reflux and 13oz weight gain

[yoshimigalloway]

hi, my baby daughter is 18 days old. Yesterday we had our first health visitor appt. She weighed Bethany and said that she now was 9lb 4oz, last week she was 8lb 7oz! As I was feeding Bethany the health visitor commented that I had an awful lot of milk and Bethany was being a bit lazy with her latching on. She said that as my let down was so good baby was just "nippling" and still getting what she needed (hence weight gain) So I need to work on getting her to latch on so I don't encourage bad habits.

Also the hv picked up on the fact that bethany was spitting up a lot of milk, wincing and making funny noises - she said that she thinks bethany has reflux. This explains alot as she never likes to lie flat and I struggle to put her down in her moses basket. Do you think it's normal to have that sort of weight gain in one week? She is feeding a lot, without much gap inbetween but i do have the milk to give her - do you think i should express some to store?

Do you think something can be done about the reflux even though she is gaining weight not losing? She looks so uncomfortable after a feed, It's a wonder she's so keen.

thank you for reading.

Hi there yoshimi

Well that is a pretty amazing weight gain in one week, but it's certainly not a problem. It sounds like you do have oversupply which accounts for the fast gain and possibly also the spitting up. I don't know much about reflux I'm afraid but there is a reflux thread on here somewhere so you'll get some help there. Kellymom.com has some info that you may find useful about fast letdown and oversupply.

Personally I wouldn't express just yet as you will mess about with your supply even more. For now, you might like to look in to becoming a milk donor though so you
can pass on some of your milk to help prem babies.

I don't really like the term 'lazy' when applied to a tiny weeny baby but it is obviously important that she latches on well so that you don't get sore and so that she removes milk from the breast fully.(preventing blocked ducts for eg.)

hth

I wouldn't express either at this early stage like crikeybadger says. i also don't like the term 'lazy' to describe babies?! it's stoopid! it is important that she learns to latch well so you don't get sore like cb says...

As you have so much milk, can you feed off one side and keep her on longer? You say she is feeding alot - is it both sides? Jack Newman says that as they are on, their throat muscles are working to move the milk downwards so obviously they won't spit up while they are on. Feeding off one side only may help reduce your milk supply but do be careful that the other one doesn't get too painful or engorged. Also, spitting up is not necessarily a problem if she is not bothered / only mildly bothered about it. She is gaining weight well so she's not throwing up whole feeds - if she doesn't mind it may just be one of those things.

Apparently you can also do switch nursing - not often recommended - so you literally limit her to five minutes each side. Then a few hours later five minutes each again. This way you are not removing all the milk from both breasts so they get the message to produce much less. I would like to say though that I don't know much about this and tbh I would get a IBCLC/experienced bf counsellor to help you with this so you don't actually jeopardise your supply. It is more risky apparently than block nursing and can cause gassy green poos to begin with, but block nursing with a massive supply can cause blocked ducts/mastitis type problems...

good luck x

It sounds to me like oversupply and forceful letdown - I think that needs to be ruled out before going down the reflux route. You'll know if you have a forceful letdown because you'll probably spray milk half-way across the room when you get the letdown reflex (nice!)

Think the advice above to contact an ICBLC-qualified lactation consultant's advice is excellent. I thought switch nursing was for increasing milk supply and increasing a baby's milk intake tho, but agree that block nursing might be useful.

To me it sounds like a combination of oversupply and reflux. I can't really help with the oversupply issue (I'm pants at bf!) but come over to the reflux thread and join us there!

Not being happy lying down is a typical symptom of reflux. Are there any others? Is she very bunged up/wheezy? Does she cough and sneeze a lot? Is she sick a long time after feeds and what does it smell like?

It may be that the reflux will settle as soon as you can get your oversupply sorted as one of the big things with refluxy babies is not to overfeed them. If you get the o/s sorted and there's still a problem, then insist on a gastro paed referral even if she's continuing to gain weight. My ds is gaining yet after a fight we were able to get him the medication he needed to manage the pain.

I agree with the others though - see a proper bf specialist. They'll have good suggestions to help having seen you and how you and dd feed. Hopefully, solving one will automatically have a good effect on the other

Hi, no experiece re the feeding but do know about reflux - you could try popping a book / A4 folder under the moses basket mattress if she doesn't like lying flat - mine are much happier propped up and seem in less pain.

hiya, just to clarify - there is switch nursing when you empty both breasts and go back for more to the third/fourth side and i have heard of switch nursing when you specifically don't empty the breasts, far from it. the whole point is to equally not empty the breasts as opposed to unequally not emptying the breasts one at a time. so you get your baby to only have a third of each breast for example, or just enough from each to fill her up until the next time, and so on... the idea is to avoid the engorgement some women experience when block nursing while still telling your boobs to make less milk by not removing it fully. if there is really gallons of milk, the initial feeds will be very 'foremilky' if you like, hence the gassy green poos.

anyway, i would still say see a bf specialist as i don't have experience of it myself, i have just heard tale of such a situation, so i wouldn't want you to take my word for it!