1-week-old does not eat for 12 hours!!!

[Umnitsa]

My 1-week-old has a perfect latch, I have good milk supply, but in the last 36 hours we managed only three proper feeds (ie when she is on the breast for 25-40 min continuously suckling). The rest of the day is spent in futile attempts to feed her.

She is rather gassy and windy, and has to be kept upright a lot. She constantly tries to get bubbles of air out, and that is what disrupts our feeds. She would take the nipple and suckle for a minute, then hold her breath as her tummy rumbles and a bubble passes through, then starts crying and needs 3-4 min to calm down, and after that she just refuses to take the breast again. When I try to press the breast in her mouth, more screaming entails.

Midwives have not come up with any constructive advice ("keep trying") and we are seeing a lactation consultant tomorrow.

She was on antibiotics for 3 days (as group B step prophylaxis) which might have affected her flora.

It seems neither the method of delivery (bottle vs breast), nor the source of milk (BF vs FF) matter.
When I had very little colostrum, we tried giving her formula in a bottle, which she had rather reluctantly, only drinking half of it (15 ml).

I wonder if anyone has any tips about BF-ing hiccupping gassy babies??!!!

:( :( No wonder you're concerned, Umnitsa.

This situation is quite complex, and I think it is great you are getting real life help with it. To be honest, the help you can get from a talkboard is not going to be as good as someone coming to see you and to watch you feed.

'Keep trying' is, as you suspect, useless advice. You gotta do something different, I think :)

One thing you can do in the time before seeing the lactation consultant is to hold your baby skin to skin in biological nurturing positions - google this for details.

She also needs to be fed, and you can hand express and give your milk to her by spoon, syringe or bottle. It is v. important she does not go short of milk and that your supply is protected.

Hope things are better soon.

Oh dear, you need real life help urgently to ensure she is not getting dehydrated - if you want to BF its also important to maintain your supply.

I BF DS2 in an upright position - because he kept on vomiting up whole feeds and I found less gassy if upright.

Also what are you eating - is there anything in your diet that could be causing her upset?

She had a good feed at 1 pm so the pressure is slightly off right now...

Hard to tell about food - she is only a few days old, there is too little history to establish any causality. I have been basically eating the same stuff I did in pregnancy.

Tik-tok - thank you for the reference, found the website - and am off to bed with her now to try.

MumNWLondon - how did you do it upright, were you standing or reclining?

I was sitting very upright on edge of sofa - baby facing me totally upright straight. DS2's issue was puking up whole feeds though. I also found I had a very fast letdown so baby swallowed lots of air when the milk was coming out fast. This can be solved by pumping off a small amount before you feed.