which bottle? which formula? which teat? please help!!!

[dinkyboysmum]

so many questions...i'm just so confused with all of this!

ds was born 5 weeks ago (6 weeks early). i breastfed for the first three and a half weeks (was expressing into bottles as he wouldnt latch on), then found it all too much, and switched to formula. we used cow and gate comfort. went through nuk/tommee tippee & avent bottles (all now up for sale on eBAY!).

Currently using Avent bottles,with variable flow teat (as cow and gate formula seems to be quite thick). But he dribbles so much of feed as he's sucking the bottle. How do i stop this? If i put a slower flow teat on, its too much like hard work for him & he wont even finish half his feed.
(also using infacol for wind with each feed.)

The main problem is that he seems to have bad constipation at the moment - only one movement a day (although he didnt go at all yesterday). Nappies are 'runny mustard', they dont seem at all firm-i would think they were quite easy to pass, but he screams for ages and really seems to strain. then he's fine once its done!

we've been giving him water between feeds (about 2 oz)&massaging tummy (alos, i'm making up feeds with 4oz water to 3 scoops of formula - recommended by HV).

please help! i'm a first timer and don't really know what to do! Should i switch formula? any advice welcome....

ps i've booked into a cranial osteopath for next week!

[sarahlou1uk]

Hi. I have used Dr Brown bottles for both my children as Avent ones use to give them colic. The Dr Brown ones have a special tube inside which takes the air back into the bottle and not into their tummies. If he's dribbling most of his feed, then the flow is too fast or he is too eager to feed. Try with a stage 1 teat and persevere. Re formula - I used SMA for ds but this didn't suit dd so I changed to Farleys which has been fine for her.
The key thing is not too panic. I know it's all scary when it's your first and that you feel helpless. We've all been there and panicked!
Personally, I wouldn't give such a young baby water between feeds as he should be getting all his fluids in his milk feeds, but if you have been given this advice then what do I know? Every baby is different and you know your baby better than anyone else.
Does your baby have a problem with wind? If not, try going without the Infacol as this can give stomach upsets. HTH

[severusseamonstersaysRIPharry]

poor you, [both]

At the risk of being shouted at by the bf brigade I shall tell you what I used, although I am not a health proffesional.

I used the avent too, although I have heard of Medula [?] which are meant to simulate breastfeeding a bit more, expensive I think but may be worth a try.
I used cow & gate pre [or pro] biotic formular, which worked fine for my dd [although she was older and mixed by then]
His nappies may change using that, but to be honest some babies do find it harder than others.
I also used weak fennel tea for wind.
If I were you I'd see your h/v and ask them for advise.
good luck

[dinkyboysmum]

thanks...
he does seem to hold onto his wind, infacol seems to make it much easier to bring up- didnt know it could give tummy upsets tho?

maybe he is too eager to feed...when we start feeding he gulps it down...how do i stop this?

what is fennel tea? how does that work?

[Seona1973]

if your lo is passing runny poos then he is not constipated - babies do put a lot of effort into pooing at this age but that will improve - 1 poo a day is fine for a formula fed baby (at that age my ds started going 2-3 days between poos but as they were still soft when they arrived he was not constipated).

I would stop messing about with the formula e.g. adding extra water and just give the extra water seperately (although given that he is doing soft poos I'm not sure he needs the extra water anyway)

Your baby sounds as if he is just being a normal disgruntled newborn and as he gets older he will improve - the unsettledness/crying peaks around 6 weeks and there should be a definite difference by 12 weeks. I dont think you need to do anything really.

Although, re: bottles - my dd never got on with avent teats whatever the flow and I started using tommee tippee teats with the avent bottles (most wide necked teats fit avent bottles if you wanted to try an alternative to the variable flow)

[severusseamonstersaysRIPharry]

oops, just re-read your op, try a different h/v as I wouldn't agree with watering down feeds either.
fennel tea [really weak, teabag dipped in hot water and left to cool] would be instead of water and infacol, but you may [as has been pointed out] not need either.
What were his poos like before you started all that?

[dinkyboysmum]

he had a small poo almost every feed when he was exclusive bf. now his daily poos are massive-overflow the nappy!!

perhaps i am just doing too much!??

[dinkyboysmum]

is fennel tea ok to give? he is still little ~(shouldnt be here till21st july!), i worry about pumping him full of stuff!

[Mindy890]

Hello,

Don't know if I can help but my little girl (16 weeks now) has reflux and so has to have Gaviscon which thickemns her milk. We tried Avent variable teat but it was too fast so now we use Mam bottles with a number 2 teat. This is big enough for the milk to come out but not too fast. Every time we change to the next teat up she screams and the reflux gets worse. Maybe you should give them a go. Also we use infacol or dentinox infant colic drops (they go in the bottle so its easier). However, it's only recently that she's been more content. For the first 12 weeks of her life she was always awake and always crying and I believe she had colic. the only thing that worked was waiting and now she's older things are better. Hang in there and things will improve.

Mandy
xx

[Seona1973]

you should see a 3 day poo then - up the back and down the legs . Your lo sounds perfectly fine - they do tend to poo less often on formula. I never offered anything extra to ds when he was being formula fed (no infacol, fennel tea, water, etc) and as he matured his wind problems decreased on their own. I do think we try to do too much to help rather than let them just get on with it.

[dinkyboysmum]

i think you are right! i'm an over-anxious mum for sure! i just dont like seeing him in so much discomfort.

just spoke to HV and she said to carry on with c&g comfort over the weekend, making up feeds as 4oz water to 4 scoops (not watery as before) as it doesnt sound like constipation if his poos are runny. he's just holding onto it for longer (i dont know where he's keeping it - he's a tiny 6lb) she said possibility of lactose intolerance - apparent;y quitecommonin prem babies - and to keep an eye out for mucus in his poo. will review on monday.

[Lolly68]

I used the MAM bottles after I stopped BF. They are a bit fiddly but DD wasnt as windy on them as the Avent ones. Every baby different though.

[suezee]

i found that dd got used to the infacol and it stopped working as well after a couple of weeks so i bought dentinox as well and used themalternately i found that that helped her as she was very windy and it used to upset her tummy.

[dinkyboysmum]

i heard colief is quite good?