EBF 11 weeks: choking/coughing on milk- normal? reassurance please!

[jellybelly8]

Morning! Thanks in advance for any advice/reassurance, I was so grateful for all the responses to my other thread.

Title sums it up really. She seems to do this maybe every couple of feeds. I understand that there is a huge difference between coughing and actually choking but on occasions she struggles to even cough and can only manage to get a tiny bit of air through. I always flip her onto her front and she goes rigid for a while, tries desperately to cough then gasps and either screams or projectile vomits or both... we can't continue feeding as by then she is upset and wants a cuddle and a really good winding from all the air she has gulped!

I think I do have a rather enthusiastic let down so trying to feed in positions to reduce this.

So is this normal? Do you think I should do anything else? I hate seeing the panic in her face when it happens- please tell me that they grow out of it!

[ODog]

My milk used to let down quite forcefully on occasion and DS used to gag and splutter, but what you describe seems more serious unless she is just reacting quite strongly to it. Could you try unlatch img as you let down and then re-latch her? I could never tell when I was letting down though so I just used to remove him as and when it happened.

[jellybelly8]

Thanks odog, I will try the latching off when let down happens and see if she does it less. Sometimes it coincides with the let down and other times it just happens (perhaps during a let down the I didn't feel iyswim) or maybe it is not linked to that but def worth a go.

[Peachesandcream15]

I have a fast let down and have had issues with choking and gasping for breath from early on. My DD is 17 weeks. It has very gradually improved. When she starts coughing and gasping I just sit her up slightly and pat her back. She is never unduly upset by it and returns to feeding.

Are you upset and panicked by it? I just wonder if flipping her on her front is necessary and might be the cause of the upset? I'm no expert (!) But I don't think baby can actually choke on milk (like you could with food) so could you try just staying calm, give baby a minute to recover (and your let down to ease) and pat or rub baby's back. It is awful to see baby struggling. Hopefully they'll cope better as they get bigger!!

[Starman16]

I had this with my little one too - he's 16 weeks now and it happens much less frequently. I think it was a combination of forceful let down and him being a bit of a guzzler!! I spoke to my health visitor about it at 6-8 week check just in case it could be a sign of some underlying problem and she assured me nothing to worry about - as previous posts have said, just take some time to calm them and wind if needed them try again. You could also try expressing a bit just before feeding?