Newborn feeding comfort feeding to sleep

[Bubandbump]

My 7 week old DD has recently developed reflux and is on gaviscon and colief as she has bad wind.

She used to feed herself to sleep which took a while and then would go to sleep on me. At night she will still do this and go in her Moses basket and sleep from 9-6 with a few wake ups for food.

The problem is that during the daytime she has stopped doing this and really needs to be held upright after a feed as well otherwise she is extremely uncomfortable. She will only sleep in her baby born whilst walking at a fast pace, she hates the other slings, will sleep while walking at a fast pace in the pram if I can get her in it and off within the 5 minute window of going from tired to overtired.

I used to be happy to feed her to sleep and stay holding her but now she just chews on my nipples for up to an hour before drifting off for 10 mins. Thiis is making her reflux worse though as she occasionally continues to swallow and my nipples are getting raw and very sore. I am too tired to do the other options for 2 hours every 3 hours and just tried not letting her feed whilst walking around comforting her which led to 20 minutes of escalating screaming before giving in and sitting here with her chomping on my very sore nipples again.

She won't take a dumb and I just don't know what to do. I am at my wits end - please help!

[Bubandbump]

Argh auto correct nightmare, that should be that she will only sleep in her baby bjorn and she won't take a dummy!

[Nagini]

I used to hold my DS against my chest and slip a dummy in when he wasn't looking, holding it in place against my chest IYSWIM. He could never keep it in by himself. He didn't keep this up for long.

[orchidee]

It could be a developmental phase. My DS is 2 months old and I've noticed that since the end of the 6 week growth spurt he has changed a lot. He doesn't have reflux or anything similar, but likes to fall asleep in my arms after a feed whereas up to 5 weeks old I could lay him down flat after feeding. If he notices that I've done this now he protests and it's back on the breast to comfort nurse until he falls asleep. (Which I'm doing now).

I posted about friction blisters on nipples 2 weeks ago and had to sort out the latch. The nipple flick / exaggerated latch techniques helped. I'm now pain-free. I hope this helps you.

[orchidee]

Also, have you tried letting her suck your (clean) finger? Put the fingerpad to the roof of her mouth, nail side to her tongue.

[narmada]

I had a baby exactly like this - who also had reflux and, it turned out, a cow's milk protein intolerance (not lactose intolerance - that is really rare) and a tongue tie.

I think someone more knowledgeable will be along soon, but even if your baby is comfort sucking she shouldn't really be making your nipples really sore, or chomping at all.

Has her latch been checked? Has she been checked for tongue tie by someone who really knows what they're looking for (e.g., a lactation consultant)?

[narmada]

That sounds a bit odd reading it back - what I meant was my baby boy used to be like you describe, now he's better. It sounds like I once had a baby and then I gave him away or something!

How's things now?

[diyqueen]

My dd was a bit like this at times (another with reflux), and I was sore from constant feeding until 9 or 10 weeks. All I can say is that it probably will get better - in a few weeks' time she'll be more aware of the world around her and more interested in doing things other than feeding. My little one still sometimes fights daytime naps (she's 15 weeks now) and all I can do is make sure she gets tired enough that she can't help sleeping - lots of kicking about on the floor or under the baby gym, going out and about and to baby groups etc. Are you using Lansinoh cream? - I assume you've tried this or something similar but if not it might help the soreness. Hang in there, try to make sure she's going on with a good latch, and have faith that it will get better.

[CrapolaDeVille]

Unfortunately reflux is a bugger, it's very very hard work. My two reflux babies NEVER slept without bf. Is your baby very very close tummy to tummy? A rocking swing saved my babies' lives......

[ThisIsYourSong]

Might be worth going back to your GP and getting a referral to a paediatrician to get some stronger meds (or getting your GP to prescribe if they will). I know lots of people are against giving omeprazole etc to small babies, but acid reflux is horrible and painful and is probably happening several times a day. The other thing that really helped me was getting as much wind out as possible which is hard when they are asleep! Have you tried all the different winding positions?