Please help! BF question...

[parentingrocks]

Hi ladies..
My daughter is 8 weeks old, has breastfed quite well to date, has experienced a bit of reflux and wind recently but I use mylanta (for the reflux) and gripe water (for the wind) to keep all that at bay... but the last few days when she is feeding she is really 'fussing about' at the boob, sometimes whinging, crying, and often thrashing her head back while my nipple is drawn back - so its starting to hurt when she's doing this. I try to make sure I'm in a good position for her, trying a few different positions throughout the feed - leaning slightly back, neutral, slightly forward etc, but thats not seeming to make much of a difference. Then I have been switching sides and she still does it on the other side. I feel like she is still drinking a bit of milk, but I'm assumung not enough because she is feeding every 3 hours approx, when usually I can stretch her out to 4 hourly. Also, I do stop her every now and again throughout the feed to burp her and she is doing decent burps - I have always done this because of the wind she has been having trouble with recently, but since the 'head thrashing' during feeding the burps have been bigger and deeper and always follows with a spew..,. and then more and more little spews long after the feed is finished. She is also quite unsettled between feed - whenever she is awake she is whinging and crying and we always need to hold her upright (over the shoulder) and thats when she does her little spews.

For now, I am going to express and give it to her in a bottle because she loves the bottle, but wondering if you know why she could be behaving like this at the boob?

Thanks in advance....

[LivingINhope]

Solsen - I feel for you DS1 was like that and I was sooo exhausted i ended up in tressillian. It was there I found out that he definatley had reflux and he started Zantac medication which was a blessing and he settled after that. he still had reflux and needed to be burped, slept with a wedge to put him on an angle and needed to be held upright alot but he settled on the boob and started to sleep more.

Hope that helps you but my advice would be to go to the doctor and get her assessed. If you are abel to express enough milk for a bottle I don't think its a supply issue. Best of luck:hugs:

[kar]

Could be the opposite of supply problem - oversupply?? We, and MCHN were sure F had reflux as all the same symptoms but have been posture feeding to slow the flow after it was suggested this may be the problem and it has all but resolved itself.
Symptoms for F were fussing at the boob, all the reflux symptoms, voms during and after feeds, lots of poos during feeding and immediately afterwards and generally unsettled and shrieking because tums was sore. Had to be in bjorn pretty much all the time.

Apparently fast let down/oversupply usually starts between 3 and 6 wks but it is possible it is the issue.

Does bub seen to cough/splutter as well during feeding? There is some good info on kellymom re symptoms of fast let down/oversupply and some solutions and also a thread in the BF section, I think re colic/diarreah.

Hope you can find something that helps, I know the pain you are going through.

[Cordelia]

It could be so much stuff...

some other suggestions:
.something you're eating/drinking ois effecting her
.your cycle is returning and it's changing the taste of your milk
.growth spurt
.you're stressed - remembef to breathe and relax when feeding - drop your shoulders!!!

anyway you never know - maybe that will help!! sorry. If you are dead set serious about breastfeeding longterm I would get professional help and seek lots of suggestions (which you're doing - good on you)

good luck and stay relaxed. It's not nice when they go thru these stages so make looking after yourself a priority :hugs:

[parentingrocks]

Hi everyone.

Thanks so much for your replys. I will give everything you all suggested a go.
I do need to remember to stay relaxed, but also think it may be my let down is so fast she is overwhealmed with milk, so last night I leaned right back and she feed slightly better.. although she still did the head thrashing towards the end of the feed (15-20mins in) when the milk isn't coming out as fast, so I still think there may be something else going on (not only fast letdown etc etc).

I see my MCHN tomorrow I might ask her about it then.

Thanks everyone.. keep the suggestions coming if you think of anything else!

[Purplebird]

Hi Solsen - a few thoughts occur to me when i read your post, I hope you don't mind me having a bit of a guess at the problem. First of all the head bobbing usually means they have a bit of wind. Maybe a gentle tummy massage would help? Also, even if she is going 3 hours between feeds you probably still have enough milk - bubs of this age still like to/need to feed quite often. If she is thrashing about a bit at the end of a feed she is maybe getting a little bit frustrated that the milk isn;t coming out as fast. In the evenings especially, bubs sometimes feed more often and the milk doesn't come out as quickly (as it is fattier).

You are doing a great job, so don't worry! Problems like this usually settle down quickly.