Newborn feeding help

[Teri7489]

This is my third (with a 4 year gap) but I'm clueless

My dd is now 17 days old and generally goes 3-4 hours between feeds which I know is great, but the annoying bit is, she is taking over and hour to feed and wind each time. I've tried infacol for the last few nights which seems to be helping for the first bit of winding but when she gets sleepy and won't wake at the end of her bottle so I can't get the wind out. If I lie her down she then wakes up a short while later, throws up gets hiccups and wants fed an hour later. The last two nights at 7 she has taken two hours to settle which has meant my other two have been kept up really late then woken at 6 am (early for them)

Help please? What else can I try?

 

[Babybump87]

I’m with you ! DS is nearly 5 weeks old and struggles to get his wind up too , he does burp but still has wind he can’t get up. He does finish his bottles within 15 mins or so . We are using Infacol .

Which bottles are you using ? Has she been checked for tongue tie at all ? .

x

 

[SummerMother]

Are you using slow flow nipples on the bottles?

I wonder about lip ties as well?

Another thing would be to feed 1/4-1/2 the bottle, stop to burp thoroughly and repeat. Although re reading your post it sounds like you may be doing this already.

You could try a bouncy type chair or the car seat for after feeding. The air may come out easier in an upright position (the burp air as the the toot air usually comes out better with kicking and laying).

 

[Teri7489]

I've got size one teats as vari flow made her throw up instantly. I try to burp her half way through, just before she's finished then at the end but it's taking so long! Last night she woken at 00:45 and it was 2:15am before I got her back down. That was after a 4oz bottle, lots of winding, then screaming for more milk and more winding. Granted she wasn't back up til 5:30 but still lol I need some sleep!

How would I know if she has a tongue or lip tie?

 

[_Meep_]

Tongue tie: clicking noises during feeds, leaking milk out of the sides of her mouth, coughing/choking on milk a lot - though these things can also be normal, so the best thing to do is to look in her mouth.

If there is an anterior tie present, you may be able to see a piece of skin underneath fusing her tongue down. If she pokes her tongue out, it may look 'forked' at the end, or shaped like the top of a heart.

If you're dealing with a posterior tongue tie, you won't be able to see anything under the tongue, but her tongue will probably 'cup' (look like a spoon) when she cries, instead of lifting up. If you run your finger round her lower gums, instead of following smoothly, her tongue may twist sideways. She will more than likely have a high palate with a deep groove or bubble shape in it.

To check for a lip tie, lift her top lip up and check where the piece of skin underneath attaches to her gums. There is a little blob of tissue at the midline on the bottom edge of the gums. If the frenum attaches here or wraps all the way round and attaches underneath, chances are that's a lip tie. Restriction varies though, so the best way to tell is to check for blanching. If the frenum goes white when you lift it, then it's too tight.

If you see a lip tie, it's almost 100% certain she has an associated tongue tie too.

Sadly the NHS is not familiar with anything but classic anterior ties, so should you find anything, feel it needs treatment and are in any doubt about what type it is, I would strongly advise contacting a lactation consultant or tongue tie practitioner who has experience with all types of tie.

Hth!

- From a mum of two posteriorly-tied babies who learnt what to look for the hard way: N, Queen of Nursing Strikes, treated at 4.5 months but went on to nurse for 4 years, and S, The Dream Feeder, treated at 6 weeks and still nursing aged 2.