Confused by bottle feeding - please help

[hotchocolate86]

I’m not sure if this is the right place to post as I already have my baby but I have never bottle fed before and am really confused by it. Hopefully someone can help. She is 8 weeks now and I think I need to move her into bottles due to tongue tie and reflux. She isn’t gaining weight as she should, is feeding constantly, unsettled, projectile vomiting, struggling to latch and clicking when she feeds.
What size bottles do I need for her? Do I need to buy the smallest or can I buy the next size up so they last longer? How many bottles do I need for 24 hours worth of feeds?
Do I have to make up each feed up individually while juggling a screaming baby? If so does each bottle need sterilising individually and if not how do I keep the bottles sterile? Once you open a steriliser the contents are no longer sterile I think.
Regarding milk are the anti reflux formulas any good? And similarly should I bother with anti colic bottles or just get a basic bottle? There are so many bottle types and brands I have no idea which to go for and I just get confused when I look.
She has had an occasional bottle and when she has one it can take her an hour to finish a feed. Is this normal or will she become quicker as she gets used to it?
I’m so sorry for all the questions. I have never bottle fed with my others and feel a bit lost with it all.

We bottle feed. We work with 6 bottles (we use mam bottles which self sterilise in the microwave). Theres a time limit I believe on how long to use a sterilised bottle for, maybe 24 hours? So as long as it’s been properly sterilised it can stay until it’s needed to be used.
The man bottles we used came in two sizes,

I would buy the bigger bottles. Sterilise them all at once and then assemble until required. You may need a faster teat if feeds are taking a long time

Sorry posted too soon.
The mam bottles come in two sizes, but for an 8 week old you could go for s bigger size as I assume she’d be on more than 2/3oz. The small ones are better for measuring how much has been drank if your only feeding small amounts. She might need a size 2 teat if she’s taking a long time to feed, but they usually don’t go onto them until three months, so perhaps she does just get used to it.

We bought a perfect prep to make the bottles quickly. But you can do the same type of thing with a flask of cool water. Eg if baby takes 4 oz milk, pour 1oz hot water into bottle, add formula, then add 3 oz cold water (water from a previous kettle boil so it’s sterile, then add to flask and keep in fridge). Then you have a bottle made quickly without waiting ages for it to cool down.

We use mam bottles too
Had 6 to start with, cold water steriliser and stay sterile for 24 after fully assembled
I had a set that had smaller ones but no reason you couldn’t use bigger ones
I have a perfect prep and used that to make feeds takes a min so not bad at all 😊
Don’t use anti reflux formula but do use normal and add carobel (thickener for reflux) works better for me as anti reflux milks have to sit for 8mins or so - carobel only 1-2mins
I still fed on demand and if she wasn’t interested in the bottle or only took 1-2oz I would just leave it, I wouldn’t keep trying

Have you asked your health visitor why she's taking so long to feed? I breastfeed but at health clinics I've seen the health visitors be really helpful about bottle feeding and answer loads of questions so they should know the answer.

It can be a bit of trial and error though to find bottles. We had lots of the tommee tippee ones given to us, but my lo didn’t like the teat and it leaked everywhere. We moved from ebf at only 2 weeks as it wasn’t working out, so she hadn’t had too long to get used to the breast, but you may find your lo finds it hard to adjust to just any bottle.
I would recommend mam bottles as moving in from bf. In my nct group I’d say the majority use those bottles as the teat is meant to be similar to a boob. But if you can try one of any bottle before buying loads as it’s possible your lo won’t like it.

Have you considered having the tongue tie cut? It’s quick and relatively painless at this age and that would help your breastfeeding. I’d also ask your health visitor for any local breastfeeding groups for advice. Just seems a shame to quit while you’re ahead.

We use avent natural bottles and exclusively express but have an occasional formula bottle. For formula we sterilise bottles and then put in boiling water and store it in the fridge until needed (This keeps the inside of the bottle and teat sterile until needed).

When needed take out a bottle and pop it in the bottle warmer and add powder. You can anticipate this a bit by watching for baby's hunger clues so you don't end up with a screaming baby.

