Suction problems and excessive wind...any lactation experts out there?

[nello]

I think it may be due to fast let down and milk supply, but DS2 is really struggling with feeds. He is 8 weeks and weight gain is good so he is getting enough milk, but he is extremely windy and has no real suction, I can pull my nipple out of his mouth without any resistance at all. With DD I would have to slip my finger in toe break the suction but there is nothing like that this time...my nipple can just slip out of his mouth even during the feed. He is full of wind and when I peddle his legs he will break wind up to 15 times in one sitting. I can only think he is taking in lots of air whilst feeding due to his poor suction, but latch seems to be ok and suggests so by his great weight gain. Latch has been checked and seems to be fine, can this just be due to fast let down, and if so what to do?

Any thoughts? His wind is causing him great pain and waking him a lot during the night.

Thanks.

[autumnboys]

Has he checked for tongue tie? You have just described my DC3 to the life at that age and he was tongue tied. I wasn't sore, he was gaining well, but the wind was awful and his suction was pants.

When it dawned on me to check at about 10 weeks,by hey saw it straightaway.

[minipie]

I second, third, fourth checking for tongue tie. need to get checked by someone properly trained to spot them (which sadly doesn't include most HVs midwives or gps - you ideally need a breastfeeding counsellor who specifically knows about tongue tie, or get your GP/HV to refer you to a hospital tongue tie clinic, though can be hard to get a referral if weight gain is ok). posterior tongue tie sounds most likely and they are much harder to spot to the untrained eye.

[nello]

What does tongue tie mean, and what is the solution? I live overseas away from great medical care so not sure what my options would be if it was tongue tie. Doe tongue tie babies find bottle feeding easier? I am wondering whether it give it to 3 or 4 months and then all it a day....

Thanks for your replies. Feeling pretty rubbish right now, he is in such pain with his wind :(

[hollie84]

My DS2 is a bit like this - as he feeds (breast or bottle) a lot of milk dribbles out of his mouth, and although he's not farty he burps and vomits a lot. He had a fairly severe tongue tie that was snipped at 3 weeks old but I think it either regrew or wasn't snipped entirely.

Tongue tie means the tongue is attached to the bottom of the mouth so has restricted movement. It can cause feeding and speech difficulties depending on the severity. The treatment is to free the tongue by snipping it, usually with scissors though I think it can be cut by laser too.

[minipie]

Tongue tie (posterior) is when the tongue is attached too tightly to the bottom of the mouth, so they can't use their tongue as freely.

It usually means they can't get a good latch, so they just attach to the nipple rather than having a big mouthful of breast, slip off a lot, leak milk, and take in lots or air - so very windy. Can also lead to sore nipples, and need for quite frequent feeds as they get exhausted by feeding.

The treatment is to cut it - a very simple procedure which takes a few seconds with a bit of local anaesthetic gel. But you need to find someone qualified to do it which sounds like it could be tricky.

Bottle feeding - my dd also struggled with bottles with her posterior tongue tie (still lots of leaking and air) but I believe many babies do find bottles easier.