7 week old refusing to feed

[CommanderShepard]

Hello,

I really need some advice - my 7 week old daughter has been feeding almost constantly over the weekend but is now pretty much refusing to feed. This morning at 07about my husband gave her some expressed milk and she took about 100mls, and since then has

Shite. message cut off...

He fed her at about 0630, and since then has barely eaten. I put her to the breast and she feeds for a few minutes, then pulls off, screams and will not go back on for love nor money - and claws at my chest which bloody hurts. She screams and screams if I offer the breast again.

She's been constantly gassy since she was born,and I have an oversupply like nobody's business, but she's been screaming and screaming this morning and it's been horrible.

She's just waking up from a 30 min nap now and I'm beginning to panic - she was up every 2 hours in the night (compared to 3-4 last week) and hungry, but ate fine and settled almost immediately. Could this be the end of a growth spurt? What am I doing wrong? I feel wretched that she's so upset and I'm not doing the right things to help her :(

Hmmm

Have you:

Burped?
Tried Infacol?
Tried Colief?
Considered reflux? (keep her upright)
Over tired so frustrated?

Does sleep feeding work?

I think we need tiktok

I had something very similar when dd was 8wks....wanted to feed but as soon as I put her anywhere near my breast she screamed. Was so worried one evening I took down to my gp even though I knew he had just closed. He saw us and said he was certain it was reflux, she also had a touch of thrush in her mouth.
She was given baby gaviscon and it certainly helped. Afterwards it made sense because she was only ever settled when she was up on my shoulder.
I would def make an appt with your gp because if you feel it's not normal for your baby you know better than anyone

Hugs to you.....I know how hard it is xx

we do need tiktok.

maybe she isn't feeding because she had a "big meal" at 6:30?

Can you go back to bed and do skin-to-skin this afternoon? don't offer her the breast, just cuddle her so that she can take it if she wants it
A duvet day?
get a few videos (or just the TV remote control) and snuggle up together for a few hours (or the rest of the day)

don't forget to take some snack and drinks, or you'll starve!

....and of course as soon as I posted that she latched on, fed beautifully and is now cuddled up with my breast like it's her best friend. Little tinker! :)

(I should also say that she was 7lbs 12ozs at birth and at last weigh two weeks ago was 11lbs so weight loss isn't a worry, not least as she didn't lose any post-birth)

that's the way - she's obviously very bright (and might have realised you were fretting before - once you'd posted you calmed down a bit)

Just a thought....you haven't ate anything different have you? I know that when I drank orange juice dd's next nappy was green!

Over-supply?

She checks the boxes.....humungous weight gain, your own perception you have oversupply, apparent discomfort at times.

The frequent feeding over the past 12-24 hours may have boosted your supply even more, and she is overwhelmed by the fountaining/let down, and with the extra volume she may have got yeterday and earlier.

It will either resolve itself or you could ensure you do some 'block feeding' (check archives) to damp down the supply.

What do you think??

you could also try expressing off a little of the milk before offering your baby the breast so if you have a fast let down, you'll express some of it away and not drench her so much!

I had this at various points with my DS - usually around a growth spurt when he'd started feeding more frequently.

Block feeding also helped me.

thanks everyone!

She's still been fussy today - has just fed for 10 mins and then roared away until the cavalry Husband scooted her off to watch telly and have some skin-to-skin with him (I have no idea if this is relevant, but she was born by EMCS and she had skin-to-skin with Daddy first while they sorted me out (she latched on by herself as soon as we were in recovery ward though)).

Block feeding seems to work - I'm much calmer today and am more of the 'ok, you're not hungry anymore, so let me know when you are' frame of mind and she seems to have been going for longer feeds and longer in between them.

I do give her Dentinox when she's particularly upset and that always results in a spectacular belch, though doesn't necessarily make her happier.

Interestingly today my oversupply seems to have lost its over - normally I can express 150ml off the right in about 10 minutes but I was sore while she was asleep so expressed and only got 50ml in 20mins

We've had a dreadful night of screaming and scratching and refusing to feed and lots of watery vomit. Waiting on a call back from the out of hours GP.

She's crying and posseting , I'm sobbing and I'm terrified that the only way forward is to stop breastfeeding and I can't bear the thought of having to put her on formula and thus having yetanother thing that I didn't get to do properly, like her birth.

Someone please help me :(

Hope the doc can reassure you....it would be a daft idea to stop breastfeeding, by the way (why would anyone suggest that????). If your baby is poorly, bf is even more the best thing for her.

exactly - breast milk has been made especially for her, so do keep it up.

I would guess reflux. If so keep up with the bf difficult as it is - formula only likely to make it worse.

Go to gp or a and e for diagnosis.

Also worth considering dairy free.

It is really hard but bf worth it for reflux babies.

Good luck xx

My baby is a bit feast or famine, I hate the famine, but she always picks up & has always been fine re weight gain.

Assuming you rule out any of the other medical-type causes, it might just be the way she is. Sometimes we fancy a light snack, other times a huge pig out, or even just a quick thirst-quenching drink. Need to trust they know what they're doing (easier said than done, I know)

Please don't give it up.
For a start, how do you know she'd be better off on formula? Chances are that the crying is not related to feeding at all, or at least not to breadtfeeding. In other words it could be worse if she was on formula even if it is feeding-related.
My DS went through 4 weeks of EXTREME madness fussiness between weeks 5 and 8, peaking at 6-7 weeks. He cried and cried. I took him to the GP one day because I could not figure out what was wrong. The GP checked him over (ears, throat, skin, etc) and couldn't find anything wrong with him. He told me to just be patient and it will pass. Stopping bf never occurred to me.
Well he's now 5 months and the calmest baby ever. You wouldn't believe this story if you saw him now.
From what you say, i think, but I may be completely wrong, that perhaps she too full and perhaps that gives her stomach pain. Perhaps try to soothe her on other ways than offering the boob or perhaps try giving her a dummy and see of that calms het a bit. But please don't stop bf just because she's fussy

Thanks - that was an emotional moment - I have no intentions of giving up breastfeeding really; I was just worried that I would be pressured into it by doctors and so on. I'm overemotional and exhausted and having a fight with my mother-in-law too (but that's another story entirely) so not thinking straight - of course formula wouldn't help.

We've seen the GP and he thinks it's reflux so we have infant Gaviscon. She's just had the first dose (crikey that was hard work) and it seems to be helping. She's asleep on my husband at the moment.

olimpia I don't think you're far wrong; she used to eat and eat and eat given half a chance and not realise that her stomach couldn't hold it all, so out all the excess came. I wonder if she's beginning to notice that it does actually hurt?