Please help with my 1 month old

[Coffeeandbourbons]

DS is 1 month old. He is EBF and fed on demand. He was born 7lb13 and is now over 11lb so is taking plenty of milk (just so you know hunger/supply isn’t an issue).

However he gulps at the breast, swallowing a lot of air as he feeds. The feed is then cut short as he pulls away distressed due to the trapped wind, I spend ages holding him upright and trying to wind him, before he wants another feed because the last one wasn’t finished. Then the cycle starts again - he swallows more air, pulls away screaming, I wind him, and he wants to feed again. After a few feeds he becomes over tired which seems to make things even worse - he won’t settle and just wants more feeding.

His latch is good and has been checked (I breastfed my last baby so know how it should look and feel), I feed him at the first cue so he isn’t coming to the breast crying or fussing. He’s been checked for tongue tie. I have tried expressing some milk off first so the letdown doesnt cause him to gulp or choke.

I’m absolutely shattered as this goes on for hours every night and tonight I had to just put him in his Moses basket to cry as I was dangerously close to falling asleep with him in the bed

Please hit me with all your suggestions as to how I can fix this.

From my very similar recent experience (3months here) my only tip really is time - DDs feeding settled greatly around 2 months as though she sort of got bigger and got the hang of it. She still feeds relatively often but no longer gulps down air like she used to and problems this caused like reflux/silent reflux have gone away (I didn’t do anything special, just rode it out sadly - sorry I know that’s probably not what you want to hear right now!)

Sounds like fast letdown. I have this but it's not just the letdown, its the whole feed from start to finish, my milk just flows too quick. Also my second, didn't have it with my first. He became much better but dealing with it after a few months, but still has so much wind to get out each feed.

Have you tried different feeding positions? And is it the same on both sides?

How long are you letting him feed between winding?

How are you certain he's still hungry when he cries? It does sound like you have a fast let down so he may be getting loads of milk in a surprisingly short period, needs winding, then wants to go to sleep. You put him back on and he has a go because babies usually will if offered the boob but his tummy is already pretty full so it's not a calming sleepy experience. I would try swaddling him after the first feed and rocking or walking round with him to see if he drops off. I had to do this with my second and seriously lamented that baby wouldn't just feed to sleep as first had.

If your supply is good, could you express and feed him with a bottle?

Do you have a pump to express with and try feeding the milk through an anti colic bottle ? I know it’s not ideal but perhaps you could try it to see if it is a fast let down that is the issue ? Hang on in there, it’s so tough, I remember the sleep deprivation well