My 4 week daughter is very unsettled during the night when given an expressed bottle feed at 10pm
We are giving my 4 week daughter the 10 pm feed as recommended in the Contented Little Baby book, as expressed milk in bottle. However this upsets her a lot (currently on 120-140 ml) and we end up with a whole sleepless night and her being in great discomfort. This happens also if we do half feed in bottle and half on breast.
She takes Infacol beforehand but that does not help either.
The only way she has a comfortable night is if she totally breastfeeds at night. I am worried as we are to start weaning her to formula starting in 2 weeks time, and if a bottle is upsetting her this much, what problems we will face? Do you recommend maybe that we give her the bottle during one of the day feeds?
Regarding the weaning to full formula feeds, the book does not tell whether the 3 am feed (if she is still waking up for it) should be formula or breast?
My daughter breast feeds throughout the day at 6.45am, 10am, 2.15pm, 5pm, 6.15pm, 10.30pm and 3.20am. She will take one breast for 20minutes at a feed, then 10minutes on the second side, although she does not always want this. The 5/6.15pm feed is given as a split feed, with one side at 5pm for 25-30mins. The same side is offered after her bath followed by the second if she stays awake.
If the 10.30pm is given as half and half she will be given 100mls in the bottle followed by 15-20minutes on the breast.
My daughter weighs 3.72kg [8.3.5lbs].
She naps at 8.45-10am, 11.30-2pm and 3.30-4.15pm.
You should get your daughter more used to taking a feed from a bottle before you attempt to wean her onto formula. Try to give her at least half of one daytime feed by bottle, perhaps at either 10am or 2.15pm and see how she copes.
You need to check that you are holding your daughter in an upright position when offering her a bottle. Look at the sketch on page 67 of the Contented Baby Book to see the correct position for feeding with a bottle. Make sure that the whole of the teat is always kept full of milk by tilting it upwards.
If you notice that your baby drinks quite fast then you need to slow her down. At her age the full feed may take 40 minutes. If you are aware that she is drinking quickly then slow her down by removing the bottle after each 30mls. If she becomes very upset by this then let her have about 60mls before stopping her. See if she has any wind by holding her upright on the edge of your knee as shown in the Contented Little Baby Book, page 93. If she does not burp within a few minutes offer the bottle again. If she does have wind she will not feed properly, pushing on and off the teat, so stop and try winding her again.
The bottles you are using [Dr Brown] are supposed to help with a baby who may take in a lot of wind but as the teats are quite soft some babies can feed rather quickly with them. It may help you to try out one or two other bottles and teats and see if your baby experiences the same discomfort. Using Infacol may help a baby bring up her wind in one or two burps rather than lots of little ones but its effect is accumulative so it needs to be used at each feed, whether breast or bottle, to be fully effective. It can take several days of consistent use before you notice any difference.
If a baby takes a bottle too quickly she may miss her “sucking time”. If your baby has a very strong suck she may finish her bottle but will not have had the full comfort she needs from sucking. This can be helped by offering her a dummy during the break mid feed or after she has finished.
Many young babies like to have a break of 10-15minutes halfway through their feed. So, once your daughter has taken half her feed, wind her and then she may like to sit in her baby chair and have a look around. Propping her in an angled position rather than laying her flat on the floor will help her. Use a chair which allows you to adjust the position but make sure her stomach is not bent over as this will cause her discomfort.
If your daughter continues to have these problems after you have tried to introduce a break at mid-feed at different times of the day it would be sensible to ask your doctor to check her over before beginning to wean her onto bottles completely.