Is it normal for a 4/5wo to bf all the time and scream when he's not?

[MB34]

My DS is 5 weeks tomorrow and he seems to want to constantly feed while he's awake. It feels like it's been like this since the start but as I was having trouble with nipple pain, I was expressing a lot and giving him a bottle of between 100 and 150ml which would settle him for up to 3 hours.

We turned a corner with regards the pain on Christmas Eve and since then I have been doing most of the feeds. Apart from about 50-80mls in the morning when DH feeds him and I have an extra hour or 2 in bed and about 80mls in the evening when DS is incredibly fussy/frustrated/screaming a lot and won't take to the breast.

In between feeds, he doesn't seem to settle very well, not even at night. Even though we do wind him a lot, he seems to still be windy. He also doesn't like lying down on his back and prefers to be constantly held (even if he falls asleep on us and we put him in his moses basket, he wakes up 10/15 mins later, screaming)

Does all this sound normal? I would really love for DS to be able to go into his basket/bouncer for a while and not cry so I can have a little time to myself to at least brush my hair!!

Anyone?

I've been feeding him since 7am (although he did have 70mls of ebm between 8am &10am). DH has him in the other room now while I have 5 mins to eat my food, but he's still screaming.

I don't know how much more I can take - will I ever be able to leave the house!?

Hmm... sounds tricky - has his latch been checked by a bf expert? If you had nipple pain and he settles more easily with EBM perhaps there is a problem in that he might not be feeding efficiently.

Midwives don't always pick up on this. Could be worth seeing an LC - are there any bf support groups in your area?

Other than that - some babies do like a lot of holding. Do you have a sling (e.g. a Moby wrap or similar) which you could try so you can have your hands free again?

Thanks for your reply Bad, his latch has been checked by everyone - about 5 mws and a nursery nurse in hospital, hv and 2 leaders from the bf group in the local hospital that I go to, all have said its really good.

We have bought one sling (theBabaSling) but he doesn't like going in it so was going to look into a different type of one, is the Moby wrap any good?

Silent reflux? They often keep feeding to wash the reflux back down their throats. Mine wouldn't lie down for long at all and it was a nightmare; it was all okay until granny went home and I HAD to put her down occasionally. Gaviscon before feeds helped a lot. And she lived in her Moby wrap.

I would second ruling out reflux. DS has a cows milk protein problem which caused his reflux. He was a frequent feeder. We had it diagnosed at 6 weeks. I have been dairy & soy free since as BFing. kellymom has some good info on it.

Sounds like tongue tie to me

www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2011/04/tongue-tie-hidden-cause-of-feeding.html?m=1

Thank you all, I have googled the symptoms for silent reflux and tongue tie and he has most of them. I think a trip to the doctors is on the cards for Monday!

This sounds exactly like my DS and was awful so hang in there it will get better. I also was told latch was fine but as he was literally feeding or screaming constantly we knew there was something up. Turned out to be a combination of posterior tongue tie which we had snipped at 8 wks and reflux. We tried gaviscon for a while but was a real pain when EBF and only helped a bit. He's now on ranitidine which has transformed him into a happy chappy and so much easier to administer. Upshot of the two was he leapt 50 centiles in 6 weeks and I finally got my first proper cuddles

Oh just to add - I had to be pretty pushy about the tongue tie as GP hadn't even heard of posterior TT but MN had armed me with the facts and all got sorted in the end, so be prepared just in case. Hope all improves soon.

mb hi I've got a 6+5 week old dd and up until a week ago she had 3 modes: sleeping, feeding and screaming for food. She was only ever awake when feeding or screaming and I was really on the verge of giving up bf'ing as she had days where she seemed to feed continuously for hours, I also had pain feeding until week 4 but then I'd have occasional days when it would hurt again for no reason??

BUT......

The past 5/6 days she's been awake far more, looking around, smiling, cooing - we got her the Lamaze symphony play gym on offer from kiddie are as the reviews were great and wow - because the dangly toys move it holds her interest for long periods can eat my dinner now instead of trying to eat one handed while feeding her and trying not to drop spaghetti Bol on her head

I'm sure ifyoucontinue as you are she will start relaxing more and spending more time awake and less time crying!!!

Hth xx

Dd fed quite well on a 3 hour rotation, but about 5 weeks she had just over a week of wanting to be fed hourly - I got no sleep, couldn't put her down, was beginning to feel that I'd have to give up etc... I found the Nct helpline v helpful and it turned out to be one hell of a feeding spurt - possibly to up my supply after mastitis - which finished suddenly without me really doing anything other than feeding her when she wanted.

Please don't rule out 'normal baby who wants to be close to mum all the time'....it can be tempting to 'pathologise' normal behaviour and to look for a physical problem when there isn't one.

Here's a baby who is still very young. He may not have got off to a good start with bf (hence the latch difficulties which ended up with nipple damage) and he is now feeding well. He objects to being put down in his basket and is soothed when held. He wakes up and cries when he discovers he is alone.

I never know how people can be sure their baby is windy and troubled by wind - yes, some babies may be, but in many cases the symptoms of wind are not very precise and can be explained in other ways :)

So there may be nothing wrong, though of course check it out with the doc.