Why does my 1 month old act like I'm starving her, even when the bottle is in her mouth?

Question

My daughter, one month old, struggles and fusses and freaks out when shes hungry, I give her the bottle, she continues, which in turn causes her to choke. which makes me take the bottle away, which makes her ever more mad.. so then I clean up her face, try to get a burp, and then I repeat the process all over again.. it makes feed horrible, and loud, and not nice for either fo us.

Answer 1

Maybe you are letting her get too frantic before you feed her, maybe the milk comes too fast.  Maybe she just hates bottles.

Answer 2

Let her pediatrician know and have her evaluated for reflux.

Answer 3

I have to agree with the feeding on demand....try not to let her get so upset before feeding her and keep track of the her times and set a lenient schedule by that. My daughter ate every 1.5 hours give or take. Not the 2 to 3 hours they said. And slept through the day from day one.

Answer 4

most likely she is colicy or gassy. try getting mylicon, gas drops. they work wonderfully. if you dont want to give her medicine then try to give her 1-2 drops of pepermint oil in a warm bottle of water or let her suck on a candy cane. she keeps going back to the bottle because it is comforting. if you want to make sure it is gas, when she is fussing like that flip her onto her belly and lay her across your knees. bounce your knees. if she quiets, it is gas. good luck.

Answer 5

Are you feeding her on demand? If not, do so. Babies that age do not need a feeding schedule in place. If she's choking the nipple may be too big on the bottle as well, she should be using the slow flow at this age.

Answer 6

Hi! First of all I suggest you buy a bottle with a slower debit. There are many types of bottles, and some give the milk too fast for the baby. It's normal for her to cry when she is hungry. A 1 month old baby does not think "mom is here with the bottle"... it's just an instinct : i'm hungry, therefore I cry.

Good luck

Answer 7

Hi!  I have a 3 1/2 week old baby girl and she does the same thing.  She likes to fall asleep with each feeding.. So when she doesn't get right back to sleep,  after a while she becomes too stimulated and gets over tired.  She'll cry so I give her the bottle,  she will start drinking it,  and then get red faced mad.  It's confusing because like you said,  it's like she wants it... but doesn't...

I've learned that when my daughter does it,  is when she is fighting sleep.  She knows her bottle puts her to sleep but she's fighting it.. so she justs screams.. and gets more mad...  Mention this to your doctor because she could have a stomach issue.. but she sure sounds like my little sleep fighter..  She never did this until right before she turned 3 weeks old..

Good luck to you!! :)

Answer 8

this could be one of 2 things...one is the nipple...look and make sure the hole isnt either too small or too big..if it seems to big try smaller...too small try bigger...if that doesnt help...honestly though it sounds like gas..when babies tummys hurt they think they are hungry...this causes colic sometimes...make sure you burp her well..press on her tummy a bit to see if it feels hard...when you change her diaper, lift her legs to release any other gas she may have..if she still seems fussy, try gas drops.

in the end though if nothing helps...take her to the doctor, you never know if it could be the formula she is on that makes her gassy ot her tummy hurt.

hope this helps...good luck hun

Answer 9

maybe its not hunger-maybe its gas! do you have gas drops? try the mylicon-it works fast and stops the fussiness!! hope it helps!

Answer 10

Maybe the nipple size is wrong. I'm guessing.  

Answer 11

Some babies are just like that, where they fuss a lot when hungry, but don't eat with given a bottle or breast. One way to handle this is to head it off. In other words, at the first sign of hunger, feed her. Some babies, when they are TOO hungry, they cry / panic/ etc, and become inconsolable.

Another reason might be that she's more sleepy than hungry. My 3 month old daughter does this all the time. She gets really tired but can't put herself to sleep. I try to give her food by she refuses and cries even harder. When she does that, I put her in her swing which really calms her down, and puts her to sleep within minutes (at which point I move her to her crib for a nap). When she gets up from her nap, I feed her right away to avoid further crying.

I hope this helps, and good luck.

Answer 12

She could be having bad stomach cramps and is now associating eating with them.  How are her bowel movements and her disposition otherwise?  In the beginning, my daughter was really fussy she had horrible stomach pains and trouble passing gas.  I started giving her Ovol which totally helped and did bicycle legs, now at four months she's able to pass gas easily and not longer has the pains associated with it (I should mention I no longer give her the Ovol either).  Otherwise, I would suggest it's the bottles or nipples rather that you are using.  They could be providing more that she can handle or are to hard for her causing frustration.  Depending on how she is during her non feeding times, it could also be the formula you are using... assuming she is on formula.