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Infant feeding

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

13 week old fussing, going red in the face, stomach rubbing, not feeding

3 replies

AlexCross · 18/06/2019 08:32

Hi all

I’ve been battling with this issue for a while and have made no progress having spoken to a number of professionals, so thought I would share here in case anyone is in the same boat!

My LO IS 13 weeks, and from birth through to about 8 weeks we had no breastfeeding issues. She has tongue tie but a specialist said her latch was fine and don’t disrupt it if the latch is good. She would always feed well, no posseting, and gaining weight well. We were really lucky!

Unfortunately, at about 8-9 weeks, she started fussing on the boob. This would include signalling she was hungry, latching for a bit but getting very aggravated, going red in the face and pulling off. This usually coincided with me being able to hear her stomach rumbling, like the milk was having an adverse reaction. I tried Colief for a while, but it didn’t seem to make a difference consistently (but I may not have been using it properly as it’s a bit difficult when bfing) and I was wary of her becoming dependent on it so didn’t continue with it.

The frustrating thing is that sometimes she feeds perfectly, especially when she’s sleepy and calm, and it’s great. What’s so hard is that other times, like this morning, I feed her for about 8 mins on one boob, then she starts getting very fussy, I hear her stomach and she refuses to feed more, but she’s still giving hungry cues and I know she’d Usually feed more.

I’ve been thinking it must be a food allergy, so going to remove all dairy from my diet to see if that helps. I had thought this before but then would assume she would have issues at every feed, or might also be sick, which she isn’t.

I know I’m so lucky to have had a good experience at the start, and she’s still gaining weight well and filling nappies so it’s not a dire situation, I just would love to be able to feed her well and without stress consistently, and want to do something to help the situation if I can! Maybe this is just how she’s going to feed, and I need to accept that, it’s just quite stressful and I’d love to go back to calm, happy feeds all the time if possible! Everyone says things get easier after 3 months but for us it seems harder!

Any help or suggestions very much appreciated.

OP posts:
saywhatwhatnow · 18/06/2019 08:37

Could it be wind? She's feeding fast and taking in air? Try burping when she gets fussy. I think an intolerance or allergy would produce more symptoms. Sorry, I'm not an expert but those were my first thoughts...

AlexCross · 18/06/2019 09:39

Hi, thanks for the quick response. Yes I think gas is a real issue - like just now I fed her and she suckled for 5 mins, then started fussing so I pulled her off and burped her successfully, then did the same after 3 mins. But then she refuses to take more, and interestingly, when I put her to the nipple, she seems to fart as though there’s a connection between her not feeding and trapped gas. I’ve spent ages cycling her legs and raising them up to her tummy, and that releases some, but she still doesn’t carry on feeding?!

I would assume she’s full but then other times she feeds for 20 mins +, so I just can’t believe she’s full now. It still seems like the gas or discomfort means she can’t feed, and that’s what I really want to relieve :( I thought at 3 months they were meant to be able to release gas without help?

OP posts:
saywhatwhatnow · 18/06/2019 13:28

My DS struggled to relieve his own wind for months! He ended up on a bottle after a bit but always needed winding regularly. If she's not upset after the feed I would accept she's full enough for now. Keep winding and see if she will carry on feeding afterwards each time. She might just need to get used to going on and off.

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