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Infant feeding

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

Breastfeeding help - 2 week old with sudden reflux. Oversupply?

7 replies

5star123 · 26/05/2022 11:04

Hi all,

I am EBF my two week old son. Since birth he has been quite mucus-y (which I was told was normal with a quick delivery) and very snuffly at night. He also has a mild tongue tie but feeding has been going well, lots of wet/dirty nappies and his weight gain is very healthy (I’m even concerned he’s putting on too much weight).

However, the last couple of days he’s been very distressed after feeding, particularly at night, and he has all the classic reflux/trapped gas symptoms; arching his back, flailing around, kicking his legs, and bringing up lots of milk - both fresh and curdled sick. He is happiest when cuddled up on my chest or in the ‘magic hold’ position on his stomach across my arm but still not content.

My right breast has also become engorged again and he seems to struggle to stay latched on it - pulling off and wheezing when feeding which makes me wonder if I have a heavy letdown/oversupply issue. I try to not let him feed too much at once and burp him often (he gives out the most almighty burps) but it doesn’t help with the posseting and I find myself constantly covered in either his sick or milk leaking from my breasts!

I’ve tried different feeding positions to keep him upright to try and counteract this but he still brings up milk and doesn’t help with his discomfort. The only thing that comforts him is more feeding but then that just starts the whole viscous cycle again. I never really know when he is full because of this and feeding is taking a long time and I’m losing all confidence in myself and what I’m doing.

I imagine this is a common topic on here and I have contacted my local infant feeding team for help but does anyone have any advice in the interim please?

TIA x

OP posts:
5star123 · 26/05/2022 19:06

Bump 🙏

OP posts:
Cdoc · 28/03/2023 11:11

Hi @5star123

Sorry to restart an old thread, but wondering if you had any success with this at all? Having the same problems with my 3 week old and convinced my oversupply and fast letdown may be contributing.

Thanks in advance x

5star123 · 28/03/2023 11:20

@Cdoc it turns out my son had a tongue tie which we had snipped at around 5 weeks. We had a couple of iffy weeks afterwards while he adjusted but then his reflux really settled down and 10 months later I am still breastfeeding!

Do you have a local infant feeding team that you can contact? The drop-in groups they do are great.

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Cdoc · 28/03/2023 14:01

Ah thank you for replying! Was it the infant feeding team that found the tongue tie?

We do have a drop in on Thursdays, I’m going to take him along this week and see what they say. It seems to have come out of nowhere at 3 weeks, he was fine before. I am desperate to not give up breastfeeding so it’s very reassuring to hear you are still going, that’s amazing!

Anyonebut · 28/03/2023 14:20

If you have oversupply and fast letdown, I suggest first you let the first bit of milk out before feeding the baby, either by manual stimulation or putting the baby on for a few seconds and the unlatching and letting the milk glow (if you are anything like me, you will need an absorbent cloth or small cup at hand).

To deal with the oversupply, you should not swap sides mid feed, and just offer one side per feed, if this continues you may need to do 2 or 3 consecutive feeds on one side and then swap. Kellymom has very good information on this

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

Forceful Let-down (Milk Ejection Reflex) & Oversupply • KellyMom.com

Is forceful let-down the problem? Does your baby do any of these things? Gag, choke, strangle, gulp, gasp, cough while nursing as though the milk is coming too fast

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

Cdoc · 28/03/2023 15:51

@Anyonebut thank you! That’s really helpful

5star123 · 28/03/2023 22:15

@Cdoc my HV confirmed he had tongue tie at his new birth visit but because he was feeding well and had only lost 1% of his birth weight he wasn’t deemed an urgent case for division (the waiting list was 6 months!) So I ended up taking him to a private clinic to have it done. I was convinced I had an oversupply but it wasn’t the case, he just struggled with his latch because of the tie.

3 weeks is still really early days but you are doing so well. They go through so many different phases in those early weeks and things change so quickly. Definitely see what the infant feeding team say and if they can recommend any local breastfeeding groups like LLL x

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