Not Sure What to Do...

[cobbermama]

DD has a great latch and is gaining plenty of weight, but has recently started a weird "thing." I'm not sure what is causing it or why it's happening because up until the last couple of days, we haven't had any problems nursing...

She'll latch on immediately, nurse for a couple minutes, then suddenly throw herself off and bob her head wildly like a chicken, then FREAK out screaming. I'll get her latched on again and the cycle repeats. I know she is getting milk because I can see it at the corners of her mouth...any ideas what might be creating this problem?? It is so frustrating, both for me and for her (in fact tonight we got so frustrated that I did the unthinkable and **gasp** made her a bottle of formula!). I contacted a lactation consultant and all she could figure was that my milk flow was possibly too fast, but I followed her suggestions for remedying that and it hasn't seemed to work.

Has anyone else experienced this before? Or, have other thoughts as to what we might need to do to help my LO?

[VeganCupcake]

Yeah, it does sound like it could be oversupply or overactive letdown. Are you block feeding? How long are the blocks? Have you tried spraying your letdown into a prefold or a towel so she doesn't get overwhelmed with milk?

[joyous]

How old is your LO? my DD did the exact same thing for a couple weeks when she was still really young-- from about 3weeks-5/6 weeks. It didn't happen every feeding, but usually in the evenings.

I figured out there were different reasons she was doing it. Sometimes the milk flow was too fast for her, like the LC told you. I
would usually try to manually express some milk to try and slow it down a bit. Other times, I realized she just wanted to suck and didn't necessarily want milk. We didn't do pacifiers at that time, so I would give her my pinky.

Also, maybe try walking around while nursing. Or nursing in a sling. That always seemed to help DD. Or maybe swaddle her before you nurse.

Good luck!

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[mibarra]

How old is she? My DD does then when teething...

[azsuma1]

G does that sometimes when hes sleepy and just wants to suck. He wont take a substitute (pacifier, finger, etc) when he knows im home, so we just rock and try to ride it out.
When he was younger (about 12wks), he would sometimes get frustrated that he wasnt getting as much milk as quickly as he wanted. but that seemed to work itself out.

i wish i could be more help.

[Joyful Tie Dyes]

I know my friends baby acted JUST like that when she didn't like the forceful letdown. Maybe pump a little first before feedings?

[Greenebean214]

Originally Posted by VeganCupcake Yeah, it does sound like it could be oversupply or overactive letdown. Are you block feeding? How long are the blocks? Have you tried spraying your letdown into a prefold or a towel so she doesn't get overwhelmed with milk?

Ditto. I had to do both and it is not an immediate fix, so don't expect it to get better overnight. My DD had to grow in order to handle the fast flow, now she gulps like a grown man.

[myclanof6]

All of this sounds like good advice. I wouldn't pump much though, just enough to get the letdown going and spray into a towel or something. Also, has anything in your diet changed? DD had a little milk allergy that didn't start until she was about 8 weeks old. I had to cut all dairy out (including chocolate ) and slowly add it back in. She doesn't react anymore to it, but I was also downing about a quart of milk a day at the point for some reason. Hope you get everything figured out mama!

[cobbermama]

Thanks mamas. We'll definitely try those things. Are there things I can do to encourage her to eat in the meantime? I'm concerned about her not getting adequate meals because she sometimes gets so frustrated that she refuses to continue to nurse. (She is just shy of 3 weeks old.)

[myclanof6]

Is there a La Leche group nearby? There is one here and the leaders and moms are great and can help you out tremendously! I think if you go to the LLL website there is a place to see if there is a group nearby. Don't forget, if you try everything you can and you still don't succeed, formula is not evil. Good luck mama!
Yes, I am an advocate of breastfeeding, and have successfully breastfed and formula fed my kiddos.