12 day old newborn - colic - wind from breastfeeding

[Stigaloid]

Hi

I have a 12 day old DD who is suffering from really bad wind and tummy problems. She has been unsettled all day, her poops are very windy and her tummy is causng her pain. She is breastfeeding and takes in a lot of wind. I have expressed to give her some milk from a bottle, which has caused less wind in her so think the latch must be wrong.

Also i am not producing very much milk. If i drain both boobs i make about 3 oz at the most. I know she is still very small but surely i should be making more than this? I am doing everything i can to get my supply up but nothing is working.

I had a hell of a time with DS who ended up being allergic to my milk and am worried we will go the same way with this one but she is pooing the right colour and whilst explosive, her nappies are wet and green.

Any advice appreciated before i give it all up and end up moving to formula

I'm sure you will find if your baby is windy that she will be worse on a bottle, and also you won't be able to comfort her they way you can on the breast, no danger of over-feeding, you can put here on anytime she is uncomfortable.

Don't use what you can express as an indication of how much milk your baby actually gets.

Do you know the kelly mom site - they have loads of really useful articles on there about everything you could ever need to know about bf.

When you say "everything you can do to keep your supply up" what do you mean?

Is there a reason you think she could be "allergic" to your milk and not to formula?

Please try and feel confident that you are doing the best thing for your DD and you DO have what it takes!

Someone better experienced than me will be able to advise about latch and wind, but wanted to say please don't worry about supply just cos of your expressing experience. I bf my DD for 12m and she put on weight well. However if I ever tried to express, the most I could get was 2oz (1 from each boob) so I really don't think expressing is a good indication of supply.

Maybe contact a bf counsellor?

It's possible your latch could do with some tweaking. What's your local breastfeeding support like?

But 12 days is very young yet, babies are generally unsettled at this age, ime, because they're not really used to being out of the womb, iyswim ...

How's her weight gain?

seeing midwife tomorrow to see how her weight is doing. she lost 9 oz initially but think she has put on weight since. she was born 8lb 10. also her poos are not green - mustard yellow. error in my first post! sorry

That sounds fine (the poo I mean) for a bf baby.

Yellow is good. Green is fine, too, really. How often is she pooing?

she poos often sometimes alot others a lot of gas and streaks of poo.

midwife weighed her and she has only put on 70 gms (2.5 oz) in a week and still not regained birth weight. Have been suggested to start mixed feeding - but really wanted tp exclusively breast feed for as long as possible.

Feel like an utter failure I can't seem to give my baby enough food but do give her colic

Ok, how many times per day does she produce a poo that is bigger than a 50p piece in the nappy?

Her weight is going back up, that's great news. You don't know when she started gaining again, or what the actual low point is, so I wouldn't get too bothered by the fact she's only up 2.5oz from the lowest measurement is good news.

Where do you live? (what town?) what's the local BF support like?

The first few weeks are crappy for everyone, please don't see it as a personal failure.

Thanks NotQuite - she does minimum 5 large poops and the rest vary in size. Plenty of wet nappies too. She is good colour etc i just feel rotten for her with a poor tummy and feel deflated that i am not providing enough for her. Had the same problem with DS and ended up going on formula at 8 weeks as he was allergic to my milk protein. really hoped that with DD i could BF for as long as possible but dont want to starve her with poor milk production.

It sounds like she's doing ok. Five poops a day means there's loads of milk going in - otherwise there wouldn't be so much coming out. Maybe she's just crabby because babies are crabby?

Allergies to BF milk proteins are v rare - how was your DS diagnosed?

Maybe ease up a lot on dairy and see if things improve, with the gas? My oldest DD turned out to be allergic to dairy and had this experience of gassiness and colic at about 11-15 weeks.

Measuring your milk production by what you express is not going to give anywhere near an accurate idea of how much you produce. The baby is much more efficient at draining your boobs than a pump.

NQC - DS was diagnosed after being in hospital by consultant. He got strep infection when born, suspected meningitis (not confirmed as the spinal tap on him when he was 24 hours old didn't work but he responded well to antibiotics so they didn't try it again the next day as was too distressing for him and me). He was tube fed in high dependency and special care, which is where i think the intolerance started as his digestive track didn't get anything but formula and a/b's so nothing natural. He was then diagnosed with tongue tie, which explained why he never really got any milk off me. He had acidic explosive nappies as a result of his allergy and after diagnosis it was confirmed he was allergic to milk and soya proteins, which are present in most foods and mothers milk. It was a very rough start for a first time mother. DD isn't ill, which is a blessing, but she just doesn't seem to be satisfied by what i produce. My boobs never seem to fill up and get full. They get deflated and empty easily and she is so hungry.

Mathanxiety - i don't eat much dairy as it is - when i had to cut it out completely for my DS i ended up producing less as i couldn't eat a decent diet. It feels like a vicious circle

Am about to give up completely to be honest i feel so disheartened. I can have her on the boob for over an hour, nearly two, and she is still rooting and hungry and if i give her a bottle of EBM she guzzles the lot.

Stig
Don't be disheartened! I think the problem with bf when you have a known problem like a previous allergy is you tend to attach everything to it. I bet there are loads and loads of similarly colicy newborns out there but their mothers are not analysing their milk/food. My dd1 is severely allergic to dairy (anaphylactic) and I also cut out dairy, egg etc when feeding her. I spent many hours analysing her behaviour, poos, skin etc in relation to my supply or my diet - maybe things were still affecting her, who knows, but on balance I think bm was still better for her.

The rooting and the guzzling bottles are pretty universal, I think, at this stage. I bet you have plenty of milk but have understandably lost confidence.

I am similarly wondering why dd2 fusses and shouts when I feed her and seems so windy - is she allergic too, refluxy or just a fusspot?!

FWIW I would go by nappies and weight gain not how your boobs feel/how much you express/how hungry the baby seems.

I bet you are doing fine.

If she's pooping lots and gaining weight on your milk, you're defo making lots.

Thanks ladies - will continue to persevere. Have another midwife appointment on Friday - they want to see her have gained some more weight by then, so guess i am feeling the pressure somewhat. Will try to stop over analysing and relax into it a bit more. Thanks again for your kind words and support - very much appreciated.

Can I share this thread with you? I started it last night in sheer desperation. There are some fantastic suggestions and some encouraging words which have kept me sane today.

A real shot in the dark but have you considered seeing a lactation consultant to look at your latch and to examine baby's mouth? dd has reflux and bad gas. Have just found out she has tongue-tie - the two are sometimes related. I don't know if the procedure to release the tongue-tie is going to solve her digestive problems but I'm hoping there will be a general improvement with feeding.

ladylush - definitely not tongue tie. DS had reflux and tongue tie and had them double check at hospital to make sure DD wasn't tongue tied. Will try lactation consultant when i can get out of the house! Blooming snow!

Thanks Erika - will check out thread.

Oh good - at least that one can be ruled out Ikwym about the snow - a real pita especially when you've got little ones.

Not sure if I missed this, but infacol worked wonders with my son's trapped wind when he was tiny. I took ages to get milk (about 7 days, I think) and hunger and wind made him cry loads, but infacol saved the day. We'd really recommend it.