Chocking when nursing

[kikoz]

Hi,

It seems that every time I breast feed my  9 days old daughter she chokes on the breast milk. She ends up gagging, coughing & gasping for air. She can still breath & her lips don't change color or anything. But she looks startled by it and it scares me!

I guess what I'm wondering is if this is normal & if there is anything I can do to prevent it?

Thank you for any advice you have!

[~*Nicole*~]

Do you have a forceful letdown? or an abundant supply? You may find expressing some milk before nursing to let the flow slow down a bit first can help. Or a position where she is not lying back and taking the milk straight at her throat and gulping to keep up with the fast flow....so maybe where you are lying back and she is more upright leaning toward you???

[Fiver]

Nicole's made some great suggestions already, but wanted to add, has she been checked for a tongue tie or any other oral issues?  If they tongue isn't able to move freely in the mouth, often LOs will have difficulty coordinating sucking and swallowing and then seem to choke/gag on the milk.

[kikoz]

Hi and thanks, she was checked at the hospital all over by LEDs, but not sure ant the tongue... What's a tongue tie!?!? Sounds bad......
As for the flow, how can I know if it's fast or normal?
Thanks again

[Fiver]

A tongue tie isn't a nasty scary thing, just where the frenulum (the flap of skin under the tongue) is too tight and doesn't allow the tongue to move freely.  Also known as ankyloglossia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankyloglossia

As for the forceful letdown, if DD wasn't latched on when you had a letdown, would your milk spray across the room without her sucking?

[~*Nicole*~]

Like if yout start leaking in the shower would it spray outward across the way? lol

[kikoz]

Hi, ok so no tongue tie, I ve seen hers today, it's normal, as for the spraying around, not having that either... It just drips?
Do you think it's positioning? Or needs to be burped, gulping air ...?

[Fiver]

Did you just look under her tongue?  You can't always tell by looking.  If you have a BF support worker/counsellor you could consult, they ought to be able to have a proper feel to confirm either way.

It could be a positioning/attachment issue.  Again, you would need to find some "in real life" help to check that out for you.

[kikoz]

hi we are scheduling a peds aptmt soon for check up.

she hasnt been choking as much by the way, only once yesterday and today not yet... does that count? if it was a tongue i beleive the chocking would have been constant.?
she also never does at night, when the sucking is slower...i think as i m getting adjusted to the position, she is also more relaxed...

what do you think?

[~*Nicole*~]

Could be her latch or positioning....

My son would sometimes have this and I think it was b/c he had reflux and I had a bit of a forceful letdown...though it could have JUST been the reflux. I am thinking back now and guessing that as some was coming up, some was trying to go down and he had excess milk in his throat and it was too much for him and caused a bit of gagging and choking. I'd just have to tilt him up and let him cough and then relatch him on and go from there. It got better as he got older and as I learned more about his reflux and we treated it. But it could just be she is taking in air and it is causing her to burp/spit up a bit at the same time as she is taking in more milk and there could be a bit of a backup for a moment.

It will likely improve as she gets older, but if it's happening a lot I'd probably ask the ped. or a lactation consultant to watch a BFing session or two and see what they think.

[Mama2C]

BOTH my kids had trouble with this because I had a super fast and strong letdown. DS handled it better than DD who at 1 week of age was so frustrated with it she stopped nursing. I finally had to lie down to nurse her. I always squeezed a bit out before I fed them as well so they wouldn't have to face the strong letdown. It's not a pleasant thing but it does eventually settle down...at around the 3 month mark for both my kids. 

[kikoz]

Quote: " But it could just be she is taking in air and it is causing her to burp/spit up a bit at the same time as she is taking in more milk and there could be a bit of a backup for a moment."
I think this is what's happening, its only once a day now and today wasn't a sligh cough, nothing strong...
I'm trying to lay back on the couch for a more relaxed position and it seems to help.
I ll keep an eye and we ll be seeing a dr within 3 weeks. If things are not fine, then ill change aptmt to sooner.
Thank you all ladies for your wise advise X