Just a few questions

[LittleCheese]

DD2 is almost 3 weeks old and breast feeding has definately improved.

She has over the last couple of days started to cluster feed between around 7 and 11 morning and night and the rest of the time feeds pretty much 3 hourly.

Im worried by how windy she seems to get, she is often sick after a feed and brings a lot of wind up and cries in pain. I was under the impression that bf babies shouldnt have much wind

Also we didnt have a dirty nappy yesterday. We usually have between 4 and 5 a day. From what i've read bf babies of this age should dirty a nappy every day.

Also feeds today have been a bit of a struggle she has acted hungry and I have put her to the breast and she has fed but it has taken a long time she has been very fussy and has pulled away a lot and i have had to re latch her up to 6 times in a 20 min feed, she is acting almost as if there is no milk there however I know this is not the case as I can see the milk. Any suggestions what the problem may be?

I'm not an expert in this, but didn't want your post to go unanswered as I can understand how worried you must.

Have you thought about your own diet? Remember everything you eat goes into you rmilk and perhaps your DD is not enjoying something that you are eating regularly. For example, do you like "windy" veg like broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage?

Perhaps if you think about what you are eating (write a list if it helps) and match it to when your DD is most windy or upset. TGo start with: the day before yesterday: what did you eat? Iffyou do see a pattern or connection you could try cutting out that food from your diet.

There are probably other explanations. I hope someone more qualified than me can come along soon and give them.

Congrats on your DD! And well done for getting BFing established. It does really get even easier from here on in, too.

I know and have heard of a lot of BF babies who were windy - my DS was legend in various baby groups for several months. He was also pretty sicky. Can you ask a HV to show you some different techniques to shift the wind? There's something mine showed me that helped as part of a baby massage class she did. Like Cati said (great name by the way!) windiness could well be to do with something you've eaten or just that she's swallowed air.

On the dirty nappy thing - it does start to space out - BF babies do digest more of their feeds than FF, so when DS was about 10 weeks he could go 4-7 days without a poo.

On why she's fussing today, she might also start to take less time to feed as she gets more efficient and now that your supply is getting established. There are a couple of other options too - you might even have a quick let down (so she needs a little break partway through the feed). This can often cause wind too. The other option is that she is drinking the milk that's stored in your breast tissue (there's a certain amount that is held there which is release quickly at the beginning of a feed - it's often the bit that leaks when you hear her cry). Her suckling will then tell your breast to produce more milk - she could get this by continuing to suckle or she might wait until it flows into the 'reserves'.

I hope that makes sense. I hope you've been able to shift the wind - it's horrible to see them struggling with it.

When you say 'sick after a feed' - how much do you mean?

Is she still feeding in the same pattern as usual the last few days? Do you mean she is acting like this on a 3 hourly feed or during the clusters?

I cannot remember at what stage it can be normal for a BF baby not to have a dirty nappy everyday sorry - is she acting like she is constipated? Did you eat anything different?

When she is cluster feeding are you swapping from side to side each feed?

BF babies can have a lot of wind - especially if they are coming on and off a lot and screaming. Which then just makes them scream more and come on and off a lot...

Have you tried infacol or similar?

Sorry it is hard to offer advice over the net obviously...have you seen your HV? Are they any good?

thanks for replies everyone.

I did read some other threads before posting and considered it could have been something id eaten but cant think of anything different i have had in the last couple of days.

her feeding today has been almost constant and when not feeding she has wanted to be held all day. I have been switching sides while feeding although its not easy to tell when to switch as my boobs never feel full.

Thats good to know that bf babies do have wind. Im still a little worried about the nappies as she has not had a dirty one today either.

I haven't seen my health visitor yet I was discharged from the midwife on Tuesday but haven't heard from health visitor. Would you suggest calling midwife tomorrow about nappies? I do go to the baby cafe so could discuss feeding then but it isn't until Thursday

Do you have a DP/H on hand? DH was the Burpmeister in this house - he can get wind out of any baby, any time. My bfed babies were all quite windy, and prone to possetting after feeds.

I only asked because sometimes if they feed quite frequently and you keep swapping from side to side for the start of a new feed, then they can take in a lot of foremilk. This (technical / biological explanation escapes me) leads to lots of some enzyme being released to break it down which can give them more wind / stomach pain.

If she feeds for example hourly, you could try feeding from the same side over a period of 3 hours or so.

Also 3 weeks is a growth spurt and I have always found that they seem to 'wake up' a bit by this point and dont want to be put down / sleep all the time quite so much...a sling maybe?

Sometimes I think both mine wanted to comfort feed and almost got annoyed that the milk was there - hence pulling on and off. I found a great position for this - and for the wind - was to lie her over my knees on her tummy and pat her back - seemed to soothe her (obviously not whilst feeding lol)

Seems odd you havent met HV if discharged from MW - give her a ring for definite if you are worried.

The growth spurt could also explain the lack of poo as they tend to use almost everything in your milk when these occur so there is far less to come out the other end.

My DD is very windy so I take her off after about ten minutes and do some over the shoulder winding and then pop her back on. She has become pretty efficient at feeding so only has about another 5 mins and then is done. I also have a fast let down which I think someone said could cause this so perhaps winding mid feed could really help.

I alays thought bf babies don't really have wind but sadly, not true!

peppapig i was worried about swapping breasts but at the baby cafe this week the bf counsellor told me to offer second side after dd has finished on one side, this went against everything i have read about bf but figured if she is telling me this then during cluster feeds i should perhaps swap sides

well dd finaly dirtied her nappy today and it was bright orange....is this normal?

Sorry, LittleCheese, I don't really understand what the issue is.

If all is going well, then no poo is fine at this age on the odd day, and sometimes more.

Cluster feeds are normal.

Fussiness and being a bit sick after feeds are also normal.

I'm unclear about your swapping sides question - what the bfc said sounds right to me, ie swap sides when your dd seems to have finished with the one side. This can go a bit awry during cluster feeds but it should not matter at all. It's not usually a good idea to deliberately not swap sides but for many women it does not matter if they do or don't

Orange poo = normal. Lots of babies do this colour sometimes.