Ok. So my 8 week old son is on Nutrimagen for dairy sensitivity and Prilosec for silent reflux. He is a big boy (was almost 10lbs at birth) and has been on the bottle since about 5 weeks. We have been using the playtex nurser bottle, but he seems to swallow a ton of air with it and he is a HORRIBLE burper. It takes us forever to get his burps out!!!!! While on the nurser bottle he was putting down 5-6oz bottles 6x/day. Today we started using the Dr Brown standard bottle with stage 2 nipple (he cried out of frustration with the stage 1) and he will only eat 3-4 oz at a time. He also has a bit of a cold so maybe this is why, but, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this when switching to a standard nipple/bottle. I know he loves the nursers because he feels like he's still nursing, so, maybe he was doing alot of comfort feeding? I don't know. Just concerned that he won't eat as well off of these bottles, but, they so far have done a much better job reducing gas. Any thoughts/experiences would be great. Thanks!
Thanks to all for your kind advice.....I think we have found a solution - he is doing really well with the Dr Brown bottle (BPA free - they do make them now!) with the level 3 nipple!!!!! Didn't think a 2 month old would handle such a fast pace - but he's eating just as well from it as he was the nurser....and so far it seems a lot less gas. I tend to think he's sort of lazy and doesn't want to have to work too hard for his milk......the frustration was definitely trying to find the "exact" nipple size for him. We've tried other bottles with fast flow nipples and they were too fast - he was choking on the milk.....this one seems great!!!! I appreciate all your advice - sometimes it just helps to have other mom's input!
Just a quick thought- a newborn's stomach is only big enough to hold 3-4 oz at a time, so it may be better that he eats less at a time. It may reduce his reflux issues as well as the gas issues.
Sounds like you switched from the Playtex because he wasn't burping well or fast enough, right? If you really need to keep him from that particular bottle, it may require you try others besides Dr. Browns until you find one he likes, as much of a pain as that is. I went through this with my youngest and she finally settled with Born Free. She liked Playtex as a newborn, but I nursed until she was three months so there was always breast milk in the bottle. Once she was weaned, she didn't like the Playtex with formula! She then went to Avent for a while but suddenly rejected those around 8 months when I found Born Free. It was so odd to me but babies are very particular! I think you should stick it out a little longer with the new bottle and give him a chance to get used to it... babies don't like change in the feeding routine, but they can adjust over time. If it's not working and he's still not eating a ton (especially after the cold clears up), I'd try another bottle and hope that works. There are a lot of great posts here about bottles moms have liked - you might have to search the archives. Good luck!!
Along with breastfeeding, we used Dr. Browns to reduce gas with my younger son - a preemie with many digestive and feeding issues. We had to experiment with the nipples - and different days he did better with a 2 or 3, other days he needed the Y nipple. I'd recommend buying a few different nipples to see.
I bought 1 bottle of several types until we found one that worked. We tried each one several times. Less expensive than buying several bottles of one type, then finding out our son didn't feed well with it. Nothing beat Dr Browns for reducing gas - except for nursing of course.
For a while Dr Browns was not being recommended, as it had BPA in the plastic. Have they changed the formula? I won't pass my old bottles on to anyone because of this (even though they are so expensive).
I have 4 boys and the last 3 were all on Nutramigen for reflux. They were also on prilosec/zantac. They also had trouble with burping. What worked for us was propping them up higher when we fed them. We also had to add thick it to their bottles. Our GI is from Children's hospital and he told us that by adding the thick it, it would full their tummy's up quicker,(cereal makes them gain weight, this doesn't) making them slow down while eating. Help cut down on spitting up and helping with gas. When they drink quickly they get air in, which cause gas pains.
I am not sure how old your baby is, but Children's also had up add regular mylanta to their bottles. using tylenol dropper, use the first line, increase as they get better. We were surprised at first as I am sure you are reading this. It helps so much better than the baby gas drops.
Good luck, you will get through it. Also using the powder formula worked better for us. We switched bottles a few times and always went back to the playtex nurser.
We use the playtex nursers with our 10 mo old. If you're using the drop in liners be sure to push out the excess air before feeding (you gently push up the floor of the bottle until the formula comes to the very top, then screw the lid on). It takes a touch of practice to get it right without dumping formula on the floor but it will cut way down on the air your little guy gets. Best of luck to you two!
I would go back to the Playtex and when you are getting ready to feed him you need to be sure to push out all of the air so that when you tip the bottle to feed him you aren't giving him any extra air.
did you squeeze all the air out of the playtex? my friend had the same problem her daughter would get sick from the playtex nursers but hated other nipples so my friend stuck with the playtex and squeezed the air out of the drop in really well
J.-
If you are still having issues you can try Avent bottles. My daughter did well with them. Unfortunately sometimes you have to try a bunch of different bottles before you find the one that will work with your child. Our daughter was almost 9 pounds when she was born and has not stopped gaining weight (she is 10 1/2 months old now). She is lactose intolerant as well. We used Enfamils Prosobee (soymilk). Don't give up. You will find what works. All formulas are different, and you will get there. Just keep communicating with your doctor and working on the burping. Hey, try feeding him more upright when you feed him, that could help with the reflux as well as the burping.
E.
I hope this helps!
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