4 month old fussing at breast and uncontrollable crying

[Racheyg]

help i have no idea what to do.
ds2 has a cold and we are both recovering from thrush again.
if ds2 gets alittle whiny i normally put him on the boob and he is fine but for two nights there has been fussing, pulling off and constant crying. i have tried calpol but that doesnt help. he does have a little wind and today he has spit up 3 times and he doesnt normally.

am i feeding him too much? i had to give him a bottle at 3am as the cry was heartbreaking. he drank it but was still unsettled. i feel hopeless, is it best to quit breast and start bottle?

tia

ps sorry for grammer and spelling, typing with one finger as ds2 asleep in my arms

[mikado1]

I had this and it was oversupply and seemed to be because of the food I was eating-didn't realise I was eating milk increasing foods. I block fed and did laid back feeding as well as cutting the foods-it resolved pretty quickly (days).

[Racheyg]

Iam on a diet which has alot of egg based foods. do they increase milk supply?

His feeding has reduced normally he feeds every 1 1/2 hrs but its more like 2 1/2 at the moment and he keeps refusing the breast when I offer it.

What do you mean by block fed? x

[CultureSucksDownWords]

If he's got a cold perhaps his nose is blocked/his throat is sore etc and its interfering with his feeding. You can't feed him too much so please don't worry about that! Just feed him when he seems to want to and you can't go far wrong.

Block feeding that the PP mentioned is a technique used to decrease supply. I wouldn't do this unless you are certain that you have an over supply problem. Nothing you've described indicates an over supply, also nothing you've described is particularly unusual. Babies go through unsettled stages as they develop and grow.

He could also be teething - have you tried a numbing gel like anbesol on his gums?

[Racheyg]

Teething......his gums are very hard and I see two little lumps on the lower. If I remember correctly with ds1 teething went on for awhile

It's just so hard when he is screaming so loudly and nothing you can do helps. I will dig out the teething gel x

[mikado1]

For me the foods were oats, nuts, almonds, sweet potato and chick peas-I was eating them daily while swilling fennel tea for wind (also increases!) Turns out wind was caused by being overcome with milk and I could see it hosing him in the face when I would take him off. Block feeding didn't decrease supply I don't think, just slowed the flow as fed from the same side if feeding more than once in two/three hours. He was also projectile vomiting every now and then.

You might not be the same of course but that was my experience anyway. Hope it settles soon.

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Block feeding is a technique used to reduce supply. It isn't needed if the OP doesn't have an over supply.

The foods that you eat won't make any discernible difference to your milk supply, they really won't. It's an unnecessary worry that you don't need.

[mikado1]

I know it's not needes if she doesn't have it, but my lo waa the same so I was just sharing what I figured out it was. Porridge every morning and 2/3 cups of fennel tea very definitely increased my supply-that's why they tell people to drink it-and cutting them out really seems to have sortedtthe problem. I stopped block feeding after a week. (Although I do sometimes wonder if he has a quick snack should I return to that side next time)

[Racheyg]

Thanks guys.
Ds2 was still very unsettled last night lots of crying and unlatching. The thing I have noticed today is that he really is gulping down milk and only spending 5 mins on the breast.

He has just had a good feed now, while I stood up yes not the most comfortable x

[mikado1]

Try lying down and see how that goes- might help if he's gulping.