One month old - sickness and hiccoughs

[mashpot]

Hello,
My one month old is very often sick after feeding, and has been since the beginning. He also gets very violent hiccoughs.

I'm feeling really down today after another afternoon spent with him clearly very tired but not sleeping. He is grizzly and crying so I keep giving in and bfeeding him and then he is sick and now has hiccoughs again which he finds upsetting.

I am obviously overfeeding but I don't know what else to do to stop him crying. I should probably post in sleep too but would be really grateful if anyone can advise me on how to stop the hiccoughs.

I think he is often sick because he takes in so much air when he feeds so I know the latch is not right but I haven't been able to fix this, I don't know what to do. I can't really stand the thought of another afternoon like this (same as yesterday) again tomorrow when I'm on my own with him.

Is there a bf support group near you who could help?

Does he sleep if you're not in the house? Ihad to put my 3 week old in the baby carrier today and jiggle around the house so she'd sleep.

Hi kritur I have been to a group but it wasn't any help. I was hoping to go to a different one this week but it wasn't on because of the holidays so I will have to wait until the new year.

I don't get on with the 2 baby slings I have but have kept walking around jiggling him - I can see he wants to sleep and his eyes roll back but he fights it and keeps crying. I fed him to sleep twice but he woke up after 10/15 mins each time.

I don't know if he's crying because he's tired, hungry, has wind or what so I just don't know what to do with him.

Ok I've had similar with DD - I do have an over active letdown (mill shoots out) and oversupply. This means she takes down air and wants more feeding then gets sick.

When she gets into a state after a feed it's usually a combination of wind and being tired - she wants to feed for comfort to sort both out. What I do is cuddle her close, stand up and rock and shhhh by her ear to get her to sleep. If she fights it, I'll feed her by laying back, put her on the same boob again. Then use a muslin to block her view and pat her bum. This gets her to sleep and I keep her in position for ten mins then gently move her so she's upright and chest against me and I can gently rub her back to get wind.

Sometimes however it's not wind from feeding, it's from crying. How long is he awake for? Little babies usually give signals after 45 mins of being awake that they're tired (a short wah cry, fussing etc) which might be misinterpreted and they're played with etc which gives them a second wind but they'll get more tired then have a meltdown.

As a rough guide, babies want to nap after 45 mins of awake (gets longer as they older) and many want feeding anywhere from 90 mins to 3 hours.

If the eyes are drooping, try blocking his view or swaying side to side. Use the ssshhhhhh to cut out background noise or use white noise. Once he's asleep if he wakes after 10 mons he's probably got wind so keep rocking and should come out.

I've got a babybjorn carrier, I don't get on with slings either!

Will he sleep in the pram? A friend of mine used to wheel hers over rolled up towels to get her son to sleep.

If you think he has wind then try infacol or gripewater, even if it's not you won't do any harm. Have you friends or family nearby? I live on my own and have found my friends lots of help. Lots of them have breastfed their children, one taught me how to feed when I was in high dependancy after the birth.

Can I suggest that you look up some info about Reflux as it sounds very much like you describe. I know lots of babies who have reflux and it can affect sleeping, feeding etc. But once diagnosed and treated its much easier to manage.

Just remember to keep him upright after feeds for about half an hour, a sling or a swing is perfect. speak with your HV asap and also get some advice re your latch. Good luck.

You could also prop up his moses basket/cot etc. Preferably not let him lie flat at any point, at least until you know its not reflux.

Another thing you might want to look into is cows milk protein intolerence. I wouldn't worry about overfeeding too much - don't think you can over feed a breastfed baby.

kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

I'm so grateful for your replies - it gets on top of me being stuck in the house on my own when things aren't going well.

Iggly I took him in a dark room, shushed and swayed and it took a while but he's now been asleep for more than 30 minutes! I know he has been awake for far too long - since midday in fact. We were up at 5am and he had two good naps/sleeps in the morning but exactly as yesterday, I can't get him to sleep in the afternoon. A massive blessing is that - so far - he has been quite a good sleeper at night, waking at 3 hourly intervals for a feed. I hope I can break the pattern tomorrow.

Kritur I have a babybjorn but he seems a bit small for it - I got it second hand with no packaging at an NCT sale so maybe it is for a bigger baby - his head seems a bit floppy in it. I should give it another go though. He sometimes sleeps in the pram if we're out but it didn't work yesterday afternoon and if he does fall asleep he normally wakes the minute we get through the front door! Most friends are away atm. I have DH but he's working late shifts this week so isn't around for the afternoon and evening when I feel very fraught. Kudos to you for managing on your own all the time!

Natzer someone on my post natal thread suggested reflux, which I looked up, but it doesn't seem bad enough to be reflux. As I mention he sleeps quite well at night and does have some pained cries with wind but he's not at constant crying stage. However I will speak to the HV about it, or my GP. I do try and keep him upright for as long as possible after a feed but he's sick up to an hour afterwards once laid flat (as well as being sick when I burp him after the feed). If I have to change his nappy after a night time feed its so hard to sit up with him for 30 minutes then have to wake him to change the nappy and start the settling process again! (He often poos while feeding hence the nappy change).

LittleWavey I will have a look at the link - thanks for the thought.

Yes afternoon sleeps are always the hardest! With DD I have to go all out with rocking and shushing but if I catch her within 45 mins of being awake it's doable.

DS had reflux - from my experience, the signs of an overtired baby can be similar for reflux or even oversupply of milk. So difficult to work it out! But best place to start is giving plenty of naps and take from there.

Make sure you get out the house every day. Your sling should have the minimum weight on the label. If head seems floppy there are straps at the side to tighten it (I have this sling). The afternoon nap is perfect for going for a walk in the sling as more likely he'll sleep and you get fresh air as that time of day was always a low point for me anyway!