8 wks old crying when bf, pls help!

[M78]

My 8 wks old DD2 is fully bf and so far very successfully, however since yesterday she had been really unsettled during feeds, stopping continuously crying and straining as if in pain, I do have a fast let down and she normally does swallow a lot of air during the first few minutes of each feed, but so far that hasn't bothered her so much during feeds, more afterwards with quite a lot of painful wind. She has also reflux, which I give her Gaviscon for. I don't know what to do, what is wrong? I don't think she is eating enough, should I give her some formula and see what happens? I have tried expressing but unsuccessfully. I am really sad as I really want to keep on breastfeeding her, but I am finding this so stressful and she does seem to be in pain. I must add that in between feeds she is quite happy, but does not last the usual 3 hrs. Thanks!

First of all - stop worrying, this sounds like something that she will either grow out of in a few weeks or can be helped. Is she constipated? If she has wind further down a warm bath before she feeds can help. Also try expressing off the first bit of milk - especially if you have fast letdown - latch her on, latch her off and spray it onto a flannel if you have to - that way the speed will slow down. Alternatively you could try nipple shields.

Three hours of unhappiness in a baby can mean a lot of things though - she may be ill, or constipated or just plain old tired and not interested. My DD had a tooth by 10 weeks so it could even be that!

Please don't assume you are doing anything wrong. Small babies behave in quite random ways sometimes.

Keep on going, you are doing great, you are just having a small and temporary problem which will go.