Breastfeeding/colic/wind problems - 7 week old

[Shortie213]

Hi there,

I'm having terrible trouble with my 7 week old baby and feeding, every feed is becoming a battle that upsets and stresses us both out.

This has been progressively getting worse for the last 3/4 weeks.
I suffered terribly from day two with cracked and bleeding nipples which resulted in horrific pain whilst feeding, I had to bite down on a muzzy during feedings on one side. Thankfully that pain has subsided but now we have new problems...

My baby boy is showing colic signs and suffers with wind. When I am feeding him I can feel it in his back sometimes.
He also often chokes on the breast and Gulps like its going out of fashion.
He has always been a short feeder 10, 15 mins max but his feeds have been getting shorter and shorter and he's now feeding for around 5/6 minutes before he starts fussing!
He pulls off and screams as if in pain, wiggling about. I attempt to wind him and he grunts, claws at me, brings his legs up and screams. Sometimes we get burps up but it doesn't help him at all!
I offer him the boob again and he latches on like he's attacking it which makes me think he's hungry yet will pull off screaming again. We go round in this circle.
The only thing to comfort him is a dummy, or shhhing in his ear and rocking although doesn't always work.
This can go on until he falls asleep worn out or until the next feed.

He has put on weight in the last fortnight (1 lb) but dropped slightly on his chart which he health visitor gave me a hard time about :( and is making me worry more.
They also told me he should be feeding for 15/20 minutes.

Some feeds when he is practically asleep are ok albeit very short feeds.

Is it normal to show colicky signs mid feed?
We've tried colief and gaviscon on the doctors reccomendation, colief didnt work and gavi made him sick, now trying infacol which helps get burps up but nothing else.

Can anyone offer any advice?
Could it be colic and normal for it to kick in mid-feed? Is it just wind?
I've also looked at fast letdown which I think I have a bit of (gulping and choking) and overactive supply however block feeding made no difference and I don't think it's that now (not had green poos for ages)

I am at my wits end and just don't know what to do or try. I am worried he's not getting enough although I am confident I have enough milk. He just very rarely seems satisfied after a feed cause of the fussing and griping.
The last week he has been going 4/4.5 hours at night after his last feed, so surely if he was hungry he wouldn't sleep?

Sorry for the long rambling if anyone can offer any advice I'd be most grateful.

Sorry I don't have any advice, but try posting this on the bottle and breast feeding thread you might get more response. Good luck

Have you had DS checked for a tongue tie? Here's some info that you might want to have a read through:

milkmatters.org.uk/2011/04/15/hidden-cause-of-feeding-problems-however-you-feed-your-baby/

Your story sounds v similar to mine with my DS before he had his tongue tie revised. He was gaining weight, wouldn't feed to longer than 5-10 minutes at a time and was incredibly fussy when offered the breast. We also gave him Infacol as advised by the HV as she suggested it was colic - like you said it helped him burp. We'd also use the tiger in the tree hold to burp him when he struggled with that - you'll find demos if it on You Tube.

Do try and get this moved to bottle and breastfeeding as suggested - there are some v helpful people over there.

Good luck!

Sorry to hear all that, feeding problems can be so stressful. Both my two DS have had reflux, tongue tie (DS1 nor snipped til 9 weeks as not diagnosed properly - vast improvement after that).
I didn't find health visitors or bf clinics that helpful in UK, inexplicably both babies fed fine when someone else watching...
In NZ where I now live I saw a lactation consultant who was brilliant. When let down too quick for DS2 when v young, he used to wail & thrash about whenever that side was offered. Awful for both if us, I swore so many times I would give up bf. But lactation consultant suggested distraction eg standing up holding baby, jiggling about a bit & offering breast. Surprisingly successful on quite a few occasions. Last needed to do that when he was about 4 months old, as he is improved on reflux, can burp easier, & copes with quick let down better. also rugby hold on that side sometimes helped. So could try different hold?
Hope your difficulties ease soon.

Have you tried La Leche League? They have a breastfeeding helpline:
www.laleche.org.uk/

I've been recommended their book "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" which has loads of tips that don't appear elsewhere (you can get it on Amazon/ebay). Hope things improve soon.

Difficult feeds can also mean reflux... May be worth having a look online and seeing if the rest of the signs sound familiar.

Have you tried infacol? Use before every feed. £2.90 boots. Make sure there's no gaps in your latch. When you wind try loads of positions. The classic hand under chin lean forward, over shoulder also laid on belly across the knee.
Baby massage techniques for colic should help-YouTube. But I would most definately try infacol before every feed-suitable from birth.
And to answer your other question yes it's really common and breaks your heart. Good luck

Thank you all for your responses, I have also posted this in breast and bottle feeding as suggested.

When I do look online I can see similarities in symptons for reflux and colic and fast letdown.
It's so hard isn't it trying to work these little creatures out.

You are right it breaks my heart to see him like that, would love to just have lovely calm feeds!
I'll also look into tongue tie as you suggested and the tiger in the tree hold.
I'll keep using the infacol for now as well.

Do you have a local breastfeeding cafe you could go to where someone could watch your lo feeding? It sounds as though he may have reflux but tongue tie should e checked for too. I know you've tried gaviscon but

Do you have a local breastfeeding cafe you could go to where someone could watch your lo feeding? It sounds as though he may have reflux but tongue tie should e checked for too. I know you've tried gaviscon but often they need something more heavy duty, omeprazole, domperidone etc. may also have cpmi... Thoughts are with you, it's very hard, hope you have lots of support. Congratulations on your baby!