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Infant feeding

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

help with fractious distressed windy baby during feeds

5 replies

AmandaN · 09/11/2008 15:52

Am hoping for some advice on what I might try to help my 6 week old dd during feeds? Have been breast feeding on demand since she was born which has been going ok (if tiring!) and she is gaining weight beautifully which is great, but she has always been a fairly windy baby and lately feeds just seem to be a very stressful and uncomfortable experience for both her and me.

She seems to take in a lot of air and sounds v windy during feeding, and then starts to choke and jump off the breast, or begin to writhe about and pull violently at my nipple and bring her legs up, crying out as if really distressed and in discomfort - so I try to wind her (she will usually burp, fart and sick up sometimes also) but often putting her back on doesn't really get us very far and she still seems upset and windy and not happy at the breast.

The whole thing just leaves me feeling like a failure and as if I'm not able to help her and it's making me dread the feeds as I just anticipate a difficult experience

I have been trying infacol and gripe water to help with wind but really have no idea if this is working much or not - and am wondering what else I can do? Could it be as simple as me producing milk too fast and that I need to try different positions or feed from the same breasts for a few feeds in a row - or could there be something else going on?

It's such a shame as you would think that a feed should be a nice relaxed and pleasant experience for the baby, but this just doesn't seem to be the case for us at the moment which is upsetting for me!

I have my six week check coming up so will ask the GP for help then but meanwhile any helpful advice gratefully received!!

OP posts:
Cat99 · 09/11/2008 16:22

Sounds like you could have fast let down, I had this and it got easier as he got older.

www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/fussy-while-nursing.html#forceful

I nearly gave up because of it as I also had terrible pain and bleeding nipples but persevered and it gradually got better.

waitingtobloom · 09/11/2008 20:31

DD the same here - I blame my fast let down and over supply of milk - she chokes on it if she sucks too hard. If she pulls off does your milk squirt everywhere? If you express does quite a lot seem to shoot out?

One tip is to reposition yourself during a feed so the milk has to travel "uphill" - so latch on as normal and then lie back so she is almost lying on top of you - the milk is less likely to hit the back of her throat then! Also try feeding lying down so she can find it easier to dribble excess out.

Also try feeding from one side over a number of hours - three to four perhaps regardless of number of feeds. There will be less pressure there. I often do this if Im going out and know I wil probably feed in public as this is difficult enough without a screaming baby and squirting milk everywhere! I feed from the side I last fed from at home and then feed from the other side when we have more peace and quiet.

Another suggestion is to express of a bit of milk before a feed so it doesnt come out so fast - but I always found this highly impractical - not knowing when a feed was etc. Also this can just encourage more milk to be produced adding to the problem!

Sometimes after I wind DD I change sides and she seems happy - no idea why.

Burping her - have you tried different positions which involve placing pressure on her tummy as this can help - tummy on shoulder, heel of hand, lying over knees? Also putting on back and bringing her feet up near her head can help with the farting...

This should settle down soon - I know I had this problem last time and it went away just cant remember when sorry - but soon. Keep going - you are doing a fab job!

thisisyesterday · 09/11/2008 20:35

it def sounds like you have a fast let down, or oversupply.

i found it helpful to hand express some milk off before I started to feed ds2, got the worst of the initial gushing out of the way and made it a bit more easy on him

thisisyesterday · 09/11/2008 20:35

yes and def try feeding from the same side for 2 or 3 feeds in a row

AmandaN · 12/11/2008 10:48

Thanks so much everyone for the messages - have been trying some of these and sometimes it seems to help but still a bit hit and miss at the mo.. still, will persevere and hopefully things will improve before too long!

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