3 week old fussing and crying at the breast

[NoTeaForMe]

I've started a thread or two about the possibility of my daughter having mild reflux.

We've had some monster sick and have to keep her upright after feeds or she just bubbles over and is sick. However, over the last few days she's been really fussy, pulling off, crying and arching whilst feeding. I take her off properly and sit her up. The milk settles for a minute or two and most of the time she'll burp and then she'll go back on, this can happen a few times per feed though. She's also coming off coughing and spluttering.

Is there anything I can do to ease this? I know she's only little so is it a case of waiting to see or is there something I can do? Also it's making feeds take longer and as she's fussing and pulling off I'm not able to feed very discreetly which is making me nervous about feeding in public. I have a massive muslin to drape over us but it's not easy and she gets hot under there!

Any advice?

Thanks

Could it be fast flow? Mine splutters and coughs during my let down. I have had some success with a reclined feeding position or side lying at night.

Gulping fast flowing milk could maybe cause air swallowing and result in spitting up?

Someone else on here will be more knowledgeable about this than me...

This sounds like a problem I had at the start with fast flow, when the baby is really small they can't cope with the forceful letdown and so pull away from it. Over time they learn to deal with it better but there are positions you can try to help.

I would really suggest going to a bfing clinic where someone can help show you because it's hard to explain the technique I was shown for this, basically you put your finger on the side of your breast pointing towards your nipple and press down to help them latch on initially, after the first couple of minutes gently take your finger away. See, I told you it was hard to explain! Is there a clinic at your local hospital? I think once you get the position right it will make a real difference. And if it isn't positioning then the bfing expert can able to make other suggestions.

I found this link which might help too.

kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

Thanks both. Lilly that link was really interesting, it sounds like that could be it! Could that also cause the huge projectile sick we're experiencing occasionally?

Worth investigating, hope it gets better. If it is that problem it could be quite straightforward to fix once you get the position right. Not sure about the sick, maybe. I suppose it could be a combination of things but you ll only know by process of elimination. good luck!

Hi OP

Your story sounds similar to my experiences.

My DD2 is now 12 weeks old. For the first 8 weeks or so we would have at least one massive projectile puke a day, which involved a change of clothes for me as there was so much sick everywhere. Ugh! She is still quite a sicky baby but fortunately now bibs catch the sick as there is less than there was. I don't think she had reflux, as she didn't cry when I put her down or anything, just that she was/ is a sicky baby (so different to DD 1 who was never sick).

Also, when she was 3 weeks or so (like yours) she did this whole fussy at the breast thing for a good few days. I didn't know why... Still don't ...it was stressful at the time but it was a brief phase and it did pass quickly fortunately. Since then, she fusses it every so often, but generally feeds fine.

A friend of mine gave me a good tip- if she is crying and fussing, put the dummy in, calm her down, then swap to the breast. This has worked a bit for me.

In short (sorry my post is quite waffly!).... Likely to be a phase that will disappear as quickly as it started. Good luck!