As baby has been BF, a couple of size ones might be a good idea to transition (baby doesn't have to work as hard so a 2 might be a bit of a shock), but at 8 weeks size 2 is pretty normal for bottle fed babies.

At 8 weeks my little miss was going through 7/8 4oz bottles a day, we work with a pool of 12 bottles (but 5/6 of these are full of breastmilk in the fridge at a time).

My DD is also very refluxy, we got a prescription for baby gaviscon which bunged her up, so we only use this on the last feed of the night (night feeds at 8 weeks) as keeping baby upright for longer isn't always practical. For day feeds we use Carobel to thicken the milk a little (doesn't bung her up).
all the anti reflux formula is super super thick and didn't work well for us. If you do choose to try it, a variflow teat/bigger teat is recommended.

If you are interested in expressing & bottle feeding it is hard work but we made it work and it's now my preference (best of both). And we are now at 5 months.

Whatever you choose.. good luck x

Thank you so much for all the replies. They are very helpful.
gummygoddess I haven’t queried the lengthy feeding time. I assumed it was due to either the tongue tie not being used to the bottle. At the breast she is very short frequent
feeds.
outpinked we can get the tongue tie cut and likely will do but we have already waited to see an infant feeding specialist. She has told us we are now facing another two weeks wait to see someone about the tongue tie and I don’t even know if it will be cut there and then. It sounds really selfish but I’m really not sure I can manage another two weeks the way we are going. I am up most of the night and feeding all day. I am lucky to get one meal a day because she screams whenever I put her down but then she screams when I hold her too. I just feel exhausted and like I have no time for my other children. I’m not sure what’s best to do but I’m wondering if bottles might help.
It is mam bottles we have already that she is taking a long time to feed from. Is it worth trying a different flow teat with those bottles first?

MAM seems to say 2+ months for size 2 medium flow teats so I'd try them first

Tongue tie can impact on a babies ability to bottle feed too, so it's worth getting it looked into either way. It could be why she's taking so long to finish a bottle.

Have you considered a private lactation consultant at all? You should be able to get it snipped quicker (immediately) that way.

My breastfed baby got on well with Dr Brown's bottles. I much preferred them over TT ones which are an awful shape IME.

Regarding preparation of formula it's safest to make it fresh at each feed, but the bottle feeding guidelines (see link) do state that you can make up feeds in advance, chill quickly and store in the fridge.
www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2008/02/start4life_guide_to_bottle_-feeding.pdf

I’d buy the bigger bottles, you can still choose the amount you put in them. I started mix feeding my DD at a similar age to your LO and used all sterilised bottles through the day (I was lucky that she was sleeping through by the time I put her on formula) but I’d say that if you use them within 24hrs they’ll be absolutely fine 😊

I used to make up feeds in advance (but these were the days before the tommee tippee prep machines - I’d use one of them now ) but would often buy ready made milk if I was going out and couldn’t keep any of the bottles I’d done up myself refrigerated.

I always used Avent bottles and I made up a batch of six bottles at a time and stored them in the fridge.

Im another for mam bottles and a perfect prep.. life saver!

With regards to sterilising, you are sterilising the bottles to make sure that any harmful bacteria from the milk from the previous feed has been killed off. Once you open the steriliser, technically they are no longer sterile (in a laboratory sense) but that doesn't mean they are not safe to use. As long as you replace the lid and wash your hands before handling the sterilised bottles they are safe to use.

Yes, try a faster flowing teat. My daughter took ages to feed and was constantly falling asleep mid bottle and not getting enough, the health visitor had us move her up to the next teat even though she was only a few weeks and it helped enormously.

For sterilising, we had a Milton cold water steriliser and we just left the bottles in it until they needed to be used. Change the solution every 24 hours.

If you can afford one, perfect prep machine is a godsend for bottle feeding.

Just keep an eye out for a dairy allergy op; the symptoms you described are often that too. If they get worse on the bottle it's likely that and you'll need prescription formula and meds for the reflux

I’ve bought the stage 2 teats for the mam bottles we have and will see if we can give a couple of formula feeds a day. Hopefully that will be enough to get through to the tongue tie appointment.
kateTTC123 I will look up dairy allergy and see how that fits her. Thank you for the suggestion.