URGENT HELP NEEDED PLEASE!

[eenybeeny]

Hi I am starting the millionth thread about a problem I am having.

My 10 week old boy (who has a cold right now) is doing this thing where every time I put him on my breast he starts thrashing about, kicking, screaming, arms puching everywhere, its AWFUL. he cant feed anymore because of this. Its been going on for 2 days and I am about to give up breastfeeding him and switch him to bottles because of this. He has a bottle in the middle of the night when I sleep. Please help! Why is he doing this?

The longer he is on the breast the more distressed he gets.

shameless bump i need the help

.

can't help , but bumping as you sound so upset!

thanks lulumama! I am, its awful watching him be so distressed when he used to be contented BFing

Poor you! However, if he has a cold he probably can't breathe very well so feeding is hard for him. Also, are you sure he's really hungry? If it's not breathing then a bottle won't help, actually the same goes if he's not hungry!

Does he only have one bottle per 24 hours?

Is the bottle EBM or formula?

How is his weight gain?

Does he thrash every time you try to bf him? What happens if you try to bf him when he's mostly asleep?

Can you try not putting him on the breast, but merely offering your breast, iyswim? Put the nipple near his mouth, let him come to it, rather than putting his head on the breast? Try not to hold his head, try to let him move his head himself a bit.

Has he only started thrashing since he got the cold?

the answer to your questions NQC in order:

no he has 2 both in the middle of the night

its formula

brilliant!!! he is doing really really well with weight which is great as he was prem.

he thrashes every time i try to feed him for the last 48 hours. I havent noticed a difference when he is sleepy.

well i was just letting him take it and as soon as he took the breast he will be fine for a few mins then the thrashing around starts.

it has only been since the cold.

_

sorrell I did think maybe he wasnt really hungry because i have taken him away from my breast now and he isnt crying but then he would hardly be having any milk at all as he has barely fed today. I'm worried about him. He is my special little baby and I dont want another problem for him. This scares me. I am dealing with PND and anxiety attacks at the moment so I am REALLY upset about this.

Thanks for your help, all.

Ok, there are a few things you can try. It might be that his cold is making him too lazy to feed?

Can you try offering boob, but not putting his head to the breast, iyswim?

And can you try making sure you have let down before he latches on, or right after? You can bring on let down by doing a bit of expressing (manual or with a pump). This is in case it's laziness/frustration putting him off.

If your supply is a concern, bottles in the middle of the night are not a good idea, btw ... breastfeeding at night is very important for keeping up supply. I found sleeping with my babies meant I could feed them without needing to really wake up.

Oh, and I'd try to find a local BFC to talk this through with, and to show what's happening. They would be much better help than any of us ...

Could you have a very strong letdown? Does he kind of gag on your milk as he starts the feed because it's so fast?

thanks very much. Any idea how I could find a BFC? I suppose I could call a MW and ask them.

I will try the let down thing... I know there is plenty of milk there because I easily get some out with my fingers.

I dont think I can bear feeding him in the middle of the night. I get terrible migraines which I am on meds for and they knock me out at night. Plus the PND I Am a wreck right now.

Thanks again!

he does gag a little bit sometimes

bump

It could be that he's having trouble with the amount of milk pouring down his throat. From what you say, his weight gain's good and the behaviour you describe is fairly typical of having a fast letdown.

I wouldn't like to say for sure though - better to speak to a BFC. The NCT helpline's open till 10pm - perhaps give them a call?

Just to add - there are things you can do about it to fix this pretty easily if this is the problem, so don't fret.

Ooooh, yes, could be fast/strong letdown. I think one fix for that is to express before feeding? Or to do one-sided feeding?

You must be quite lumpy and sore, with him not feeding?

Hi eeny beeny

You sound like you are having a really hard time - and whatever people say won't necessarily change that straightaway. BUT for what it is worth, he has been off his milk since he had the cold - I agree with the comment that he probably has a blocked nose - hence pulling away (think of snogging someone ...if I can vaguely rememberwith a blocked nose - it's like holding your breath, you have to pull away) that would make sense of the thrashing. Having a cold or a temperature puts babies and adults off their food so it almost certainly isn't you.
But - if you get stressed about it, it wont help either of you.

My view is, try to relax, express & ideally freezeit so you don't lose your supply and if he doesn't want milk (bottle or other wise) try boiled water with or without juice/sugar as the liquid is more important than the energy.

Good luck

God, I missed the cold thing - DS2 is teething atm and always gets a blocked up nose with it and he does just this with feeding.

Can you try putting some Karvol on a muslin near him so he clears his nose a bit?

thanks for your replies. I have taken him to the Dr and it has been confirmed that its his blocked up nose. The poor mite is really struggling with his cold. So we are doing our best to keep it unblocked and I am taking him off the breast as soon as he seems distressed so he can catch his breath! Thanks for helping me with it, it really freaked me out when I saw him struggling like that !