Breast Feeding HELP

you might be drying up a little. I started drying up and my son did the exact same thing. i went to a gnc store or any health food store and got an herb called fenegreek...it makes you smell like maple syrup lol but it works! I have heard it has brought back milk to women who are completly dried up. Hope this helps.

Definitely call Le Leche League. I don't think this is an uncommon problem so they will most likely have several suggestions for you to try that may help. I had issues in the 6-8 week range and they offered so much advice.

Good luck!

L., try nursing him sitting mostly up. He might have ear infections and if that is the case it is painful to nurse laying down on his side. It puts pressure on the inner ear. If this does get him to nurse he most likely has an infection, and I would take him to his doc. If you want natural remedies, I use Eclectic Kids Ear Drops, they are natural herbs and oils that have antibiotic properties. You could also ask your doc to give you some Antipyrine and Benzocaine Otic Solutuon USP. It numbs the ears so they will still nurse when having an ear infection.
Good luck
E.

L.,

My son had the same problem when he was around 2 and a half months old. Now he is 6 months old. He would nurse for maybe 2 mins and start crying. Burping, mylicon didnt help and feeding sessions were getting stressful. And like you mentioned I was also producing enough milk.Then his pediatrician prescribed medicine for reflux. Some babies go through this every time they have a growth spurt. And after 3 days of giving him the meds , we were having stress free feeding sessions. Now I just give him the medicine when he starts having trouble with feeding again and that has happened only twice. Hope this helps. Hang in there, it gets better.

It sounds like reflux to me. I have 3 children and have nursed them all... and all have had Reflux. It's very common, and Prevacid can fix it. Go see your Pediatrician. You'll wish you had gone sooner - it makes a huge difference for these babies. Good luck!

Could be teeth or ears or too much milk too fast. If you stay calm, it will help everything. I know, easier said than done when your baby is screaming at you. Nursing with the baby sitting up facing you, and you leaning way back on a pillow or the couch can reduce the force of the milk squirting into his mouth. Gravity will then be working in your favor instead of pouring it down his throat faster. If he seems done after a couple of minutes, then trust him that he's done. Pump if you feel uncomfortably full, but freeze it. Don't give him a bottle unless you have to be somewhere else. A tiny cup is an alternative if the suction is hurting his ears or teeth. One of my kids only nursed 3 minutes at a time, but every 90 minutes. She was healthy and happy...my milk just flowed fast and she didn't like to be held still so long. If he seems miserable and wants to latch back on but pops off crying, check the ears or feel his gums. Don't rush into prevacid without doing some serious research to see if your son really needs this very powerful medicine which essentially stops his stomach's natural digestive process. Some kids need it, but far too many parents don't understand how the medicine works and trust that it must be no big deal if the doctor will prescribe it so quickly. You need to make your own informed decision.

S.
SAHM of 3

If you are combining breast and bottle, he may simply prefer the bottle, because it is easier to get milk. If you give him the bottle once he starts crying, you are teaching him that he gets the "easy bottle" if he simply refuses your breast. It is a pretty common issue in combination feeding.
You can do two things: if you are not doing so already, use the lowest flow nipple available on the bottle and if you are committed to breastfeeding, do not offer the bottle if you don't heave to (for example if you're working).
It may take a few days, but he will go back to the breast.
Call a lactation consultant for help and support while you go through this.
Good luck!

I had this problem with my daughter. It was reflux (but I didn't know it at the time). The way acid reflux works is that the valve at the bottom of their esophagus, where it empties into the tummy, won't stay shut.The stomach acids wash up into the esophagus, causing pain.

One way to remedy this (or at least help) is to feed your baby with him sitting up. It is tough, but you can do it. Sit him facing you, with him straddling your thigh. You'll have to support his head. I did this for my kids, and even the one who didn't have reflux, but my let-down was so strong and it helped him not choke on all the milk pouring into his mouth! LOL

Give it a try. You can always do meds. But why not try this first and see if your baby does better without the meds?

