choking at the breast! Help me please!

[suzym1984]

Hi

I am having a few problems with my 3 week old little man. Breastfeeding has been going well after a bit of a shaky start, but for the last few nights I have had problems with him choking and coughing during a feed. It is quite distressing to see as he struggles to breathe, splutters and then usually cries.

When he pulls off to cough my milk is usually shooting out, so I was thinking maybe it is coming out too fast for him?

Also, he then tends to throw up after a feed and seems in pain.

It is awful to see him like this so any advice would be gratefully received!

Hmm, it does sound like your letdown is a bit strong! I have the same problem and I've found that varying the position you sit in until you find one that's better for your baby can help. There's some more info here that should help. Is there a BF group near you that you can go to?

Suzy - Have a look at this to see if it rings any bells for you.

I had this problem with ds. I was pointed to the page eaurouge has linked to and followed the advice on block nursing which definitely helped. Also letting it all spurt out into a muslin/towel meant the rest of the feed would go ok

x-post Eau!

mine does that. i take dd off after the let down and let the milk shoot out into a muslin, then when it's stopped i carry on.

Great advice ladies, and thanks for the link!

Will try taking him off next feed and letting milk shoot into a muslin.

Is there any way to take him off without it hurting like hell?

Try sticking your little finger in the side of his mouth to break the suction- very painful otherwise!

excellent! thank you all so much, will try this tonight. I cannot bear seeing him choke all the time.