Sucking in too much air...?

My son, Owen (5 months), just recently started eating his bottles really fast and in the process is sucking in a lot more air. I use Doctor Brown bottles and moved him up to the stage 3 nipples and it still doesn't seem to slow him down. He is eating rice cereal, and oatmeal with fruits already so he's not being starved. Any ideas what to try next?

Try a stage 1 or 2 nipple it should slow him down.

How does your son react when he eats faster? Is he gassy and in pain? What are you concerns?

I agree, maybe try to go back to a stage 2 nipple and see if that helps keep him from getting too much air in his tummy. Also, maybe talk to your doctor about how many ounces he is taking and how often just to make sure he is on target.

He get's gassy and seems to have more bubbles but he doesn't seem to be in pain. But he does burp quickly and sometimes spits up almost right after he's done eating. I'm sure most of the spit up in the last 2 weeks is related to the teething but some nights he spits up as soon as he sits up to be burped.

My youngest is almost 5 months old. (She has also started solids.) I have noticed that she will tend to get a little gassy when she drinks her bottle fast as well, and I agree with switching to a slower flow nipple.

As far as the spitting up- does he stop eating on his own when he is full? If not, maybe he is getting too full, and that may cause the spitting up. My daughter tends to spit up when she has had too much at one "meal", or if she has a bottle too soon after her solid food meal.

Talk to your son's doctor and see how much and how often he should be eating. If you are meeting the guidelines, tell him/her about the gassy & spitup problems.

Good Luck. & hopefully he will get those teeth in soon! ;)

We had this problem too! Changed to Avent bottles and almost cured the problem!! Even switched back to DR Browns and immediatley started throwing up almost entire bottle as soon as we sat her up to burp! Try switching bottles, worked for us!!

Well, I agree with the other moms. I might try actually putting him on the slower nipple rather than advancing the stage so that he gets less formula at one time. Another idea would be to try a different bottle just for kicks to see how he responds to one versus the other. Your pediatrician probably has some good brand recommendations for babies who specifically gulp and swallow too much air. Good luck!

You have gotten so many great ideas from other posters! One other thought that I have is "pacing" him when you feed him. This is something often done with premies as it helps them to learn to suck, suck, suck, breath, suck, suck, suck, breath..instead of just suck, suck, suck, suck. That looks funny typed out-but just as it sounds tip the bottle back and let him suck a few times, then tip it forward so he has to stop and breath, then back to sucking. Pacing often helps kiddos who eat to fast and then spit it all up, or just get to excited about eating and forget to breath. You may not need to do this though if you try some of the bottle/nipple suggestions mentioned by earlier posters. Good luck! Jess