Hi, a quick question to see whether I can improve the way that my 3.5 month old feeds. You'd think I'd have figured this out by now (he has two big sisters) but I'm wondering if my body is producing more milk (or has started to produce it much more quickly) this time around. Does this sound possible / familiar to anyone else?
He gives me a very obvious "hungry" face and is keen to latch on and start feeding, but as soon as he starts to get some milk he ends up choking and gulping. I can hear bubbles of air getting "squelched" down inside him and he then cries out in pain at a very early stage of the feed (less than a minute into it). If I stop for a while, he will relax and try again, but it doesn't create a restful feed for him or me. After a few minutes, if I can keep him interested, he will settle down and take a longer feed, as long as I burp him frequently. Other times, the whole thing gets very frustrating for us both and he loses interest.
He is more relaxed at night so the DF and his usual one night waking are not so bad, although he doesn't feed for long at either. During the day, I do find that leaning back helps, or propping up one knee to raise him slightly higher than me. I've also had some success with expressing some milk at the start of the feed before latching him on.
None of this is very practical when I'm out ... meaning that feeding him outside the house is getting more and more difficult.
His weight gain is OK, although we've had an episode of thrush and two colds to get over in recent weeks.
So, I guess I'm looking for any advice. Do you think I've got the "diagnosis" right re the letdown? If so, is there anything more I can do to help him / me -- and how long is it likely to be before things improve?
Thanks in advance
Rachel
