what is wrong??

~Roo'sMama~ wrote: I just can't figure it out. When I'm feeding Andrew, he acts like he has reflux. He starts fussing and crying a couple minutes after he starts eating - arching his back, and stretching his neck out. As soon as I sit him up he's ok again - sometimes he has a big burp and I think that that was the problem but then as soon as I lie him back down to nurse again he gets a pained look on his face and gives a little cry. Then he'll try to nurse a little but only take a few sucks before he pulls himself off and arches his back and stretches out his neck again.
But when he's not eating, he doesn't really show any signs of reflux that I know of. He sleeps fine lying on his back at night, (he sleeps in his swing during the day - he wakes up if I try putting him in the basinette) and he doesn't spit up that much. He spits up more some days than others but he's only had a few projectile spit ups. I read in an article american baby that some babies can have reflux and not spit up a lot though - they just get heartburn and it never comes out.
So anyways, I thought that he just was still having a lot of gas pain but it doesn't make any sense to me that he's fine unless he's eating.

Oh and he does burp a lot too - he burps at least a couple times during a feeding, and sometimes he'll just let out a burp when I'm holding him or carrying him around. And he also passes a lot of gas but he doesn't get fussy from that anymore. It's only when he's trying to eat. I'm just getting a little worried because it seems like he doesn't get much to eat when this happens and it's happening more and more, plus it's frustrating.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: Matt had silent reflux (no spitting up) that turned into major projectile reflux at about 5 months. they had us give him mylanta in the dosage of infants tylenol to see if it calmed him down and it worked instantly every time. As our ped said there is no harm in trying it to see if it helps, the worst thing that can happen is nothing.

GL

coasterqueen replied: It could be a number of things, not just reflux. Is he doing this all the time or just certain times of the day? See if this link helps with your specifics and if not let me know and I'll ponder it some more .

Fussy Baby While Nursing

BTW, what you described is common. Both my girls have done it and Megan does it quite a bit now. She's becoming very distractible and it can be rather annoying. She'll fuss, nurse, pop off, fuss, nurse, pop off, etc, etc, and sometimes she's pulling my nipple along with the direction of her head . If I sit her up she's just grand, but then gets fussy like she's hungry.

You are not alone I'm just giving you the link because it's more detailed and there are numerous things this could be.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Thanks for the replys! Silent reflux is what I was talking about but I don't know if that could be it.

Karen the link you gave me had some good answers... he could just be distrated I guess but from the stretching his neck out and shaking his head back and forth it seems to me like something is wrong when he pulls off but I don't know. This sounds like a possiblility though:

I have eaten pizza again a couple of times this week, so maybe he can taste it in my milk? He had terrible gas before when I was eating frozen pizza every day.
If you get any more ideas please let me know! This is so frustrating.

NummyMommy replied: My first thought was.....maybe a dairy reaction.....my #2DD was allergic to dairy in my diet so I had to cut out all dairy from my diet for a few months (this is the best solution as switching to formula usually causes more problems) DD acted that way and the doctor (not our regular Ped ) called it reflux but I read up on it and it turned out to be dairy issues. The one sure sign for us was greenish foamy poop (icky TMI I'm sorry) which BTW can also be caused by an overactive letdown. When I cut out the dairy it was like I had a new child. But thats our story....I can imagine any tummy pain would cause the arching you describe and have a variety of causes....have you thought about only nursing upright for awhile?

Jenny_B replied: Could you have a really strong letdown, and he's getting overwhelmed by the flow of milk initially? Here's some information on forceful letdown: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html



HTHs...

Jenny

MommyToAshley replied: I was going to ask if you had a forceful letdown as well? I did the first few months I nursed Ashley. I actually pumped a little before I would nurse her and it seemed to work better. Ashley was also very gassy. I think it may have had to do with my forceful letdown as well.

Another thought, and I don't know about this, and maybe some of the BF experts here can answer my question... but, would a bad latch allow him to get more air? He sounds kind of like my sister's kids did when they got a lot of air from being bottle fed.

Hope you figure it out... have you asked a LC to help? A LC might be able to watch you nurse and realize what the problem is.

