Drinking the bottle too fast! Help...

anna784

My LO is 4 1/2 months old and is a HUGE spitter upper (at least 10 times per feeding).  We are giving him 4-6oz bottles each feeding with 1 tablespoon rice cereal in each as per out pedi to try and keep everything down.  OUr pedi has also put him on zantac.  I'm concerned that his fast eating habits are to blame but I don't know how to slow him down.  

I was around another baby this weekend and noticed that it took them well over 30 minutes to finish a 6 oz bottle and they took several breaks for burps.  My LO scarfs down a 6oz bottle in under 10 minutes (if that) and screams like crazy if you try and remove it for a burp half way through.  We have tried getting up with him, rubbing his back, distracting him while trying to burp him but he is truely inconsolable.   

 How long are you feedings and any suggestions on how to get him to slow down? 

xraychick07

Have you tried a different nipple? My LO takes 15 minutes for 6 oz, no cereal yet though.

michelle142

Are you using a slow flow nipple?

We feed DS bottles in a sitting position on our laps with the bottle almost level with his lap. That way he works a little harder and he doesn't gulp it down. Although he's a BF baby, so I'm sure that may be a little different if you FF. But you could give  a shot anyway to see if it works.

rubysue267

Ditto PPs - check the nipple flow and see if that needs to be adjusted. We use Medela bottles and nipples which suggest introducing a medium-flow nipple at 4 months. DS is 4.5 months old and still prefers the slow flow, since he will gulp down a bottle too fast on medium flow and then have an spill-over issue. We also will hold the bottle parallel to his body to help slow things down, too. Good luck!

anna784

Thanks.  I'm going to try holding the bottle level to his lap and see if that helps.  

In regards to the nipples, we were told to cut a little slit in the nipple so that the cereal would fit through.  I don't think its too big because there are times when the cereal gets clogged up there and is hard to get out.  One time we used one of our regular slow flow nipples by mistake and he was working so hard that he started freaking out and went into one of his inconsolable fits.  

Hopefully positioning the bottle differently will help.

MollyAnn11

I know your pedi said add cereal but with my baby, he would drink so fast he would choke himself while scarfing down his bottle and puke a lot of it up.  Try leaving out cereal and get a slow nipple, they do have to work harder to get the milk out but it helped so much with my baby.  But be sure to pull it out for just a sec if he looks like he's getting upset so the bottle can get some air in it, but do it fast!  My baby got super mad too if I took the bottle away.  I could no longer burp him during eating, (by the time he was 3 months) he would get so upset he'd puke!

 

Hope this helps!

Holley+Day

Lurking, but thought I might chime in.

LO is 4 months today, but still using super slow flow nipples for premies. even the normal slow flow for new borns was too much for him and he bathed in the milk during the feeding and spit a ton of it up afterwords. I might try PP's suggestion, cut out the cereal and adjust to a smaller than usual nipple, slowing him down may be more satisfying than the cereal. Our LO takes about 20min to finish 4-5 oz.

Hope you get some helpful tips