06 Oct 😬Have you noticed that your baby tends to choke and cough when bottle feeding 🥴Does baby seem unsettled and fussy after bottle feeding
The first few months with a 👶🏻newborn baby is often challenging and unsettling trying to get to know baby’s cues and needs.
👩🍼Feeding is one of the main activities that new parents find themselves doing and often struggling with. Recently, at My Favourite Physio our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists met a new mum in clinic with her 2 month old baby. Mum was concerned that baby has a head tilt and head preference to one side causing a mis-shapened head.
When chatting to mum, she also reports that bottle feeding is challenging as baby seems to be cough and choke when feeding and is often unsettled and crying after feeds. So we observed baby feeding while in clinic, and found possible reasons why baby was struggling with bottle feeding.
😬1. Milk flow was too fast
Baby was coughing and choking at the start of the feed because the milk flow was too fast. In this case, it is because the bottle teat size was too large allowing too much milk to flow which baby was unable to manage. Breastfeeding babies may also experience this when the mother’s milk let down is too much and fast.
😬2. Bottle held at the wrong angle
Mum was holding the bottle almost horizontal to the baby in order to slow the flow of milk, so that the milk level in the bottle was only filling the bottom half of the bottle teat. This meant that baby was sucking in half milk and half air when feeding.
😬3. Baby wasn’t burped properly after feeds
Mum only patted baby for a few minutes after feeds and stopped before baby actually managed to burp. Given that baby was sucking in air while bottle feeding, not helping baby burp would result in baby feeling unsettled with trapped air in their tummy 15-30mins later.
😊The solution for this baby is simply getting a smaller bottle teat size and to pat baby for longer until baby burps after each feed.
So if your baby is struggling with bottle feeds, reach out to My Favourite Physio on 📱(02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio today! 🤓
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