Formula fed baby snacking!

[Browneyed Girl]

Hi, my lo is 11 weeks old and is formula fed. He's on 6oz bottles but the problem is he'll snack on it for 1-2 hours and then want another bottle 3 hours after he started it so I'm effectively feeding him nearly every hour during the day. It's a nightmare to try and do anything with him as every time I go out he wants feeding. I also have to keep him upright and wind for 20 mins after each feed which also limits what I can do as he's feeding so often it takes up so much time! What can I do to sort his feeds out so he's taking all of his bottle at once?

He alsooften cries during feeding, he arches his back and squirms as if he wants to feed but it's hurting. He was diagnosed with silent reflux when he was 3 days old but to be honest although I think this does affect him sometimes (mainly breath holding and coughing) he often passes wind when he's squirming so I think it's wind in his tummy. I've tried Infacol which made him worse and Dentinox doesn't seem to work any more. He won't take gripe water. Does this sound like wind? If it is i don't mind riding it out as it should improve soon anyway but if it's something else and I should be doing something to help him then I will do. Thanks for any advice xx

 

[kumber]

Have you tried gripe water with a Calpol syringe on the outside of his gums right at the back of the mouth? It kicks in their swallowing reflex so even though he might spit some out, he will swallow most of it. Ask your hv to show you, it might help. In terms of the regular feeding it might be that he's going through a leap or growth spurt? Or he's feeding for comfort with the reflux but feeding is just making it worse?

 

[Emmajaine]

Might be worth trying a bigger teat size, my LG used to take an hour plus per bottle at 8 weeks, and my HV suggested going up a teat size, and it made a world of difference, it took feeding time down to 10-15 minutes!

Pluse if they are sucking hard to get milk out they can end up swallowing lots of air which might account for the arched back etc

X

 

[Browneyed Girl]

To be fair, gripe water tastes so awful I can understand why he spits it out. Thanks for the tip though.

We use Dr Browns bottles and I moved him up to the level 2 teat around 3/4 weeks ago in case it was too hard for him to get the milk through. It doesn't seem to have improved anything though. Level 3 is for 6 months plus, would this be too much for him? xx

 

[littlemonkey]

It is the reflux causing the problem. Both my babies had it and were exactly the same. The stomach acid coming back up when he feeds will be causing him pain when he feeds which is why he won't want much. What have you been advised to do for his reflux? Change milk or been given medication? If his feeding hasn't improved in that time I would go back to the doctors.

 

[Emmajaine]

Might be worth giving it a try, my HV advised me that the best thing to do is try the different sizes and if it is too fast just change it back to a slower flow. Apparently the ages on the teat sizes are only a rough guide.

Xx

 

[Colleen1988]

Hi Hun

Isaac was the same... I was prescribed baby gaviscon for him and used a number 2 teat and now he has his bottle in 15-20 mins, brings his wind up himself and life is good again lol.

With the snacking... Isaac would do this, he wouldnt finish a bottle but then would scream for one an hour later and only take a small amount, I ended up leaving him to cry for 10 mins each time he cried until if managed to get him feeding evey 3 hours, it's awful listening to them cry but 10mins won't harm them and it stops them snacking xxx

 

[JD.Deedee]

There is a x teat as well that let's them decide what flow.. Never worked for us but works a treat for others.. We're still on 0-6 month dummies and been on size 2 teats for the last two years he never took to the size 3 or x flow or bigger dummies and thus teats.