Forum Feeding

From breastfeeding to bottle feeding, colic, and poor sleep.

1 reply

NadiaGuest ·
My daughter is 7 weeks old. I had to make a fairly decisive switch from breastfeeding to bottle-feeding. I weaned off all breastfeeds over two weeks, going down to three bottles (135 ml each) and the rest breast (three to four feeds). Then I switched completely to bottles. We looked at the feeding guide on the box and our daughter's weight (+/- 5 kg) and came up with 5 feeds of 165 ml. Since she had to go from 7/8 feeds to 5 feeds quite quickly, we decided to start with 7 feeds of 135 ml (which she often didn't finish) and then slowly transition to 5 feeds of 165 ml. Unfortunately, this hasn't worked out in practice. Our daughter comes for feeds quite irregularly during the day (at least, I think so...). As a result, she sometimes has 5 feeds by 8 pm. Usually, the 165 ml bottles aren't empty by then. If we give her another bottle in the evening (because: inconsolable crying and hands in her mouth), she spits it back up in large gulps. Sometimes not until two hours later. An example from yesterday:

03:30 165ml
08:30 135ml
12:15 165ml
16:45 165ml
20:00 165ml
22:30 165ml (and this one came back up in large gulps)

Today:
04:45 115ml
08:15 140ml
11:00 135ml
14:10 150ml

During the day, she naps for a maximum of 1.5 hours in between. Between the evening feed at 22/23 and the morning feed at 10/11, she sleeps well. She's awake for a maximum of an hour for the feed/pee.

Today she's been crying a lot. She seems to have colic and spits up a lot of milk. In her sleep, she thrashes around a lot, and the only time she seems a bit cheerful is after she poops (which is difficult for her). I'm afraid we're giving her too much, but this is really what the packaging says.

She's always been a difficult sleeper during the day, and that's no big deal since she sleeps reasonably well at night, but the crying today is going through my bones. And the spitting up in the evening is not pleasant at all, of course! Any tips?

Replies

  1. Anonymous Guest #2

    Your little one is only 7 weeks old and you mention she doesn't finish her bottles in one go. Maybe her stomach isn't big enough for those amounts yet. Wouldn't it be better to divide the total amount she should have per day into smaller portions and feed her more often? Check how much she drinks on average and then calculate how many feeds of that amount it takes to reach her total daily intake. She probably spits up so much because there's too much in her stomach.

    Also consult with the child health clinic (consultatiebureau); they can give advice on feeding. That's one of their tasks.

    Tummy troubles at her age are annoying but still somewhat normal to a certain extent. But if you feel it's worse than it should be, ask the experts for advice.

    Ask your GP or the child health clinic if she might have reflux, if you haven't already. Since you mention she sometimes spits up long after meals, this could explain some of her restlessness.

    What might also help:
    - Try to keep her calm while feeding so she doesn't swallow too much air.
    - Burp her a few times in between.
    - Put a pillow or something under the mattress at her head end so she's not lying so flat. The food won't come back up as easily due to gravity.

    I find it upsetting that you mention your baby only seems happy after she poops. I'd still advise you to seek help from your GP or the child health clinic. If there's a physical issue behind the crying, it might be resolved, and you'd have a happy baby. Then you can enjoy her more yourself.

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