Gas, grunting, groaning & preference to 1 breast!

[Layla]

Hi, I have so many stupid questions to ask and would really appreciate any suggestions.
My LO is 4 weeks old and is exclusively breastfed. I am not on any schedule at all and don't plan to be until she is about 2 1/2-3 months old. She is fed on demand day and night.

Basically for the past 4 weeks we have been struggling with lots and lots of gas. She is sooo bothered by it and I am not sure what I am eating/doing wrong. I have cut on ALL the possible gassy food, and I just can't seem to narrow it down to anything. The only thing I have not completely cut down on is a bar of chocolate a day. Its given her some rash on face but is it possible that it can cause that much gas??? Throughout the day and night I make sure she burps (works 95% of the time), I rub her belly, I press her legs towards belly to release gas, etc... All of this gets rid of it (and there is lots) but she still seems to be bothered. When she cries/fussy, she pushes legs towards her belly in an agitating manner and more gas comes out. Is it just the immaturity of her digestive system. Does it get better after 6 weeks (thats the magical moment I heard)

Also she is a really noisy sleeper. There is lots of grunting and groaning coming out of this LO and at night I keep thinking that she is about to wake up and so I BF her..only to realise that she is fast asleep at the breast a minute later. I am learning to ignore those noises but is it normal for newborns to be that noisy, or is it the gas that is making her a restless sleeper. Does this too go away???

And last but not least I have noticed that she eats far more better from one breast more so than the other. She latches on far better on one side and I have to constantly express the other breast. This morning I woke up and it was rock hard cause all night she would only eat from one side. Is it the positioning. My breasts seem to be the same.....

Someone told me not to put her to breast so often as she might only be getting the foremilk and apparently that can contribute to lots of gas. But I try to make sure that she empties the breast before trying to latch her on to the other side. Does frequest feeding cause gas? (excess lactose in the bowel causing symptoms that of colicy baby???)

I BF my 1st one (expressed for her for 6 months) so we never really had this type of problems. I don;t recall her being at all this gassy or noisy sleeper.

Sorry this turned out a long post but any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CJF]

Hello
I was going to post the exact same questions to see if anyone else is experiencing the grunting and groaning.  My LO is soooo gassy and grunts and groans ALOT!!!  I, too feed him right away because I think he may be waking up and hungry.  I asked my lactation consultant at the last support group I went to  about that and she said to feed him on one side for 6 hours to make sure he is getting the hind milk and express the other side to relieve the discomfort and then switch to the other side for the next 6 hours.  Like you said, alot of foremilk will cause gas and make tummies upset and the hindmilk is more settling.  It has only been a day or 2 that I attempted to do that technique and I haven't noticed a difference yet...not sure if I will.

I was also wondering if what I was eating making him more gassy and grunt more because at times it does seem worse.  I haven't found anything yet.  I sort of was wondering about caffiene or carbonation or even chocolate, like you.  I don't know how the little ones sleep with so much grunting and groaning going on....and of course is seems better during the day than night.  You know now that I think of it and reading your post again, lately it had been the worst early morning around 5 or 6 after a short feed--maybe he is getting little or no hindmilk.   Something to think about.............
I didn't have this problem with my first LO either.
Keep me posted on how things are going and I will keep you posted as well.  By the way, my LO will be 8 weeks tomorrow.
Good luck.
Carolyn

[Mrs. Gravy]

It's completely normal for baby to prefer one breast over the other.  As you continue to nurse, you'll find one breast (the favourite!) will produce more milk.  Some women get lopsided breasts and it's totally normal.  As long as baby is having plenty of wet diapers, meeting milestones and gaining weight, it doesn't matter which breast the milk is coming from!

If baby is having trouble or won't latch on to the other side because of positioning, try this.  Say she prefers the right side.  I'm assuming you nurse in the cradle position.  Instead of lifting her up and flipping her onto her other side to nurse from the left, just slide her over, so she's in more of a football hold.  That way, she'll still be lying on the same side and may be more likely to nurse from the other breast.

As for the gas... Have you tried eliminating dairy?  Quite often that can be the culprit.  You might also want to look into learning some infant massage strokes.  They can be really helpful for gas.

Frequent feedings can cause gas if baby isn't getting enough hindmilk.  If you think this might be the problem, try pumping for a couple minutes before offering the breast.  You can pump off most of the foremilk so baby will be getting more hindmilk.