3 month old breastfeeding issues?

[Rara27]

Hello

I'm hoping someone can help me understand what is happening.

He's been a good feeder up until about a week ago.

I think l have a fast let down (milk spraying out when ds unlatches early on?) he's always unlatched after about a minute or two, he had a whinge, caught his breath & then carried on feeding again. But now he unlatches after a minute or two & it seems like he's really screaming at me rather than crying & he's quite reluctant to latch back on.

For the last five days he hasn't had a bedtime feed. Is this normal for some? He doesn't even want to latch on. He just screams at me until l put him to bed. He normally goes round until after 2am.

Last Wednesday he had his second lot of vaccinations & l think this may also coincide with his 3 month wonder weeks leap.

I read that some babies go on a feeding strike when they are going through a wonder weeks leap, could it be that? Could my let down now be too fast for him? Could it be something else that l'm not seeing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Domestic Engineer]

Can you post an EASY? I'd be interested to see how often he's eating, and how much he's eating in the afternoon if he doesn't want a bedtime feed.

If your letdown is too fast, you can express some milk either by hand or by pump for a  couple of minutes before latching him on. Try it and see if that helps. Not enough to really get a lot of milk out, just to get past the fast letdown.

Also, do you usually nurse on one side, or both, and for how long? Do you still feel engorged or very full?

A feeding strike at 3 months would be unusual. Do you think he's actually taking less milk than usual, or it's just harder to get him to settle down and eat?

[Rara27]

Thank you. Here's today's EASY.

E - 3.09 31 mins.

E - 7.02 9 mins. 
S - 8.30

E - 9.29. 22 mins. Woke him from his nap, had a sleepy feed.
S - 10.30-12.10

E - 12.19. 2 mins.
S - 1.00-4.51

E - 4.55. 2 mins.
E - 5.10. 17 mins.

S - 6.45.

I don't feel my let down anymore. How will l know when l've gone past my let down if l hand express? I will try that on the NF. Yes, still feel engorged. Feeling it now on my left. I normally do take some milk off if needed so my nipple is more flexible for him.

If he feeds properly l offer both sides. If he refuses to feed l don't offer the other side. Should l offer both? I don't think he has a favourite side.

I thought it was both but looking at the app l use he is feeding about the same amount of time. Before he was taking feeds of about 10-15 mins he's taken two longer feeds today. It is the screaming that l find upsetting. I'm wondering whether it's my milk & time to, reluctantly, swap to formula.

He's put on 7ozs in the last week. 

Thanks so much

[*Ali*]

There's definitely no need to swap to formula although obviously it is your choice if you want to.

Sounds like you might need to adjust your feeding  position perhaps.  Have you seen our faq? Oversupply and Overactive (Forceful) Let-Down

You DS would have been OT by BT in the EASY you posted  as he'd been up 2hrs by BT. My dd often cries and refuses to feed when ot. I often have success letting her almost fall asleep and then latching her on.

Why did you wake him from his first nap? 

I wouldn't let a single nap go over 2-2.5hrs or let an A time go past 2hrs (preferably 1.5) at this age.

[Rara27]

Hi Ali, thanks for coming to my rescue.

Thanks for the link. Not long after ds was born l went to see a LC about our latch, thrush & over active let down. I was advised to change my feeding position to help him. I tried leaning back but he seemed to hate that more than the over active let down so l had assumed that he had got used to it. But l tried leaning back to feed him today & l think it certainly made it better for him, much less screaming at me.

Thank you for that hint, l did the same with ds. Put him in his Moses basket, he sucked his thumb for 5 minutes & then l was able to feed him for 20 minutes.

I wanted to feed him & thought it would be better if he was sleepy. It isn't something that l normally do!

Thanks I'll bear that in mind from now on. Hopefully we'll have a good day tomorrow.

[*Ali*]

I saw this for today and thought of this thread http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/breast-fullness/

[Domestic Engineer]

If you hand express, you should be able to see that the milk sprays very quickly at first and then is much slower. If it doesn't spray quickly, you aren't getting a good letdown with hand expression (that's normal) but you can still do it for a few minutes to relieve some of the pressure.

Do you think he's taking a significant amount of milk at a 2 minute feed, or does that just mean that he refused the breast? If you consider the 2 minute feed very small, by the time you get to the 5:00 feed it's been over seven hours since the last good feed at 9:30 am! No wonder you're feeling engorged! Even if you do count the short feed, 4.5 hours is still a long time during the day at 3 months. That nap is extremely long - you should probably try to wake him when it's been 3 to 3.5 hours between feeds to minimize your engorgement, which makes overactive letdown worse.

