BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Breast Feeding => Topic started by: mama2belle on April 12, 2006, 02:24:13 am
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My dd is 4 mos. old and we have struggled on and off since birth with fussy breastfeeding. She has good output in diapers and is happy most of the time, sleeps well at night, etc. For the last week or so, she has screamed at almost every feeding. She latches on and sucks for 2-5 minutes and then screams in pain and arches her back. I can hear her passing gas as well. I try to relatch a few more times, but eventually just switch to the other side. Sometimes she stops, but sometimes continues crying on the other side. She also tries to stick her fingers in her mouth when feeding and gets "angry" when I take them away. I'm ready to give up and am very frustrated. I don't each much dairy (no milk) but do I need to be more ruthless in eliminating? She is gaining weight slowly, but the doc doesn't seem concerned. Help.
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well i was told that if you aren't going to cut dairy out fully then it is not going to work doing it partially...you'd think it would have 'some' effect only having a little but i couldn't tell you for sure myself as i opted not to do that. i did have to TOTALLY cut out any kind of caffeine as that gave my lo horrible gas and tummy cramps (still does :-\ ). that in combination with dd's reflux was BAD news! you may want to look at the reflux board as extra gas is one sign of reflux -although there are many more..it may be worth taking a look at it. hope things get better soon - and if at all possible (if you enjoy it) really, honestly try to stick with the bfing...if lo does in fact have reflux - bm is a natural antacid and won't bother lo's throat, belly, etc as much as formula would. good luck!
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You describe her sticking her fingers in her mouth. It could well be that she is teething. It's an age many start. She may be getting some relief from nursing initially but when the initial let down has slowed and her sucking needs to change perhaps she's in more pain. If she's taking on more saliva during the day with extra chewing it could also explain more wind. There's a teething thread on the health board - see below.
Just a thought.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52727.0
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Hello!
My little boy, Mateo, is also 4 months old, used to do this sometimes too.
He arched his back started to cry after what only seems like seconds... The lactation cosultant and I figured out that it was because he was impatient and couldn't wait for the letdown, and the reason why he would latch on to the other breast and suckle so quickly is because the letdown was faster!
The way it was explained to me is that once he stimulated the first breast, even if it's less than a minute, then the other breast is pretty much ready to go, which is why once I switched sides, he would suckle and just like that the let-down would happen.
How did we fix this problem? First I began to take "fenugreek" and to pump after each feed to increast milk flow, plus I wouldn't wait until he was starving to feed him. He started to eat every 3 hours on the dot, and we worked on extending the feeds past the 5 minute mark since he would think he was full and stop nursing. (a snacking issue!)
We've moved past this point now, since he nurses for about 7-10 minutes on each side now and is on the 4-hr EASY routine. He eventually learned to be a better eater rather than a snacker.
I hope this gives you some help.
Oh Mateo is now starting to put his fingers in his mouth while nursing too, although he doesn't cry when I move them away, this, I was told, is a teething issue.
Take Care
Nayade
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My dd was doing the same thing...she is 4mo. How often are you feeding? I switched to feeding her every 4 hours instead of every 3 and she doesn't cry and pull off like she did and is feeding better. She also is chewing her hands...teething. She was waking almost every hour on the hour at night. I am using a homeopathic remedy to help with that and my own homemade teething gel (glycering and clove oil). At the same time as this, she got her 4 mo shots, so I have been givning her some Advil at night before she goes to bed (for 5 nights the dr said). She slept pretty well last night and napped well today. So she has a lot of things going on at once (changing routine, needles, teething, stopping night wakings) but seems to be turning around.
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Thanks everyone for all your thoughts. I am feeding her every 3 hours (6 times/day), so I will try the 4 hr EASY. It seems like she can't last that long - but maybe she'll surprise me. I'm doing the complete fast from dairy as well in hopes that it will help. Since I wrote the post things got better, but she's still doing 1-2x/day. And thanks for the encouragement on sticking with bf....it really made me want to press on!
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Hi Mama2belle,
I just wanted to add that the switch to 4 hour can be gradual. Instead of immediately making a "schedule switch" listen to her cues, you may end up changing some meals to 4 hours while others are 3 for a while. My dd switched to 4 hour over a 3 week period.
My lo at times will fuss during a feed, usually in the afternoon. I found it was because she was most awake, her one arm would flail and hit me in the face or she would grab my chin, sometimes she would try to look around her. I now put a small toy in her hand and it seems to give her better concentration at feeding.
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My oldest charge was like this - arching every time mom tried to b/f him. She was convinced there was something wrong, but I suggested she just hand express a bit before putting him to the breast so that the let-down came quicker and he was OK with that most of the time. I also suggested she should feed longer on the one breast (she liked to swop after 5 minutes coz the gynae told her to) but she didn't and we had the same problem on the other side.
Hope things work out
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Baby Nanny,
Not to change topics or anything but can I say how cool it is that you're on this site?! Oh to find a nanny that follows BW!
There should be a site "BW nannies for hire".
Have others on this site tried recruiting you yet? ;D
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lol FTM I LOVE Baby Whisperer. No-ones tried to recruit me, not yet anyhow :D