my preemie is almost 4 months old. ive been breastfeeding him and pumping once a day so his father can bottle feed him. but recently (not every feeding) my baby starts sreaming and crying right in the middle of breastfeeding him. i burp him and try to get him to latch on again but he wont. what should i do? hes not getting the full feedings he should get or needs. is he getting my breast mixed up with the bottle??
I took my daughter to see her peditrician for something similar. My daughter would cry and arch her back like she was in pain when she was nursing. The doctor told me she had acid reflux. He prescribed ranitidine to help ease her pain, which we reluctantly tried. It seemed to help, but she grew out of it at three months, and is perfectly fine now. Perhaps ask your peditrician if acid reflux is a possibility.
You might make sure he doesn't have an ear infection. Sometimes if they do when they lay on their side it hurts.
K.
Hi C.. I've seen that happen before with my boys. It may be an ear infection or thrush. I would take him to the Dr. just to get it checked out. Both of those issues can be resolved fairly quickly, and you can both get back to happily breastfeeding. :)
~M.
www.mandyolsen.myarbonne.com
i would hold off on the daddy feeding him thing until he's older. it takes different muscles and sucking technique to drink from the breast than from the bottle. perhaps he is frustrated because you keep going from bottle to breast and he has to re-train himself and is sucking as though from the bottle and nothing is coming out. since he is a premie...i would make things easier for him. let him get used to the breast and when he's a bit "firmer/stronger" then do the bottle/daddy thing.
hi C.!
my name is L.. does he do the same thing when daddy feeds him your breast milk? because if so then i think its what your eating that is giving him colic... do you eat chocolate, because if you do then stop... you can't have any chocolate while breast feeding, it gives them bad colicthats very painfull for them! let me know how it goes.
bye for now
Hi C.. I breastfed my three childern and two out of three of them did the same thing at or around 4 or 5 months old. People that I talked to about that suggested that they might be having some mild form of pain in their gums since the little buds for their baby teeth are starting to form around that time. If that's the problem he may need to learn how to adjust his latch a little so that he's more comfortable. Also, to test the theory, maybe put on a little baby orajel right before nursing or try rubbing a small amount of children's benadryl (the pink/allergy one) on the gums. The most important thing is not to try to force him to latch on during those screaming fits. As hard as it is, sometimes you just have to wait until he calms down and then just try again. He will get the nourishment he needs even if he goes through a couple of hard days. Just faithfully offer him the breast and if he can't eat just then try again in another 15 to 30 minutes or whenever he is calm. You will definately want to protect those feeding times as soothing, relaxing times!! :)
The fact that it doesn't happen every time could be something your eating, or a vitamin your taking.
I took Caprylic acid for a yeast infection, and my daughter wouldn't nurse for about 4 hours after that.
Also the barbacoa meat from Chipotle would cause my baby to scream and not nurse.
Maybe this will help.
Maybe he has a small blister in his mouth that your not seeing and sometimes it hurts him when he feeds?
By any chance do you have a heavy let down? If so, that could be causing him discomfort. I had this and it was explained to me like, imagine lying down and putting a hose in your mouth and turning it on full force.
I love kellymom for these sorts of issues:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/index.html
Good luck!
I had a simular problem and it could be confusion cause my son I noticed once we took out the bottle he was fine. I figured it was the let down it takes a little while with me for my milk to let down, but with the bottle it is instantly there.
It could also be the food you eat. Have you started eating anything different? Some babies get mad when you eat spicy food or such things things like onions or peppers; it can effect the flavor of your milk.
definitely pay attention to what you are eating. main triggers are dairy, gassy food (beans, broccoli), spicy food or chocolate. i wish i had known with my last that he was allergic to dairy, it would have solved all my nursing issues if i had just stopped drinking milk!
My baby acted like it was painful to nurse on one side. I took him to a chiropracter, then he was fine.
Yes, He is getting them mixed up because it is different in how to eat from the breast or the bottle. With the breast, he is not sucking on the nipple it self but the rest of the area around the nipple and with a bottle it is just the nipple. Plus you risk getting sore nipples if you are doing this to much. so as much as you want daddy to help with the feedings, You are frustrating your child and he will just ween himself from the breast before he will quit the bottle. My Daughter learned this the hard way.
