6 week old getting distressed during feeding

[parky]

Am desperately hoping for some advice as am at the end of my tether with feeding. This is my second baby and breast feeding was a nightmare with my son so I'm desperate to succeed with my daughter. When she was born she latched on well and seemed to beta great feeder. Because she had low blood sugar when she was born as she was only 5lb6oz the hospital made me top her up with formula which I requested to be cup fed to her but eventually they had to use a bottle as they needed to give her more- we ended up having to top her up after every feed but as soon as we were home and with the help of a breast feeding advisor the midwives referred me to, we managed to get rid of all top ups except one at bedtime which we were happy to keep. In the weeks that followed my dd gained an oz a day on average and except for marathon feeds we didn't have any major problems. About 2 weeks ago the marathon feeds got out of hand and would last nearly 2 hrs at a time which was impossible to manage with an older child so I was advised by a health visitor to introduce a dummy as it seemed she was just comfort sucking.

For the last 6 days feeding has turned into a nightmare - she will latch in alright and suck for between 2 and 10 minutes without a problem but then starts unlatching, screaming, writhing around, grabbing at my breasts and pushing with her legs - she becomes so distressed it is really getting at me. I went to breast feeding clinic on Friday and the lady there said it could be wind or that my anxiety is affecting feeding ( which I'm not sure is true as when this started I was at my least anxious and was actually starting to enjoy feeding). I got some infra cool and have been working hard to wind her more but it seems to be getting worse and I am at breaking point

What could it be? I am worried it could be my supply, slow let down etc but am totally lost as to what to do. Today we stayed in bed and had skin to skin etc but it made zero difference

Can anyone offer some advise,please?

 

[sixzigma]

How many times does she poop in a day ? that might really give you an indication if she is getting sufficient milk .MY LO did behave similarly in first month -turned out to be colic, was prescribed a med-drops containing fennel seed oil to be given 15 minutes before each feed and it did help a lot .
Try cycling her legs (bring them to her tummy ) -it releases a great amount of trapped wind .

 

[lozzy21]

I think you have had bad advice from your HV. All that comfort sucking she was doing would be telling your boobs to make more milk ready for her next growth spurt. She's now at the growth spurt and is getting frustrated because its not there.

Ditch the dimmy and in a few days your supply should be where she wants it.

 

[NoodleSnack]

Does she do this at every feed or towards the end of the day? If it's all the time, it's probably wind. If it's towards the end of the day, I think it's probably related to supply and letting her feed more, keep changing breasts, for a few days could help. It won't be immediate, so don't be disheartened if the skin to skin hasn't brought result yet.

 

[justkitty]

Go see a cranial osteopath!

 

[noon_child]

I think you have had bad advice from your HV. All that comfort sucking she was doing would be telling your boobs to make more milk ready for her next growth spurt. She's now at the growth spurt and is getting frustrated because its not there.

Ditch the dimmy and in a few days your supply should be where she wants it.

I was going to say the same. Two weeks ago you were on a slightly late 3week growth spurt which your body maybe didn't quite respond to as you introduced a dummy. Now you've entered 6week growth spurt territory so she's wanting EVEN MORE milk.

If you think that she is a lazy sucker and not getting much out of these mammoth feeds you could try breast compressions (good tutorial on Kelly Mom) and these help a frustrated baby to stay interested at the boob.

Have you got a sling you could feed in so you could be a bit more hands free? I can't imagine how hard these early days/weeks would be with an older child to look after.

 

[parky]

Thanks everyone for your advice - we went to weigh in clinic today and dd has put on 7oz in 6 days so the health visitor doesn't think it's an issue with supply- she thinks dd is suffering with silent reflux and we have a gp appointment in the morning . Now I'm thinking of it in that way it all makes sense - screaming after 30 seconds on the breast when I can still hear her gulping, falling asleep then waking 10 mins later in pain etc

Am hoping some medication may help her pain as its unbearable seeing her so distressed

 

[Calif]

Thanks everyone for your advice - we went to weigh in clinic today and dd has put on 7oz in 6 days so the health visitor doesn't think it's an issue with supply- she thinks dd is suffering with silent reflux and we have a gp appointment in the morning . Now I'm thinking of it in that way it all makes sense - screaming after 30 seconds on the breast when I can still hear her gulping, falling asleep then waking 10 mins later in pain etc

Am hoping some medication may help her pain as its unbearable seeing her so distressed

My baby did the same and gained steadily. I found out it was because after 10 min or so he got frustrated because he was already full. He got better and more efficient at sucking.

Is the first 8-10 min drama-free? If so, your baby may be full and is fussing against being overfed.

If the first 8-10 min is also fussy, then it may be gas.

 

[noon_child]

Thanks everyone for your advice - we went to weigh in clinic today and dd has put on 7oz in 6 days so the health visitor doesn't think it's an issue with supply- she thinks dd is suffering with silent reflux and we have a gp appointment in the morning . Now I'm thinking of it in that way it all makes sense - screaming after 30 seconds on the breast when I can still hear her gulping, falling asleep then waking 10 mins later in pain etc

Am hoping some medication may help her pain as its unbearable seeing her so distressed

It could be silent reflux...although my LO did exactly the same at 6weeks and no-one suggested silent reflux. The fussing did pass on its own once the growth spurt was over, but she was a very screamy baby who never napped and I read about silent reflux myself online and forced my doctor to prescribe something just to see if it made a diff. However the meds are dosed according to weight and so with LO's growing so fast she soon wasn't on the correct dose and my doctor would not agree over the phone to allow me to calculate to weight to medication formula myself but also never had any free appointments. So in the end I never found out if it was working or not!