New here with bottlefeeding question

Hi, I'm new to the "First Year" forum. I had my boy/girl twins on Tuesday (37 weeks exactly) and we are now home and trying to adjust!

I'm bottlefeeding, and right now I'm using the supply of little "ready-to-feed" bottles that the hospital gave us. In the hospital, I had a lot of trouble with both twins spitting up following feeding, particularly my son. Now he seems much better and is an avid eater.

However, I'm having problems with my daughter. When she eats, it seems like she's not swallowing -- the milk pours out of the side of her mouth. We've tried sitting her up more, etc., but it seems like she's just not eating as much as her brother and having problems getting it down in a way. Could the bottles be too fast for her, even though they are for newborns? I've got a bunch of Avent bottles and I'm thinking of preparing some formula for her to see if that helps.

She also seems like she has a stuffed nose or something -- I'm kind of wondering if she can't breathe when she eats or something like that. My husband gets very stressed out feeding her, and now he has me worried. We came home Friday from the hospital and on Monday I'm due to call my pediatrician for an appointment on Tuesday.

My question is should I wait until Monday or call him tomorrow? He saw them daily in the hospital when I was recovering from my C-section, and they seem to be fine. But the girl has me worried, and I can't even sleep because I'm worried about SIDS etc. She's a very "vocal" sleeper -- she makes lots of little sounds and whimpers and squeaks, which now also has my DH worried because he thinks she can't breathe!

Any advice, moms? Are we crazy? Should I be worried?

 

I know exactly what you are talking about! My b/g twins were born at 35 weeks and in the NICU for 18 days. They had this exact issue and my boy even got Speech for it while in the NICU. They suggested feeding him on his side. It sounds weird but it works. We just held the side of his head instead of the back of his head. This way the milk pools in the side of the mouth and allows them to "catch" up so the milk doesn't spill out. We also had to use the NICU disposable bottles and nipples for a long time because even the newborn nipples were too fast. But I hate to say, my babies are almost 8 months old and still very messy! I think some babies are just messy babies. I still need a burp cloth under their chin when they eat. Try the side lying position though, it might help.

 

Our boys were horrible bottle takers for about 2 months once they came home from the NICU. We couldn't feed them without a bib as so much milk would run out the corner of their mouths. I think the PP has a great suggestion though about feeding them on their sides so that the milk will pool in the side of their mouth. In any case, after a couple of months our boys became very efficient suckers and we haven't had to use a bib for bottle feedings in months. Hopefully your b/g twins will get there soon as well!

As for the stuffed nose, I never knew how snotty little babies could be! We have a Graco battery powered nasal aspirator and we keep that and Little Noses saline solution in a basket under our coffee table. We have long called it the "snot sucker" and we had to use it SEVERAL times a day the first couple of months. Now we maybe use it once a day or every other day since they don't seem as snotty. So maybe just try some saline solution and an aspirator when your little girl sounds stuffy?

Anyway, :welcome: to the First Year forum!

 

Those bottle nipples are way too fast. Do you have another bottle type you are planning to use? I had to switch to playtex slow flow nipples and it helped with the spit up and the milk dribbling. I'd advise changing bottles and see if it helps. You can always pour the RTF into another bottle.

 

I agree with trying another bottle and nipple, but I also agree that some babies are just messy! My girl twin has a smaller mouth than her brother, so she's never truly latched onto a nipple (breast or bottle) as well as her brother, she's always dribbled more. You can use bibs or burp clothes under their chin to catch the dribbles.

And the snotty nose is normal too, their bodies have been thrown into this big old world that's full of allergens, pollen, dust..etc and it takes awhile for them to get used to it. Also it could be a little residue from birth that didn't get cleared out yet. It's nothing to worry about, use saline drops (I use little remedies too) and a nose sucker as often as you need to!

Congrats and welcome to the FY!! :wub:

 

I had the same problem with my little one! It turned out that his tongue was tied - was not too bad and the doctor said he would outgrow it. More milk came out than went in.
I tried all sorts of bottles and for him Playtex drop-ins worked the best, but had to play with it for him to be able to get it in in the right position so he would actually swallow the milk instead of spitting it out.

 

My DD had trouble feeding the first couple of days. My DS took right to sucking from a bottle and got it right away, where as my DD needed to be taught how to suck. The nursery nurses told us to rub her chin and she was a messier eater for a bit until she got the hang of it. I would also try a slower nipple with her, the ones you are using might be too fast for her right now. I would say if you are concerned it cannot hurt to call your pediatrician at all.
Congratulations, Momma and :welcome: to the FY

 

I agree, that the bottles seem too fast. As far as the stuffiness, that is pretty common in newborns, and even more common in C-section babies, I think, because they weren't 'squeezed' through the birth canal, causing that junk to come out. I would put a couple of drops of saline in her nose, wait a couple of minutes, and suck it out with the bulb syringe. It should continue to improve as she gets a little older. If it does not, she could be a refluxer, and in babies that small, they can actually reflux all the way up to(and out) their noses. If so, I would talk to your doctor.

:welcome:

 

I nursed, but my guys always got at least one bottle a day. My son Ryan sounds like your daughter, my guess is that the congestion and not swallowing are not related (at least they weren't in Ryan's case). We tried a few different bottles and decided on Playtex dropins with slow flow latex nipples for both boys (the silicon nipples were faster).

Also, make sure you're warming the formula up enough; that made the biggest difference. I guess they were used to my 98.6 milk, so any time I gave them EBM or formula that was cooler than this they wouldn't swallow it.

The congestion went away around 4-5 months after the pediatrician checked him out and found nothing wrong with him, he was just a noisy baby. I felt like I was sleeping next to a petting zoo with all the cooing and snorting and wheezing he did. Maybe try letting her sleep in her car seat, that seemed to help a little bit.

 

This was similar to our situation as well with not eating properly. My littlest twin had some feeding issues, she would choke and go blue. So we fed her on our laps tipped to the side. It worked well. The hospital told us to use their disposables as well and also we tried gerber slow flow which fit into the disposable rings so we could use them on the bottles from the hospital. The occupational/speech therapist rec the gerber. Also I switched to Dr. Browns after and they make a preemie nipple which is slower than the level ones. Hope things sort themselves out. It did become stressful feeding her. But they learn quickly