Ive got this breast feeding malarki down well, but have some questions for any one who is in the know please.

[nananaps]

Feeding every 2-3 hours, latches on lovely even with a tongue tie, gaining weight fabulously BUT what is it with these little sucking motions with no evidence of swallowing?
He does huge gulps and clearly swallows the milk, but i am not convinced that he is getting anything at all when he does these little sucking things.
He can do this for 20-30-40 mins at a time.
Anyone shed any light on this little mystery?

[Catsu]

Is it at the end of a feed? My dd does this and my Hv said its them getting the slower but fattier good milk and to let her keep drinking even if looks like she's not actually feeding any more...

[nananaps]

ahh ok, yes it does seem to be at the latter end.
Ive been putting him onto the other side thinking ive got no supply.

Also, can i ask, do you drink gallons? I am thirsty all the time, going through 3 litres at least a day. If i dont drink for a couple of hours i think that i will affect supply.

[nananaps]

But moresnow that means he would be on the breast for nearly 2 hours! Ive been taking him off after 30 mins or so, or when he falls off asleep.

[TiredyCustards]

They just love to suck for comfort.

Regarding thirst, drink what you're thirsty for, your body knows!

[nananaps]

He will take a dummy every now and again.
When he wont take it, i know he is still hungry.

Loving Vimto at the mo

[sleepyhead]

Not drinking won't affect your supply, but it would be silly not to drink when you're thirsty

Sometimes they just comfort suck because they want to. I know the advice is not to take them off until they come off on their own, but ds was an ultra sucky baby and I don't think he'd ever have come off on his own. Luckily his weight gain was really good as I had terrible nipple pain and wasn't able to just let him comfort suck so I'd get him to suck my finger instead - obv not something to do if weight gain is a concern.

[Tamdin]

Nana if you open your mouth slightly and wiggle your lower jaw up and down does it look like that? Ds2 did this sort of loose suck/shudder when he'd dosed off but was still latched on. I used to slip my little finger in to break the suction and pop him down beside me to sleep. He only ever fed properly for about 20 minutes x

[canran]

My dd does this. I have always assumed it was comfort suckling. She is content, eyes closed and either falls off asleep or wakes up for more. She can be like that for an hour or so if I didn't move her, so sometimes I don't, and shut my eyes too...!
Babies can control the flow and if they want to suck without milk then that's what they do!
I wouldn't worry if he is not distressed about it

[nananaps]

Thanks so much everyone that is really helpful.
Its just unknown and not immediately measurable like giving a bottle is it.


One more question...sorry ladies!

He has started to be a bit sick after some feeds, is this normal? Also hates to be lay down flat, this nearly always causes him to be sick, is this a bit of reflux possibly?

He has also begun to strain as if trying really hard to poo, its loose when it comes so why is he doing this? It makes him cry poor thing.

thanks xxx

[mawbroon]

DS1 had undiagnosed posterior tongue tie and he used to do these little shuddery sucks which I much later learned were tongue tremors from the effort of feeding with a restricted tongue. He nursed til he was old enough to have a conversation about it and told me that his tongue just did it without trying.

Tongue tie can also cause reflux, although of course it's not the only cause. Dr Kotlow is one of the leading experts on tongue tie

[thehumanegg]

Isn't it called flutter sucking? And as others have said is to trigger a further let down, or so I thought. My DD does this when sleeping sometimes and hasn't been hear a boob for 2 months :)

[canran]

I think babies being sick after feed happens an awful lot. Especially the possetting, where they bring up a squirt of milk. In her first few weeks my dd had quite a few occasions where she brought up the whole entire feed. It was really horrible to watch and dh and I ran her to a&e when it first happened as she was just retching and screaming. The doctor was not impressed with our new parent jitters! So long as she was not throwing up like that every feed there was nothing to be concerned about apparently. (He also said she was probably over-fed and too full. However, this contradicted other advice I'd been given that you could never over breastfeed a baby)
I also found that putting her straight down after a feed made her more likely to be properly sick. I used to keep her on me for at least 20 mins after feeding, in the same position she had been feeding in - on her side, head a little higher than body....use gravity to help keep the milk down! She'd go to sleep like that and was hardly ever sick in that position. She grew out of it without me noticing.
Also I learned the hard way to never lie her down with hiccups - sick every time. Even now I don't lie her down when she has them.
Hope this helps. As everyone will no doubt keep telling you, so long as they have wet and dirty nappies and they're gaining weight then feeding is going ok. It's supposed to be reassuring but it's impossible not to worry. You're doing great

[canran]

Oh forgot to add about the straining - babies have to learn how to control their bowels and the sensation of needing to poo is confusing for them. They push and squirm and it can upset them. Once they get a little more control they will be less upset about it. They're not straining because the poo is tough to push out - rather they are just over-reacting to the need to do the poo. IYSWIM ??

[thehumanegg]

Sorry my post wasn't in response to mawbroon who may have a point

[nananaps]

Thanks that all makes perfect sense and i am so relieved that i am doing the right thing with everything.

I am learning as i go along.

It is so true to say that he has very wet and dirty nappies therefore he is feeding beautifully.

I ebf my older son till he was 7 months old but that was 10 years ago and i cant remember allot of stuff so just need to be reiminded and reassured, so thank you all very much, it is very much appreciated x