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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Help breastfeeding gurus ! - sicky baby, long feeds...

13 replies

Guard · 31/07/2004 20:14

Need some help here - am getting desparate as I feel I'm doing it wrong (successfully BF DD1 okay for 5-6 months), but I now have a 4 week old who finds it hard to latch on, then feeds for ages (I tend to call a halt at 1 hour 20 mins) and is often unsettled after feeds (crying, posseting/sicking up quite a lot) until you feed her again/give her a dummy. She took 3 1/2 weeks to regain her birth weight and now I think she's getting enough (?) but I cannot explain why she sicks up (not projectile) so much and seems so unsettled and gives the impression she would feed all day (she can down a bottle very fast - 4oz in 8mins). As I have a toddler letting her feed more than an hour is crazy so I have to say no more (and generally she will then sleep after an hour or so of unsettledness - crying, burping, stretching legs etc) and can usually go 3-4 hours between feeds (provided she has had an hour at the breast). Today she woke up 3 hours after a feed and was still posseting but wanting more food ??? Has anyone had anything similar/any suggestions ?

OP posts:
prettycandles · 31/07/2004 21:17

Hi Guard, this brings back memories! We had pretty much the same situation with dd. I think some babies just do sick and posset - certainly dd did, which was a shock after ds, who could wear the same babygrow for days without a mark on it.

I wonder whether you need a face-to-face session with a Breast Feeding Counsellor, perhaps a change in positioning will help.

Certainly your dd sounds windy. Have you tried drinking fennel tea yourself, as well as giving her a couple of teaspoonsful a day?

It's possible that she is a sucky baby, and what seems like a long feed is actually her trying to satisfy the desire/need to suck. Go ahead and give her the dummy if you see that it helps.

In the early weeks/months, it seemed to me that dd would get very frustrated at the lack of instant milk before the let-down, suckle intensely for a while, then get very frustrated again at the slow trickle after she had 'emptied' the breast. She fed a little more peacefully if I gave her the dummy to suck for a minute in my arms before the feed, then whipped dummy out and boob in.

Do you try winding her in different positions? If the burp doesn't come up easily, try changing her nappy and then burping her again. You can do bicycling exercises with her legs, and bunny hops, while she lies on her back, to try and help out bottom burps. Possibly not after a feed if she's a sicky sort, but at other times!

This may all just be her settling down, and you'll just have to keep going until it eases. I believe that breastfed babies develop their gut fauna faster than bottlefed babies, and this can lead to them having a lot of distressing wind.

HTH

mears · 31/07/2004 22:31

Guard - are you feeding from one breast or both breasts? With the amount of squirming and posseting going on it may be that she is getting overfed on foremilk. Feed from one breast for about 20 mins or so, or if she lets go before that. Wind her and put her back on the same breast. Are you pain free when feeding - are you happy that she is fixed well? Make sure she is not just lying at the breast doing nothing for a lot of the feed. She should have pauses as the milk lets down but don't let her doze in between sucks. It should settle down soon.

DLP · 01/08/2004 17:04

I bottle fed my baby from birth. He was taking a long time with his bottles over an hour to an hour and half. In the end it was discovered he had a cleft palate. The specialist nurse gave me some great advice about feeding. I notice your child is taking a while and in fact lost weight. After about 45 minutes of feeding it takes a baby more energy to suck that the baby is getting in calories - only feed for that amount of time giving more regular feeds. Hvae you tried expressing your milk and feeding her from a bottle - that way she will drink more quickly, still have your breast milk and give you more time to play.

tiktok · 01/08/2004 17:24

DLP - where did you hear than more than 45 mins of feeding means the baby is using up more in calories than he gets in the feed...this would be impossible to work out in a breastfed baby (and I am not sure how it could be worked out in a bottle fed baby, either!).

Guard - I agree with what mears has suggested, and also the suggestion to check on the effectiveness of milk transfer.

