breastfeeding help needed please

[whostolemyname]

Help me please!

I'm BF my two and a bit week old baby and things had been going well but in the last 48 hours or so she has started sort of shaking her head from side to side and pulling away but without actually releasing her suck after feeding for about 10-15 mins and it hurts! Does anyone have any idea why she might be doing this? From googling i have read something that suggests she might be getting a big dose of milk from my let down reflex but what can i do about that??

Also, she feeds between 1 and 3 hourly overnight and wont settle in a crib between feeds so I end up holding her and getting next to no sleep as am afraid to fall asleep like that. For this reason i am considering sharing a mattress with her on the floor. If i do this i would like to be able to feed lying down. At the moment i only feed sat upright holding her across my body. I have tried feeding lying down but seem to go all cack-handed I and can't latch her on. I dont know if this is just because i have very small boobs so they don't 'hang' down enough if that makes sense. Is it possible to feed lying down with small boobs? I must admit i have only ever suggested it to big breasted women at work! Has anyone got any tips to help me do this? If i could just doze a bit while she feeds im sure i would feel so much better.

Thank you

First of all congratulations on your baby. :)

I would suggest you express off a little bit first if you are having fast letdown and then put her on. But these things happen in the first few weeks, don't worry. It'll get easier.

Tomorrow go to the shops and buy a v shaped pillow so you can feed her more comfortably in a reclining position. You do not need to worry about sleeping alongside her. :) Until they are a bit bigger and can support their own heads it can be tricky to feed lying down. But pillows can help get her to the right level.

Just remembered that when ds was very little I had to latch him on sitting up and then awkwardly manoeuver the two of us down onto the bed It got easier with practice though.

Your letdown happens in the first couple of minutes so doubt a fast letdown will impact 10-15 minutes in - if anything it might be frustration that the flow has slowed? I would take her off when she does it anyway and either try her again on the same side or offer the other side.

Congrats on your baby!

I have got a bolster cushion (v. cheap from Ikea) in my bed, so i can half lie/half sit when i am feeding DS in bed. It seems to give me just the right angle for my boobs to hang down for him!

My DS started shaking his head, pulling off and also arching his back around a month old when feeding. He would latch on fine, then after a little bit it would seem to go wrong - turned out he had thrush so it might be worth a visit to your HV or GP. I was told by my HV that the baby has to make more effort to suck when your hindmilk comes through, and if they have thrush this is difficult for them hence they start to wriggle and pull off - so this might tie in with why it is 10-15 mins into feeding that it happens? I'm not an expert though, so see someone in RL!

You could also try switching sides - DS sometimes seemed to get "bored" on one side, and would settle back down again if I switched him over.

Good luck

I am quite small breasted, and found feeding lying down very easy.

Essentially, the position that works for many mums is to lie on your side, with your arm around the baby, and feed her from the lower breast. If your nipple is still too high in this position, you can lean towards your baby.

Falling asleep by accident with your baby can be quite dangerous - but sleeping with her on purpose is fine, particularly if everyone in the bed knows she's there, and if nobody is a smoker, or on sleeping medication.

Are you sure your baby doesn't have silent reflux? My baby had all the same issues: would only feed for 5 mins at a time, would cough and splutter, would come off the breast crying - feeding was a nightmare.
It was OK for the first 2 weeks, but it really got bad after that. I searched all the websites and decided it must be because of my fast let down (both myself and the baby were soaked each time he fed).
I kept searching for solutions on the web, because I knew something was wrong.
The first thing that helped was Colief, so he must have been slightly lactose intolerance too. But the reflux must have got worse because he went back to the crying and pulling off after 2 oz.
The infant Gaviscon helped a bit, but there is a limited amount you can give. Then I read about Silent Reflux and his syptoms sounded identical - feed for a little while, pull away crying, making him cough and splutter. He wanted to feed but it hurt him when the stomach acid came back up from his tummy. He would be sick a tiny bit (posset) after each feed. I read about Carobel, and asked the health visitor if we could try it. She said it was only for sick babies with reflux (full on vomiting) but I insisted I wanted to try it. As my baby was still putting on a bit of weight each week, she had not taken my issues seriously. The difference was unbelievable. He was able to feed and take 4, 5 or 6 oz at a time (about 3 mths old and had never taken a full feed). I was able to get him onto a 4 hour schedule.
He is still on the carobel at 9 mths old. I tried to take him off the caroble last week, but his milk intake went down and he started to be sick a little after each feed. It can take up to a year and a half for the valve at the top of his tummy to develop properly and stop the reflux.
Hopefully your baby doesn't have silent reflux, but it may be worth a try with the Carobel.

Try leaning back when your letdown kicks in so the milk is flowing upwards - it slows the flow.

I used to find feeding lying down hard - had pillows all round us and muslins folded under my boob and DD. Now it's easy. Just practice - ideally when you're not shattered. I found that I used to have to gently push DD's head back and move myself into her, because if I tried pulling her into me, her head would roll into the bed.

I also meant to say, I shared a bed with my baby for months as he could just breastfeed frequently during the night. With the silent reflux, it seemed to be not as painful during the night, so he fed little and often quite easily. During the day I then gave him expressed milk topped up with formula, with the carobel.

He also started to pull away from my nipple whilst clamping down with his gums - absolute agony!