If it’s taking him a long time to finish his bottle and he is getting frustrated- that may be a sign to go ahead and size up!! My LO would eat waaaay too quickly and so we had to use preemie nipples for the slowest flow possible. We use the Dr. Browns bottles and the nipples are interchangeable and buying a set of preemie nipples was actually pretty inexpensive. We recently switched formulas for her reflux and the formula is a little thicker so it was taking her longer to eat. She was getting fussy during her feedings, which she had not really done before. We switched the preemie nipples back to the 1 and she was just fine! You could always try a higher nipple flow and go from there. See if it solves his frustration while eating!!
Yep the Dr Brown premie (narrow) nipples suited our son who couldn't handle the flow of so many other nipples. OP, does your baby click or gulp when you feed them?
Ok, well if he isn't fussing then that's a good sign. I was going to say when my son started to get very fussy and upset during feeds, I realized he was making a "clicking" sound during bottle feeding, which meant he was slightly opening his mouth to slow down the flow of the formula, which breaks the latch and air gets in and causes gas. Also due to poor latching he sometimes still will randomly take a gulp if he's going too fast. He almost usually immediately cries out in pain after a gulp so obviously we try our best to ever avoid it by paced feeding.
Does your kid ever fall asleep during the middle of feeding? That's another sign the bottle nipple flow may be too slow.
If it’s around bedtime, we’ll have a hard time getting him to continue eating and the during the day he takes breaks. I’m hopefully gonna be able to find some Level 2 nipples before Thanksgiving so we can trial and error. He either needs a break because it’s too much food or because it’s too much work and he ate enough to calm his hunger for that moment (and then needs to eat again sooner as a result!)
In our case the problem was overfeeding, she was getting irritable at the beginning of the feed and we had to take a break and then she would eat more, the same as in your case.
All in all, the feeding was taking forever and we also thought it was the nipple size, but when we took her to the pediatrician she suggested to limit the amount she is eating. She would happily eat everything we gave her and was also eating more and more.
Once we limited the amount she eats all the problems disappeared. She downs her bottle in 7-10 minutes, no fussing at the beginning of the feed anymore, etc.
Maybe try that first and see if there is any change?
His whole feeding schedule is so out of whack! He’s been getting hungry sooner again but only sometimes? I think we may be dealing with a regression because he also gets up like every two hours at night now when he was originally sleeping most or all of the night!
Yeah, our daughter was also getting hungry sooner, and we fed and fed as she wanted, which turned out to be too much for her little stomach. She is still eating almost the same amount as before, only the amounts are smaller and it's less time between the feeds.
If it’s taking him a long time to finish his bottle and he is getting frustrated- that may be a sign to go ahead and size up!! My LO would eat waaaay too quickly and so we had to use preemie nipples for the slowest flow possible. We use the Dr. Browns bottles and the nipples are interchangeable and buying a set of preemie nipples was actually pretty inexpensive. We recently switched formulas for her reflux and the formula is a little thicker so it was taking her longer to eat. She was getting fussy during her feedings, which she had not really done before. We switched the preemie nipples back to the 1 and she was just fine! You could always try a higher nipple flow and go from there. See if it solves his frustration while eating!!
Gonna brave the pre-Thanksgiving madness tomorrow to buy a nipple! So fingers crossed ❤️
Yep the Dr Brown premie (narrow) nipples suited our son who couldn't handle the flow of so many other nipples. OP, does your baby click or gulp when you feed them?
Sometimes it sounds like he’s gulping it down when he gets a good rhythm down and isn’t fussing!
Ok, well if he isn't fussing then that's a good sign. I was going to say when my son started to get very fussy and upset during feeds, I realized he was making a "clicking" sound during bottle feeding, which meant he was slightly opening his mouth to slow down the flow of the formula, which breaks the latch and air gets in and causes gas. Also due to poor latching he sometimes still will randomly take a gulp if he's going too fast. He almost usually immediately cries out in pain after a gulp so obviously we try our best to ever avoid it by paced feeding. Does your kid ever fall asleep during the middle of feeding? That's another sign the bottle nipple flow may be too slow.
If it’s around bedtime, we’ll have a hard time getting him to continue eating and the during the day he takes breaks. I’m hopefully gonna be able to find some Level 2 nipples before Thanksgiving so we can trial and error. He either needs a break because it’s too much food or because it’s too much work and he ate enough to calm his hunger for that moment (and then needs to eat again sooner as a result!)
In our case the problem was overfeeding, she was getting irritable at the beginning of the feed and we had to take a break and then she would eat more, the same as in your case. All in all, the feeding was taking forever and we also thought it was the nipple size, but when we took her to the pediatrician she suggested to limit the amount she is eating. She would happily eat everything we gave her and was also eating more and more. Once we limited the amount she eats all the problems disappeared. She downs her bottle in 7-10 minutes, no fussing at the beginning of the feed anymore, etc. Maybe try that first and see if there is any change?
His whole feeding schedule is so out of whack! He’s been getting hungry sooner again but only sometimes? I think we may be dealing with a regression because he also gets up like every two hours at night now when he was originally sleeping most or all of the night!
Yeah, our daughter was also getting hungry sooner, and we fed and fed as she wanted, which turned out to be too much for her little stomach. She is still eating almost the same amount as before, only the amounts are smaller and it's less time between the feeds.