feed time has become a battle

The last week or so every feed is a battle...she'll take the first 20 or 30 mls fine but then starts squirming around, arching her back, sticking her thumb in her mouth and crying. Once she settles down it is a real struggle to get her to drink anymore as she'll always try to have her thumb in her mouth, or she starts crying. I don't know what to do...she used to be fine and was happily drinking 180ml a feed, now she is lucky to have 100ml, I can sometimes squeeze 120ml into her. She's 'supposed' to be having around 240ml per bottle now as she is over 4 months, but I would just be happy if she'd start having all her 180ml bottles.

What could be wrong? Have tried burping her but nothing comes out. I am still using the size 2 avent teats, I did buy a couple of size 4 (for 6 months+) today so will sterilise them now and see if that makes a difference, could she just be fussing around because it isn't coming out fast enough? But it's not like she is hungry, she just seems to not want it. She isn't sick or anything and is perfectly normal at all other times, just turns into a screaming monster when I go to put the teat in her mouth! Nothing has changed in the last week or so...

Please help!

anyone?? getting a bit desperate...all she does is scream every time I try and feed her. DF suggested it might be her gums hurting, but she is quite happy and will happily chew on her thumb/fingers or toys, she even started sucking on my finger so I don't know. Just put a tiny bit of Bonjela on her gums and will see if that helps. The larger teat didn't make a difference, guess it just means she gets more milk faster!

Sending you heaps of hugs but I'm sorry but I don't have experience with bottles so I'm of no help to you, sorry! Hopefully someone will be on soon to give you some help.

Sorry - I'm also of not much help as not much experience with bottles.

However - could it be the bottle? Perhaps try a different bottle by another company. So if your using Avent try a Medela instead IFYKWIM. Is she definately hungry? How often are you feeding her? Is it the same when DF feeds her? I know at about 4 or 5 months DS got very interested in everything around us and I had to start feeding very quietly. So TV had to go off, no magazines to read etc. It even threw him if I sat in on a different part of the couch. He fed much better when I sat and gave him all my attention - even started feeding much faster too.

I hope it gets better quickly. I know it's easier said than done but I think feeding a baby (breast, bottle or solids) needs the feeder to be as relaxed as possible. :hug: GOOD LUCK - Hang in there.

hi hun my DD has been doing this and th CHN put it down to teething. she is doing exactly the same, shes arching her back and will chew and suck on anything cept bottles. she usually has 5 x 180ml bottles and im sturggling to get 100ml each time into her.
also how many bottles r ugiving your DD a day? 240 sounds like a lot i think up to 6 months the tin says 210 per feed but would more likely be 180ml.

I agree that changing the bottles and teats may help your situation - or may well be worth eliminating as a potential cause of the problem. I have used Medela, but our nurse suggested Pigeon and we have never looked back. We also use the "Y-cut" teats which allows bub to determine the flow of milk according to how hard they suck. Often babies get frustrated if the teat opening is too small or too large. Sorry to hear you are having such a tough time. I hope this suggestion helps.

I went through this with my son - he was bottle fed from birth.

It turned out that he was ready to drop a bottle when he started doing this, so I just spaced his feeds out a little more.

Then I gave him a few little cluster bottles before bed, then his dreamfeed (which he'd usually take without a fight)

Avent are the BEST if you ask me - you could also try some infacol in her bottle. Infacol doesn't go through their system - so you can't give them too much or stay on it too long, it's perfectly safe and I used it for 10 months.

It takes all the small bubbles in bubba's tummy, creates a couple of big ones and it's way easier for them to burp. Even though she isn't burping for you - it doesn't mean she doesn't have wind. It could be that she is trying hard to get it up and it's uncomfortable.

At the end of the day, as stressful as it is with first bubs, if she is gaining weight and the back of her hands are plump, wet nappies etc - don't stress on the level of bottle she's drinking. Breastfeeding mums can't measure their feeds, so it's variable. Bottle feeding mums have that visual queue on "how much" at each feed.

Don't be scared to let your girl lead how much she eats so long as she is thriving!

Thanks everyone.

She has been bottlefed since birth, using Avent and this is the first time she has had an issue with feeding so i dont think it's the bottles/teats. She has been fine today using the size 2 teats, so i dont think it was that either although i will be getting more of the bigger ones next week.

Roses- she gets about 5 or 6 bottles a day, it depends how many times she wakes overnight, but generally during the day I feed her every 3 hours. It may be every 4 hours depending on how long she sleeps (some days she sleeps longer than others, or may have a couple of short sleeps then a long sleep of an afternoon). I probably should try turning the tv off..lol. I know she lies there watching it while she is eating but has never seemed overly distracted by it.

Emma- we might use different formulas? I use S-26 and from 4-6 months it recommends 240ml 5 times a day. maybe that's for closer to 6 months old. But she doesn't even look like she wants to start increasing how much she eats even by 10-20ml. She hasn't completely finished a bottle in over a week, where she was before. Perhaps it was her teeth, as it does sound like a "that hurts" cry rather than a whingy cry. She has been ok today, no crying at all really. Makes feed time a lot less stressful!

Mummato2 - she has always been a 'good doer', always in the 90th percentile or so for weight/length! Some of her nappies aren't always wet, but I think that's probably more to do with the warmer weather. She is still having enough wet nappies for me to be satisfied. you're right, I should probably let her be the judge of how much she wants, not looking at the bottle and going oh you still have this much to have. I'm planning on b'feeding th next bub, whenever that comes along! I don't know how I'm going to cope with not knowing how much bub is drinking! Lol.

i would def say its teething ss storm, cause my daughter has exactly the same symptoms. if the bottles r working for yo dont change them (my daughter only likes tommy tippy and when i tried to change it it was hell!!) and if she isnt waking during the night i wouldnt worry about it, you will know if shes hungry haha!!

oh and DD is on nan pro gold, it says for her age she should have 4 x 210ml bottles but usually (e.g. before this hell week of teething) she was having 5 x 150-180ml...now shes having 5 x 100ml if im lucky but still sleeping thru so i dont worry, HTH hun

Definately don't get caught up in the 'how many mls is she having' debate. I find I have to constantly remind myself that DS is a small person and he will let me know if he is unhappy. I find the same issue with solids - 'But you haven't finished the bowl etc etc.' Truth is - he is full. It's hard to do but so important to trust yourself as a mother - after all - bubs came from you - you WILL know what to do. You're doing GREAT!!!!