8 week old screaming when breastfeeding

[MCunliffe]

Hi I’m looking for some help. My 8 week old has suddenly started screaming when she’s breastfeeding - she will seem hungry and latch onto the breast but a few minutes in pull away screaming. It can then be up to an hour and a half before I can call her down enough to get her to feed again. I have to feed with shields which I am worried isn’t helping but I cant get her to latch without them. I am so worried that she will become dehydrated but my husband really doesn’t want her to be given a bottle - any advice would be appreciated as it feels like every feed is becoming a battle!

That sounds like you have fast let down and you’re scaring her with how fast the milk is coming out. You could try using a bit of hand expressing and maybe a Hakka pump on the other side. Please don’t feel forced to breastfeed it’s meant to be bonding experience not a traumatic one. Pumping and giving a bottle may give both of you a break. Also look up signs of reflux could be a possibility???

Sounds like colic - bang on time she wise & there's no real cure for it.

You can try infacol? I was ready to give up BF with my first when colic hit - she would scream to go on, then pull of & scream; went from being a fairly settled feeder to a nightmare.

Hang in there - it does pass! If you want to carry on breastfeeding you can ride it out. However a bit if mixed feeding won't hurt to give you & your nips a rest.

Tell your husband to fuck off & put bulldog clips on his anatomy, see how he likes it. You need support & for him to take the baby & settle (with a bottle or dummy or whatever).

Hey, I had the same issue with my DD when she was 6 weeks old, and I also use nipple shields. My health visitor reckoned it was down to too fast a let down so basically my milk was coming out too fast and frustrating my baby. Do you find that they dribble milk while they feed? I often had damp patches under my boob or on her sleeve as she dribbled a lot of it as it was too much for her. Anyway, my health visitor recommended expressing for a minute or two before feeding just to take the initial letdown off. It's a bit tricky to do if you're LO is hungry and wants fed straight away. In all honesty though for me it was like a phase that just passed on its own, it lasted like a week then she was fine. She's 14 weeks now and we still use the shields

Has the baby been considered for reflux or a dairy intolerance?

I had the same thing, because I have a very fast let down, and was firehosing DC

You can try pumping or hand expressing for a few minutes before feeding her, which should take the edge off it, and mean there isn't such a strong flow when you're feeding her

It should calm down by 8-10 weeks though

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have been wondering if the let down is too quick as it is also really painful for me so will try expressing a bit. She dribbles a lot during feeds. It’s not every feed and is definitely worse on an evening so probably worth giving infacol a try too.
She’s not been considered for anything so far but she has her 8 week check this week so I will ask the gp when we are there.