Troubleshooting Overly Long Feeds: Is Baby Snacking?

At first I thought she might be. Her feeds from the bottle with the Dr Brown preemie nipple were taking nearly 40 minutes each time and I'd have to keep waking her to eat.

I blamed her non preference of the Similac Alimentum formula because after finishing her 2 oz, she would quickly suck down another 1 oz of breast milk with no problems. 

So yesterday I tried mixing her probiotic powder into her allotment of breast milk and offered it to her. She sucked and sucked but just couldn't get any. Turns out the powder couldn't pass through the preemie nipple hole. 

Hmmm that got me wondering if the powdered formula was also facing difficulties squeezing through the nipple. That, combined with the negative pressure from the vacuum created within the bottle when extricating the formula, could be why baby was taking so long to eat. My poor darling was exhausting herself trying to fill her belly. And to think I called her a 'snacker'. She'd gamely attack the nipple with her usual gusto and have at it for about ten minutes before passing out with the nipple still in her mouth. Just like she would on my boob (she'd become a very efficient feeder). And this horrible mommy would keep forcing her to wake and chew at that nipple for teeny drops at a time. 

I got out a pin and mangled the brand new preemie nipple. I upgraded it to a level one nipple and gave it a few test sucks. Oh yeah. Pre-mangle, I could barely get anything with my suck while after that my suck was rewarded by a decent baby-appropriate (or so I'd like to think) sized squirt of formula. 

This time Meili took 10 minutes for her 2 oz. 

Sorry it took so long to figure this out baby girl. :S

Here's a pic of Meili trying to communicate her needs telepathically to mama. Would you ask mama 'ma why are you so clueless?'