Too much bloomin milk? 3 week old colicy and puking

[misscreosote]

HI there - have just made it over from the childbirth forum to the 'next problem' forum... Had DD2 3 weeks ago, and am having exactly the same problems BF as I had with DD1. I seem to have way too much milk, it comes out so fast that DD chokes and takes in loads of wind, then either pukes everywhere (had to take DD1 to the CM this am covered in puke still, and still haven't had a shower...), or gets really windy and screamy so wont feed even if not taken a full feed. If she sicks her entire feed up, she then wants to feed again within an hour or two, so stimulating my milk supply even more! She's also really unsettled from 5-8pm ish every night, I presume because of the build up of wind during the day. I've started giving her infacol, and wind her for ages, but it doesn't help really.

With DD1 the problem was helped by using nipple shields for the first few months, which seemed to slow things down and stop so much puking, but I'm reluctant to go down that route again as a) its a faff and b) DD2 seems to be a better feeder than DD1 in terms of latching on well (which is the other reason I used them first time round, DD1 had a bit of a bad start to life in NICU and was never a brilliant feeder) - DD2's weight gain is truly astounding so far and she naps reasonably well in the day (unless she's been sick like this morning) and overnight (apart from intermittent crying and grumbling presumably as the wind makes its way through her), just not in the evening.

Any ideas for reducing the milk flow/milk supply (which makes me nervous)/ reducing the wind and sorting out the colicy hours? Or any other ideas on what might be wrong? I know - if there was an easy answer, you could write a book and make a fortune!

Also a thought, would putting her to sleep on her front help (with an alarn mat)? Its the only way I can get her to settle eventually in the evening, by sleeping on top of me.

Any ideas very welcome, would like not to have a miserable first 4-6 months like last time . Sorry about the lack of coherence, am a bit tired...

Hi

I know some people recommend feeding in amore laying down position so the milk has to go uphill as it were, helps to slow down the flow. How often do you feed? I would recommend a sling if you don't already use one, this helps with wind and colic as the gentle continuous movement helps get the wind up. Try yahoo groups on reastfeeding - they are very helpful

Rosie

This is classic over-generous milk supply, from the sound of it, misscreosote. Discussed a lot on mumsnet

Search archives for

over-generous milk
too much milk
block feeding
one-sided feeding

for ideas on how to cope better with it.

Thanks - did a bit of reading this afternoon, used a nipple shield to start with at 5pm, and was careful just to feed from one breast, notice the positioning, keep her slightly upright etc. She's been asleep most of the day (apart from me waking her up, or her waking up for feeds every 2.5 or 3 hours) since she was sick at 10, so wasn't too overtired I don't think - plus I've also been a really bad mummy (major guilt emoticon) and put baby to sleep on her front, and she's actually settled herself this evening (so far, its only been 15 mins). First time in two weeks.... lordy lordy hope she stays asleep, this gives me an idea of how nice it could be and why some people actually like babies

Other breast is sooo full though!