Bottlefeeding BM question

AKurosky

Hey ladies...so my LO is 6.5 weeks old and we started introducing a bottle, one last week, one this week. The problem is, well there's a couple...

1.) he drinks the bottled bm like he's a rabid beast, and we don't know how to get him to slow down. we stop him after about a half oz. and burp him. He does spit up a little (only once), nothing much, but he doesn't spit up at all when he is breastfeeding.

2.) he seems to drink SO much more from a bottle. DH fed him 2.5 oz last night and he still was acting like he was hungry. We tried to distract him for a while to see if he just ate to fast to notice he was satisfied but after a half an hour he was still awake and giving us hunger cues, so I fed him again (but only half as much as normal.) 

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated! TIA.  

meryltheresa

what size nipple are you using?

prncsstp

Im not complete expert bu here are my thoughts:

AKurosky:

1.) he drinks the bottled bm like he's a rabid beast, and we don't know how to get him to slow down. we stop him after about a half oz. and burp him. He does spit up a little (only once), nothing much, but he doesn't spit up at all when he is breastfeeding.  When we first started giving O a bottle, I would make sure that DH or I would take the bottle out of his mouth every few swallows to make him work harder for the milk and prolonging the feeding time - this is also supposed to help with transitioning between bottle and breqast, so that LO doesnt get angry that the milk doesnt flow as quick from the boobie.

2.) he seems to drink SO much more from a bottle. DH fed him 2.5 oz last night and he still was acting like he was hungry. We tried to distract him for a while to see if he just ate to fast to notice he was satisfied but after a half an hour he was still awake and giving us hunger cues, so I fed him again (but only half as much as normal.) This was and is still the same for O. Normally, O takes a 3-3.5 oz bottle and will be full. He'll cry when he finishes, but after burping, and walking around for a few minutes, he stops crying, as if he suddenly realizes he's not still hungry. However, if we give him a bottle with 6 ounces in it, he'll drink all of it (and spit a whole bunch up). You might want to consider taking him to the LC or to the pedi, and weighing him before and after he nurses to see exactly how much he is drinking at a feeding, in order to get the right amount for his bottle.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated! TIA.  

AKurosky

meryltheresa:

what size nipple are you using?

The slow flow nipple for 0-3 months. 

Telyco

Why are you introducing a bottle? I would increase his bottle a little - 3oz would be fine. But if he is hungry a while later - I would nurse him...

Oh, and I asked why because if you want a break from nursing then yeah, increase the bottle. But if you just want to make sure he takes bottles then that bottle would be fine and you can top him off with boob (to keep your supply going)

In the evenings I would nurse and then "fill up the tank" with a small bottle.

AKurosky

Telyco:

Why are you introducing a bottle?

We are introducing the bottle now bc I will eventually have to go back to work and everything I've read says introduce between 4-6 weeks. I do have something that I need to do on Friday so I am a little nervous about having enough BM with DH. 

And thank you for your advice...the last two times I have been "topping it off" with the breast... 

prncsstp

You may find that being away from your LO might make taking the bottle easier - having LO near you and your scent may give him the urge to want to nurse - thereby making it seem like he is still hungry - he might not be hungry per se, but he wants to comfort suck KWIM? 

jnk062602

I know that dd loved to comfort suck on me while nursing, so it would make sense if he just doesn't want to stop sucking...maybe give him a binky right after the bottle?  DH also did that just to help reduce spit up.  We also stopped alot during the bottle, but that was bc she has choking issues.  But that helped to slow down the bottle as well.

And it is hard to tell bc the baby can get more out of you than the pump.  So maybe he is getting more when he is nursing than you think?  The weighing is a good idea if your office is easy with it.