Powerful let down creating very windy baby - any ideas?

[TettyLouBar]

Hi all,
DD2 4 wks old. BFing going well. latch seems to be good, she's STACKING on the weight, but my let-down is so powerful (especially left boob! ) that she gasps for air and swallows loads of air at each feed resulting in an incredibly windy and colicky baby. She wants to be upright loads and is constantly bringing up more wind and as a result is rooting for boob for comfort more and more - hence weight gain!

Its hard not to convince myself on a daily basis that she'd be better off with bottles. Ive contemplated packing it all in as I hate seeing her wriggle and writhe in pain from stuck wind - any ideas?

she hated infacol and dentinox too

First of all, well done with the weight gain :) Am going to follow this as I have similar - dd2 glugs like mad then usually comes up for air just as there's another big let-down which sprays all over her face Also gets lots of wind, very burpy and often sicks quite a bit of milk back.

Things we've tried that worked with dd2 - we get a lot of wind out of dd by pressing her knees into her tummy, as if she was doing a sit-up (bending her back gently rather than pressing her hips) and also the same but alternating legs one at a time. I've been advised to feed her lying down with her on top of me so gravity helps slow the milk a bit, this is quite hard as at this age (dd is 6 weeks) it's hard to keep her head in the right place but might be worth a go? Do you have a sling, often after a couple of minutes walking round with her in it dd2 will let out a triumphant belch and look much less upset!

Hi Jump,
Thanks for reply. I tried feeding DD1 with her lying on my front a few years back - she did NOT look comfortable and didn't like it. Will try that winding technique! thanks
which sling do you use? I might just try one

Even just leaning back slightly in an arm chair seemed to help my DD - we couldn't get to grips with lying down with her on top either.

At 10 weeks, she seems to cope a lot better no matter how fast it is - sometimes she's swallowing furiously but no real wind issues.

japhrimel thanks, IIRC DD1 coped alot better once she was past 10-12 weeks old but its just sooo wearing at the moment.
Had a particularly bad day yesterday and DD1 (2y8mo) decided that she would be the naughtiest she could possibly be on the day I had a baby that would not let me put her down all day needless to say DH got it in the ear when he came home as I had a little touch of cabin fever and needed a rant (and a G&T!!)

Hi, I had the exact same problem! I received the following advice from a breastfeeding specialist...

" the sound of the gulping etc could mean that your milk flow is very fast. Some babies struggle to co-ordinate suck swallow and breathe if milk flow is very fast and so break the seal around the breast to cope therefore also drawing in more air. Listen to baby at the start of the feed and when you hear her really starting to gulp and keep pace with milk flow immediately remove her gently from the nipple and squeeze the milk out of the breast until it stops squirting / spraying. Once the flow slows allow your wee dote back on - may need to repeat again if you hear the gulping picking up pace!!!"

I found this advice useful but my supply really started to build up and the problem got worse.

I started expressing every day and donating the excess - there was lots!

I also started using infacol as I seemed unable to prevent the wind going in so I thought I should help her deal with it.

It has settled after the magic 12 week mark - it still comes out really fast - I have splash marks on the ceiling!

Let us know how it goes!

x

Hello

thanks so much for posting - I have an extremely windy little one and a very fast let down - but hadn't connected the two .

Hoping the suggestions work, its horrible seeing him struggling and dd1 is losing patience! Also good to know it might not be the gin one unit of alcohol I allow myself .

thanks again! xx

Mummybeth Funny you should suggest that, it occurred to me only this afternoon that my let down is very sensitive and that if I think about it hard enough I can get my boobs to "let-down" spontaneously but I have to concentrate! So when I knew the LO was hungry earlier I went out in the kitchen (In laws were in the lounge!!) and poked my nipples through my top for 30 secs and that started a "let-down" then I immediately went straight back into lounge and latched DD on and she fed ALOT less frenzied and seemed to take down alot less air.
Can anyone else do this or is it just me?!?

ImogenG Its a relief just knowing that there's somebody else suffering eh? Definately DO NOT blame the gin! one unit wont cause a windy baby that I am sure of! cheers!

ooooh ooh have done the sit ups (baby not me that would be ridiculous!) and he's smiling for the first time in 24 hours.

i used to hold a muslin to my boob in the early days to soak up the spraying milk. sometimes i felt a buzzing in my boobs and i would look inside my bra and they were spraying milk. i had no idea what it was and then was like, oh...its my let down!

all calmed down around 3 momths. so much so i thought i had no milk. not true lol ebf to 6 months and stopped at 15 months...

itsy bitsy yoga used to make my ds fart lol

Jumpjockey I may be being really thick here, but can you re-explain the winding thingy you do with the sit-ups as I don't get it!
Do you lie them on their back and push their knees into their tum?

Have you tried expressing before you feed her, until just after the let down? Then put her on and see if she manages better. I had the same problem and this worked for me. You don't end up expressing loads and increasing supply this way. It settled down after a week or two of doing this. It was a bit of a pain faffing around before each feed but worth it as it worked. Good luck!

Tetty - basically yes, I tend to sit with her sloping slightly upwards on my lap (ie head on my knees, raised up a bit) and then hold the thighs, press the knees into their tummy. If I straighten her legs right down in between, so she's lying flat, that also helps get more wind out (and is like those evil military sit up jobbies!). Can be a bit hard if she's really sore and wants to curl up, but it is worth trying, just wait for a moment when they relax a fraction.