Tamatha replied: Hmmm... thanks for the letdown info... I KNOW I have a forceful letdown... wonder if that's causing problems...

ammommy replied: It could also be that he just doesn't like the position. Try propping him up, even a tiny bit, and see if that helps. Megan was like that. If we were off by an inch, she would protest

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Well I do have forcefull letdown but it's getting a lot better, and I usually pump if when I'm really full and know that the letdown will be too much. I would write it off as that if he wasn't doing this the whole time - even after he's half emptied my breast and the milk is coming down a lot slower.

I've also wondered if maybe having a bad latch could be why he's getting so much air. I have tried and tried and tried and I just can't seem to get him on there just perfectly except for once in a while. I know how it's supposed to be, I just can't seem to acheive it. Most of the time he won't open his mouth wide enough, no matter how hard I try to get him to or how long I wait. I'm kind of hoping that his mouth will get bigger and it will be easier... allthough I've seen him with his mouth wide open for either a yawn or smile and it looks big enough to me!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I'll try this too that might help. You mean propping up his head right? I'm still trying to work out positions and stuff. I can't use the boppy - it keeps sliding away from me and I end up getting frustrated and throwing it on the floor. A regular pillow helps sometimes but usually I just use nothing but that isn't exactly comfortable either.

ammommy replied: Yes, I meant propping up his head. Also make sure his body is fairly straight up and down so that he isn't leaning either backwards or forwards. I couldn't use the Boppy, either and found that a regular pillow helped (mostly for support for my arm).

coasterqueen replied: You say your letdown is slowing down. THat might make him a bit fussy til he gets used to it because he was used to that faster flow. It could also be what you are eating. AND the good old "sometimes you just might never know, just try to ride the storm out and pray you two make it out of it alive" advice is what I tell myself sometimes, lol. I know, not science but sometimes you just never figure it out and it goes away, but sometimes it takes your sanity with you. Hang in there!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Lol great. Well I hope it doesn't take to long for the storm to blow over - I can just see me nine months from now, still having no clue what I'm doing and still with cracked and sore nipples because Andrew STILL doesn't have a good latch.

coasterqueen replied: Well you could call your local LC and see if you can make a visit. I know ours here at the hospital has a local BF meeting once a week so you can go there to get help and it's free. Or if you have insurance it should cover for you to see one. It might not hurt to go ahead and do that so they can see first hand what's going on .

NummyMommy replied:
Its hard to help sometimes if you can't see whats going on....you mentioned cracked nipples...do you use a lanolin cream on them? Lansinoh I think its called.....helps with that anyways....also a trick I used when my DD had sinus issues and couldn't be nursed laying down....I laid down on my side and brought my knees up as far as I could then propped her up against my knees and using the top hand to hold my breast (thumb on top and fingers on bottom) and my other hand to support her (under her arm) We were like a lil coccoon but it worked pretty well....sometimes I just laid down and stood her up against my side too...as long as she was completely upright she could nurse. Hope it works out for you...hang in there...eventually they just crawl over and shove it in

Tamatha replied:
Try one of these... I have one, and it is GREAT! My Brest Friend

It won't slip away, because it straps around you.

coasterqueen replied: I have that kind of pillow too and it's awesome!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I do use Lansinoh lanolin and it helps some but not enough to make the cracks go away. It's actually getting better now though, I've been really working on making sure he's in the right position - I think I was holding him up too high. Well not up but to my side too far. And I think one of the reasons he was fussing so much was because he was done and I wanted him to keep going. Allthough the night I posted I think it was something more because he was trying to nurse and acting hungry when I stopped so I still don't know what was going on. But I've tried a few suggestions from you ladies and they are helping so thanks!
Tamatha that pillow looks awesome I'll look for one and see how much they are.

Tamatha replied:
Sara,

I got mine at Baby Depot (inside Burlington Coat Factory) before I stopped shopping there--long story, but Baby Depot doesn't get my business anymore. I think they are around $35 or so, but they are DEFINITELY worth the money! Glad to hear things are going better!

Nathansmom replied: Some great suggestions here! I have to have the most distractible nurser out there, Nathan will nurse for a minute or so, pull off and play, nurse for a couple of minutes, it is frustrating to say the least. Some days he's just too busy to nurse during the day, and he makes up for it at night.
The days it's bad we try to nurse laying side by side, it helps a bit...