Baby screaming and won't feed

[NickyEds]

Dd is 13 weeks and has been feeding quite well until around 5 days ago. She's fine during the day although she only has short feeds
(every 2 hours ish)but by teatime she is hysterical. Every time I lay her down and try to feed her she just screams. She'll take a couple of little sucks but then starts screaming-it's absolutely soul destroying. I called the hv who suggested a comfort milk feed at teatime but I'm extremely reluctant to do this because dd already has a bottle of f at bedtime and I'm concerned about my supply.
So far I've tried;
-Gripe water
-Very quick off the mark feeding- I was worried that she's getting too hungry.
-Putting her in the sling-she just cries in the sling.

Last night we tried a bottle of f and she wouldn't take that either. I'm worried that she just won't latch on. I feel anxious from mid afternoon now and i'm very concerned about my supply. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Have you checked her mouth to see if it's sore? It might be useful to see the GP and get her ears and throat checked to.

Have you called one of the Bfing Helplines? A BFC should be able to suggest something.

How are her naps?

[HelenF35]

Get a pump to keep your supply up meantime. Sounds like it might be teething?

[HeyMicky]

Is she overtired? DD2 is 23 weeks and needs a power nap, even just 15 minutes, late afternoon still. If she doesn't have it she is impossible to feed at bedtime. I have to put her to bed at 6.30 and then lift her for a sleepy feed around half 7 once DD1 is in bed. DD1 was exactly the same.

Alternatively, try a different hold or even dangle feeding if you think it's teeth?

[mintbiscuit]

I second Micky's suggestion. The only time I've experienced the same thing with my dcs is when they are overtired.

[PrincessHairyMclary]

My DD had an ear infection once that put her off feeds in the evening and not so much during the day.

[NickyEds]

Thanks. It's entirely possible she's overtired. Naps are becoming a nightmare. It's just hard because ds would always take the breast and fall asleep whereas dd feeds and will not fall asleep-I'm at a bit of a loss when I can't feed to sleep. I might get her checked out wrt the ear infection- she doesn't have a temperature but she seems a little young for teething?? I sometimes think she gets frustrated waiting for a let down.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

If you're not sure if she's in pain, it might be worth trying her with a dose of calpol and see if that improves her mood.

If you thing she might be frustrated, have you tried breast compressions?

[NickyEds]

Tried Calpol and it made no difference. I'm pretty much convinced she's not in pain-it only comes on for a couple of hours in the evening. The evenings now generally go like this-
Good feed at around 4.30ish then I desperately try and get her to sleep. I often fail and so by 6.30 she's over tired and now hungry. I try to feed her and she screams. Screaming continues until she wears herself out and goes to sleep, usually around 7.30. It's a very unsettled sleep and eventually she wakes up enough to take the breast and has a short sleepy feed. At 10ish we go to bed and she has a bottle of formula. She then sleeps until 6-6.30.

I've tried breast compressions but during the day it just overwhelms her and she chokes. In the evening she won't suckle enough to get my milk "flowing"-she just has 2 or 3 little sucks then screams. Over and over. I don't seem to be able to hand express very well at all. I pumped last night and only got about 4 oz in almost 15 minutes so I really think it might be a supply issue.

[BumWad]

I would say 4oz in 15 mins of pumping is great!

[Onsera3]

Sounds like she may be getting too tired. My 5 week old started acting colicky at this same time of day last week. So I have to work really hard to make sure she does go to sleep before the madness starts- not easy with toddler!

Also I find when they are getting in a state like this it can help to change it up to get them to feed. I take DS to my bed and feed her side lying which seems to calm her as she has a lot of control to move and come off etc. Stripping her off for some skin to skin for feeding works even better.

[Lunastarfish]

I can only get 1 Oz in 15 mins if I'm lucky

Could it be wind? My dd tends to latch on and off every 2 seconds when she needs to burpand this generally only happens in the evening

[scandichick]

How much you can pump has nothing to do with how much your baby is getting when feeding, different situations altogether. Agree with previous poster tgst that 4oz in fifteen minutes is impressive

[Topseyt]

It was a long time ago now, but is seem to remember that mine would behave something like this when they developed thrush in their mouths.

It definitely can be worth getting that sort of thing checked out.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Agree it's the others, how much you pump is really not an indication of how much you are producing. If she is bright and alert at times and is gaining weight, then you are producing enough milk.

Did you manage to call one of the being helplines?

[Toadsrevisited]

Mine had colic around that age and nothing helped. Was bleak. Just had to wait for a month or so and it stopped one day. It was like an alarm went off at 6 pm and he would cry for an hour. Only thing to have any effect was DH taking him for a walk in the pram.

[LittleFishBigOcean]

My money's on colic. DD was just like this on and off at the same age. Nothing much helped other than cuddling her and letting her go to sleep then she'd wake in the night for a good feed. She just seemed to grow out of it as she got bigger.

As for the expressing, yes, 4oz in 15 mins is really good going, especially in the evening. Supply IS lower then , but not normally to the point that the baby can't get enough.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Have a read of this on colic

[NickyEds]

Thanks so much everyone.I managed to get through to a bf helpline and they more or less agreed with you that more likely to be either over tiredness or colic rather than a supply problem. I've had her in the sling for hours today (the most reliable only way to get her to sleep) and she's been much better this evening-still some crying but not as bad and she actually fed. It's been reassuring in terms of bf (I have very little confidence in my ability to bf my baby) but poor ds has been very put out by her being on me all day. I've posted on the sleep board for advice on how to get her to sleep now!!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

How old is DS? If he's old enough, could you explain that if she's in the sling you get to spend more time with him and can do more fun things?

Why do you have little confidence?

[NickyEds]

He's 22 months so understands when I'm feeding dd but not that he needs to be quiet when she's sleeping or that she needs to be in the sling. he's too little to get it and just runs riot! He was very grumpy this evening and started pulling the cushions from under dd whilst I was feeding her-something he never normally does.

I struggled to feed ds and he was mix fed. MIL and my dad have made a few comments recently about bf. We give her a f bottle at night at they've said "She must be starving by then!" and "At least you know she's getting something in a day".My dad just flat out said "more formula" when I said how upset she'd been. MIL thinks that now dd is so alert she needs "a bit more-either f or weaning". Even though rationally I know it's not true whenever dd is unsettled I immediately think it's something to do with my milk.