM I’m not sure of anything! 😅

How many ounces is he having?

I'm not up to speed with formulas - is it a thicker formula or are you using Carobel or anything that might make it harder to come out the teat? If he's gulping at all on the bottle I would assume it is milk flow and not air. My DD is BF but she only gulps when the milk is coming too fast for her at the start of a feed.

@GingerAndLemonn usually around 5oz - every 3 hours in the day and every 4 ish at night 😊

Thats quite a lot for an 8 week old so could be why he’s taking so long to feed. I’d try the first size teats again and pace feed. For reference, my giant 10 month old only has 5oz feeds.

It’s all trial and error at this stage! Good luck I hope you manage to figure out his discomfort. It’s so difficult when they’re so small ♥️

Does he want the 5ozs every 3 hours or do you time every 3 hours sounds like lots I done 5 ozs every 4 hours and only fes if DD woke up during night but she has quite annoying reflux it took a good 4 months to have it spot on hope you don't have to wait that long lol

Hi OP

My DD was similar and had reflux. That sounds like quite a lot of food. I think the NHS website says 150-200 ml per kg per 24 hrs.

I found ff every two hrs in the day and approx three at night (which was when dd naturally woke up) and keeping her upright for half an hour (hard at night!) after food helped a lot.
we also pace fed her in a very upright position with a horizontal bottle. We moved from Aptamil to Hipp Organic - which I think helped. It may be worth trying a formula change.

My DD’s reflux and colic was a lot better at 12 weeks and friends have said similar so hopefully things settle down soon.

Isn’t Dentinox for teething?

Is he actually that hungry as it seems a lot of formula for a two month old

Also agree it seems a little of formula for a baby so young. Is he actually wanting so much formula?
There's no harm trying infacol (dentinox infant colic drops didn't help us at all)

I would try paced feeding, maybe a size 1 teat (so half way from size 0 and size 2) and see if he actually wants 5oz every 3 hours. Maybe try 4oz every 4 hours. Our just follow his hunger cues.

A Lot of formula sorry. Not little!

Worth trying Dr Browns anti colic bottles. They were a game changer for us.

Dr Browns bottles and colief helped us. I’m surprised at size 2 teats as well. mine was on 5 oz bottles by then but we’re feeding fine once the colic had gone.