It could also be hyperlactation--you could have too much coming out at once, instead of too little. I dealt with this at about this age--which was a couple of years ago, so I'm trying to remember how we dealt. Once you really "let down," your baby starts to choke because the flow is too fast. I think I just kept a burpcloth under my breast to deal with overflow, and had DD bob on and off my breast for a couple of minutes until I slowed down (this was only a prob for maybe 3-7 minutes into feeding, then I'd slow down)--so she learned to take a sip, then come off to swallow, then go back for more. A lactation consultant or your pedi could offer more advice. In any case, if this is it, it's good to know it only lasted a week or so on each occasion (it did happen a few times during my 10 mos of bfing), and we could learn how to deal with it. GL!

Hi L.,

A few years ago we had some friends experience this with their little one. After months of testing and changing her diet they finally discovered that the problem was that he like to see what was around him and didn't like to be restricted to the view he had while nursing. It was the strangest thing! I just wanted to share, because they spent many months and lots of money trying to figure out what was wrong just to find out he was just being a stubborn.

He might have an earache or maybe even a sore throat. I would take him in to the Doctor's just to make sure he is feeling well. The pressure from sucking would hurt him if his ear was bothering him- he might not have any other symptoms- it just sounds as if he is in pain.
good luck!
~C.

Is he teething? He may not like the feeling of suction on his tender gums. My son sometimes has a problem when my breast is full and it squirts the back of his thoart. He doesn't like that at all.

Yikes, thats rough!
First I would get in touch w/ La Leche League. They're trained at helping mommas w/ these sort of problems.
It could be as simple as he's just going through one of those anti boob phases and maybe it will go away quickly, but just in case I'd bring in the big guns and get in touch w/ the helpful ladies of La Leche.
Good luck and way to go with breastfeeding!!! :)

He might have an ear infection. I would call the doctor.

It is possible he might have thrush, very common in nursing newborns.

Oh you poor thing! My daughter did the SAME thing at 3 months. It was so upsetting and frustrating that I almost stopped nursing bcause pumping was such a pain. There ended up being several factors that others have addressed already. She had severe reflux (required meds and surgery later down the road), she was aspiratig on my right side because my let down was too fast on that side (resulting in her refusing to nurse on that side for an entire month) and laying flat really aggervated her reflux causing pain and lots of screming. The suggesstions below sound perfect about feeding her upright as much as possible. I also pumped for 3 min(i only had to do ths for a couple of weeks) before latching her on to help slow down the flow of milk. HANG IN THERE. They will go through phases like this when they grow, teeth, are overly tired and I will encourage you to just stick with it!!!!

When we had the same problem, at the same age, my pediatrician said it was probably reflux. He wrote a prescription but said to give it 4=6 days before I started the meds because sometimes it would just clear up. Sure enough, it did! He still has had reflux problems on and off and in kinder we even had an upper GI study because for a couple of weeks he frequently complained of feeling like he might throw up. ut that resolved itself too! Just seems to be an on and off prob,em for him.

I would suspect teething at the #1. Ear infection as the #2. If these are not the culprits, then try some breastmilk in a bottle and see if that helps.

My thought too was that your supply might have gone down a bit and he might be getting frustrated that it's not coming out fast enough for him after the first few minutes or something. I know that happened several times with my son. Since you know you don't want your supply to go down, I would take fenugreek. It works well within a few days, and that might resolve it. Teething or an ear infection could be the problem too, I guess, so watch for those as well. But I would try the fenugreek for sure because if your supply wasn't going down, it may be now that he is nursing less. Good luck with this!

Does he do it on both sides or only one? If it's only one side, he may have something that is hurting his mouth such as teething or ear infection. Check the inside of his cheeks for white spots as well because thrush can be painful for him to eat and you may just not have it yet. If none of the advice you have received so far does not help, definitly call a local representative from the Le Leche League; if you see spots in his mouth, call your Pediatrician. I do hope you figure it out soon as I know it can be frustrating! Good luck!