Guard · 01/08/2004 21:29

Thanks - will try the burping ideas and the fennel tea (is this a health shop thing ?) - also where's the best place for a BF counsellor ? I think the palate might have something to do with it - coupled with a hungry impatient baby (she can do a bottle of expressed milk in about 8 mins) which is frustrating (it can take that long just to get a reasonable latch on). How else do you tell if they are overfeeding and how do you tell a windy cry from a hungry cry ?? Cannot believe I never got this figured out with DD1!

OP posts:
prettycandles · 02/08/2004 13:28

Are you in the UK, Guard? If so, try the NCT they are very helpful. I believe La Leche League are international. I haven't used them myself, but have heard good things about them.

And there's always Mumsnet!

Good luck

prettycandles · 02/08/2004 13:29

The make of fennel tea I use is Dr Stuart Botanicals. I've only ever found it at health food shops. There are other makes, but they all seem insipid to me.

tiktok · 02/08/2004 14:14

prettycandles, your links don't work!

NCT

LLL

should do it.

NCT breastfeeding line is 0870 444 8708

bicbic · 02/08/2004 15:13

my dd now 3 months was sick a lot at first but shes a lot better now
when you go to the health food store to buy the fennel tea(good stuff! should also increase milk production )ask for some chamomilla granules, these are fantastic for settling babies and bringing wind up.dissolve them in freshly cooled boiled water and give them on a sterilised spoon or oral syringe.I also made them up with very very weak fennel tea(which is probably not recommended but it worked a treat for us,(also try taking chamomilla pills yourself this helps too and is easier)

remember some babies find getting there wind/burps up more difficult than others
make sure you wind dd after each feed cause its sounds like all the trouble is trapped wind.
even take her off the breast every ten mins or so to wind her, and make sure she is not sucking wind in while feeding(funny noises!)
finnally if all else fails try dentinox colic drops or infacol from the chemist,but dd hated the tasta of these(and they are very chemically too)

hope this helps I have had two windy colicy fully breast fed babies!it also gets better with time as well as there digestives systems mature
very finally watch what you eat spicey food ,green veg ,grapes ,too much coffee can cause windy babes.
really hope things get better soon G

bicbic · 02/08/2004 15:20

its not recommended to give a very young breastfed baby milk from a bottle(even breastmilk)it will just confuse her and wont help with the wind anyway.
talking to a breastfeeding counsellor for support is a good idea

bicbic · 02/08/2004 15:24

last message for now dont think you can 'overfeed ' a breast fed babe
and some days/nights they feed for what seems like all the time.......!its normal!

Guard · 05/08/2004 14:12

Just wanted to say thanks for the tips and helpful numbers - I'm off to a health food shop today I hope ! Have had a couple of really long days feeling desperate as DD2 is really only happy for about 5 mins per day , and managing 2 year old in between feeding etc is one of those fun motherhood challenges. Like the idea of chamomilla (am a big fan of herbal remedies) - I have thought it could be something in my breastmilk but I don't drink coffee, (about 1 cup of tea/day), I've been fairly conservative on fruit (ie apples/bananas/peaches is about it)and eat quite boring pasta/chicken/fish. Also I don't quite understand why she hasn't pooed for about 3 days (maybe more !) DD1 did 2 every feed ! Could a breastfed baby be constipated ? (I thought this was only formula fed) - and what fun it'll be when it does finally appear !

OP posts:
tinytoes · 05/08/2004 14:30

hello guard good to hear from you.I also have a ds of nearly 2 and a dd of three months so our wee ones are a fairly similar age.
The homeopathic rems are good ones to try because theyre not harmful,I hope it works.another good way to take it is for you to take some too cause it gets into your milk(it worked well for me like this).
your poor dd sounds like shes having some very painful wind trouble really hope it gets better for her
I had similar probs when i was a babe with reflux(very much like your dd my mum says i was a nightmare) but i think it gets better in time.
my ds was very colicky but it got better after the third month(and it goes fast anyway)
hope you continue to bf its really is the best especially for tummy probs
best of luck g hope things get better soon
ps whats your hv said about things .
and one last thing are you sure it is always wind making her cry?sometimes bf babes get so hungry they feed and feed and feed...all day...like 4 times an hour or more.there are no rules wwith bf unlike bottles
good luck hope your dd is better soon

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