Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

I've had this and reckon it is gas.
I feed on a MyBrestFriend cushion so he lies fairly flat on his side. That position seems to make the wind more painful and harder to pass. If I stopped trying to feed and held him upright maybe as much as 10min later the burp would come then he'd feed fine. Usually a burp came much more quickly but there were definitely times when I kept trying to feed and as soon as I lowered him into position he'd cry so I'd hold him upright and the crying would stop but no burp. After a few repeats of this the burp would come and the feed would progress.
On occasion the same symptoms were caused by a poo coming and alleviated as soon as it was out. At that age it seemed to me that every grizzle or cry was due to tummy pain and being held upright lessened the pain and helped the burp out. Poos came out in their own good time - although often while feeding so it wouldn't surprise me if the act of feeding had some effect on the gut itself.

I thought a lot about people complaining that their baby just wants to be held all the time. I reckon it's their guts being painful and the poor little things are basically paralysed so can't do anything about it themselves. I don't think you're doing anything wrong but if she's hurting, and holding her upright helps, then just be led by her and hold her. Some people get a sling so they can get on with stuff with an upright but hands-free baby :)

I use the MyBrestFriend too--and it's just as you say. It's fine when I hold her up to burp her, but lay her down and she cries. I do have a sling and was able to nurse her from it once. I'll keep trying to keep her upright when she acts like this. Thank you! This has been an enormous help.

That sounds just like my little guy at that age. He particularly was fussy on my left side. Sometimes, he is just really tired and needs to be fussy, munch and then ha falls right asleep!

It is very frustrating sometimes! The thing that used to calm him down right away doesn't work!

This sounds like reflux to me. Look up the symptoms at infantreflux.org. Especially if she's fussy lying down and not so much if she's upright. To make the long story short try keeping her upright as much as possible - during nursing let her sit in your lap and nurse, during sleep elevate the side of the crib where head is. See if this all helps. If not she will become very very fussy and start refusing food - this is when you need to take her to the doc for a reflux medication. But many babies don't need meds they just need more upright time.

I have bf three ids for a total of over 8 years, and counting. I think it is one of two things: either too much let down, or not enough let-down. If you have ample milk supply, and put baby to the breast, the milk may start gushing too fast for her to drink it. To avoid "drowning", she pulls of the breast, but therefore, sh is still hungry, and just does not want it come so fast. Alternatively, it may take a little bit of time for your milk to get going,which can also make her anxious and pull away, because she wants her meal now!

In either case, there are very specific measures that you can take to address the problem. Please let me know which you think i may be. For example, if you bf and the other breast leaks, then you have a lot of milk. If you need to change your breast pads often because of leakage, same thing. Please let me know which it is, and I can find the proper link to help you out.

Because of the problems you seem to be having, I would hold off on any bottle now. The last thing you need is additional problems because of it, such as nipple confusion. Also, at 6 weeks she is exactly on her growth spurt. SO, right this moment, count on her asking to be bf more often than at any other time, because she needs to build up your milk supply. Be sure to try to bf as often as she needs...that is why it is called bf on demand. If not, you risk supply issues as well.

Look forward toyour reply!

I don't think the problem is related to my milk supply. I thought that at first too because I do have a strong let-down and a lot of milk. I have seen my daughter get overhwelmed and pull away, but I can staunch the flow and put her back. This is different, and it doesn't happen every day, whereas my milk supply and let-down are more or less consistent.

My son had reflux (sorry to repeat the post but just wanted to give you additional info) and it was very off and on. One day fine, next day trouble, a few days fine, more trouble. The frequency increased with time and the severity got worse. I suggest looking into this and just talking to her doc and doing all the upright positioning to see if it will help.

it cold be a bit of reflux. Indeed, if it is, and you have fast let down, the fast let-down can definitely exacerbate this condition.

To see if forceful let-down is the problem:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/...

A general link on fussiness during bf:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concern...

In geeral, I am leery of the diagnosis of reflux, because they kept trying to find the cause for my baby needing 4 mths of oxygen after his birth. One such suspected culprit was, allegedly, reflux. SO, they started giving him lots of meds,like ranitidine (zantac) and dom peridone. The dom peridone, in particular, was giving him severe abdominal cramping and pain, and was terrible.

I realised pretty fast that it was the new, fashionable catch-all for what to diagnose when the doctors did not know what else could be the problem. Well, the meds sure as heck did not help, and if anything, made things worse. So, I had them stop it.

Here is a link on reflux:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcer...

colic:
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?optio...:colic-in-the-breastfed-baby&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

I also have some excellent articles that I can e-mail to you from Dr Jack Newman, if you send me a pm with an e-mail where I can send the stuff to.

Let me know if any of this stuff helps! Good luck!

I went ahead and took my daughter to the doctor because I was also worried that she was constipated and maybe that had something to do with her dussiness. She's not constipated, but the doctor couldn't determine what was wrong. Her weight is great and she doesn't seem to have any signs of reflux. Right now I'm giving her Mylicon 4x a day, and we'll see if that helps. So far it seems to have helped. She was only fussy at one feeding today, and then only after she'd nursed on one side.