I wouldn't switch to formula for these issues when he's gaining so well.

As to one or both sides, there can be reasons to do it both ways. I had oversupply at one point and started doing just one side at each feed, and my supply leveled off to a more reasonable amount. (I had to switch back to both sides when he was a little older.) On the other hand, if you nurse on only one side, the other side is going twice as long between feedings, so it could be more full if fullness and overactive letdown are the problem. Feeding on both sides every time could help keep them both more soft, though it  could also increase supply.

[Rara27]

Today's EASY

E - 4.43. 10 mins. didnt want anymore, had to be rocked to sleep
S - 6.00

E - tried at 7. Refused!
S - 8.30-9.30. Think he had wind but confused as his last feed was at 4.43

E - 9.55. Total of 37 minutes
S - 11.00-1.00

E - 1.25. 17 mins.
S- 2.30-4.00

E - 4.21. 25 mins.
S - 5.15-6.00

E - 7.00
S - 7.20

So today l've tried to change my feeding position, l tried reclining & initially he was ok with that but if I then fed him on the other side he wouldnt be happy but would feed if l sat normally. Obviously he's not a fan of lying down on s full stomach!

I've tried three different ways to feed him today. 1, Hand expressing, 2, latch him on & unlatching him when letdown came & caught spray in muslin & 3, feeding him through the let down & then when he unlatches & cries at me to give him 5 minutes to calm down. The have all worked well. The problem with no.2 is that l don't feel my letdown. Will have a search for different stages of a feed.

He refused the breast. He did wake up but then we had the school run to do so fell back to sleep in the pram. It was just bad timing on my behalf! Didn't realise being engorged made it worse. No wonder he didn't want to fee at 4.55 on Thursday.

I've been feeding on one side at each feed today & that seems to have helped a littke, he's a bit less cross than he has been previously.

Thanks to you both for your help 

[Rara27]

Hi

I'm hoping you can help a very confused mummy!

Many issues seem to have occurred at the same time!

I have been to have him weighed this week, he has only put on 10ozs in the last three weeks. I thought it was normal for BF babies to start plateauing at this age. The HV said otherwise. I have found evidence of this on Kelly mom & other websites but just need it confirmed by another person rather than a website iyswim!

Because of the lack of weight gain the HV suggested l start feeding him on both sides again. I have & this results in him having wind. I also wonder if feeding on both sides has increased my let down & he is again struggling to cope with it, hence the wind. I'm still eating & drinking the same amount so don't think my supply has dropped.

Is there a GS at 16 weeks? I didn't think there was but he seems to be desperate to eat at the moment. But then l put him on & he lasts a couple of minutes then comes off very cross.

I'm so confused at the moment 

My last issue you may not be able to help me with. After the NF at 4/5ish l now have to rock him to sleep. He falls asleep on the breast, l put him to bed, he wakes up but doesn't wind & then needs to be rocked back to sleep. Is this a prop? I don't want him to wake my dd, as she's at school l need her to sleep.

Tia x

[*Ali*]

What is his actual weight now and three weeks ago. 10oz sounds fine to me. He isn't slipping down centile lines is he? The charts are just guides. Every child doesn't need to follow them exactly. Sometimes these HVs just worry WUs unnecessarily. Personally I'd just stick with what you were doing.

There is huge GS around 4mo yes.

Could he be Undertired at the 4-5am NW? What's his A time now? Typical for 4mo is 1hr45-2hrs. Maybe he is ready for another jump if it is still closer to 1.5hrs like in your previous post.

[Rara27]

3 weeks ago he weighed 12 4. This week he weighed 12 14. Yes he has dropped down the chart. 3 weeks ago he was just below the 25th line, now he's just above the 9th.

His A is still 1.5, will adjust it tomorrow, thank you.

[*Ali*]

I hope the A time bump helps.

I wouldn't worry too much as long as he isn't losing weight. He hasn't even crossed a single centile line then as 25th and 9th are next to each other. Health professionals I've come in contact with don't tend to worry too much unless they fall down across two lines.

[Rara27]

It didn't today  but l'm assuming it might take him a few days to adjust to each time change. It's probably not the best week to do it with it being half term!

Thanks Ali, that's good to know. I'm tryimg not to worry, he eats, sleeps, has wet & dirty nappies & is happy - all good signs.

[*Ali*]

Yes I expect it will rake 3 days or so to make much difference. Good luck.