I'm having trouble feeding my newborn. :(

[slaferriere@berklee.net]

Lacie is 2.5 weeks now, lets just say our breastfeeding relationship has not been an easy road thus far. She got nipple confusion our first day home after receiving a pacifier in the hospital. We went to a lactation consultant and things got back on track, thank God. Well now, she is freaking out every time I feed her. I can't explain it but everytime she feeds she cries. And that is the only time she gets fussy. She trows her hands in front of her face and kicks her feet. I don't think that it is gas because if it was something like that she'd cry more often then when she's at the breast. I thought maybe it has something to do with my milk flow. I just don't know what it is. I guess I'm not really looking for an answer to my problem here. Maybe just some confirmation that things will get better and I'm not alone. I'm not willing to give up so easy it is just very frustrating because I know she wants to eat but she can't settle herself down and I hate that I can't help her. I'm also not willing to pump and give her a bottle (for as long as possible) because of the nipple confusion situation. Has anyone else had a rocky start to breastfeeding and will it get better?????

[kissum]

Things will get better, and you are not alone. The first few weeks are the worst, it does get better!

[Mommy2LivandNoah]

mama...I'm sorry..Its hard to get everything situated in the beginning, but it really really does get easier. I had all kinds of issues for like the first 2 months, and now I'm going on 11, and its soo easy.

My first thoughts were does she have thrush(which patchy spots on her mouth/tongue that doesn't wipe off like milk would)? It is a positional thing? Like does she only get fussy when you go to nurse her, or when she's laid down..like maybe an ear infection. Or perhaps she just doesn't like the position you are in, or the smell of something you are wearing. My son didn't like the smell of soap(unfortunately) so I basically just had to wash them with water all the time cause if he smelled any kind of soap on them he wouldn't nurse..Deoderant will do the same thing..

If you have an overactive letdown, you could try letting it flow out into a cloth till it calms down, or if she's just being impatiant till you get a letdown, try pumping/hand expressing till you letdown and then feed her.

Try expirimenting and see what works..

[emeraldrain]

We had a similar thing go on at about 2-3 weeks too... My flow came on strong then. I tried nursing my boy "up hill" by leaning back and it helped him control the flow better and he wasn't choking on a crazy let down.

It gets better Just keep trying

[Jaci]

It will get better! We are going on 3 months, and one thing I noticed is that Connor behaves like that when he is going through a growth spurt, I bet your little girl is now (the 2 week one was the WORST. Has she hit 10lbs yet?). One thing I do is I football hold (every time we nurse, just because I'm very large on top) and if he gets really squirmy I'll take him off and burp him. If that doesn't help, I'll swaddle him and feed him, just so that his squirming isn't so bad. It isn't ideal (I love skin to skin just as much as he does) but for the few days/weeks that it happens, at least he is eating and not yanking his head back with my nipple in his mouth (OUCH!).

It did get a lot better once the growth spurts (2 weeks, 6 weeks) were over (we survived out 3 mo one with only minimal squirming!) and once Connor hit 10lbs there was a very noticeable difference.

Good luck!

[ocean_o_curls]

it will get better! the first few weeks it was hell bfing i was so close to giving up im so glad i didnt and now we have no problems.

[mhaddon]

It's a good thing I'm stuborn or I would have given up w/ DS2. I had a horrible start, but we are at a year now My advice would be to check for thrush. Do you have a very active letdown? What I mean is a lot of milk coming out at once. If you do you can try expressing some milk first by hand or w/ a breast pump so you can put it back for later and then try nursing w/ your LO in an upright position. If your unsure when nursing they will gulp a lot and sound like they are misserable.
It also does sound like how my DS's (both) acted when they had gas. It doesn't seem the same in infants as it does adults. I would buy some Mylicon and give it her at the recomended time spaces and see if that does the trick. Their digestive system is still developing remember, so those gas drops help them out a lot. Also, try different positions. Are you trying to keep a schedual? If so I would go on demand and try to offer the breast before she starts to act hungry. If she gets too hungry she may be upset. You should be feeding her before she starts crying If you see her start smacking her lips or just sucking her fist or anything of the sort go ahead and start feeding her. I remember DH's family all FF and they thought DS would have to be fussing or crying before I feed him it made things very difficult. Whe he started nuzzling and smacking I'd literaly have to pry him from the person hold him.

GL and please ask more q's if you have them and let us know if you get things worked out

[Sarah's Supermilk]

(((hugs)))It will improve! Lots of good advice from pp, it's been a while since I've done the newborn thing, but I remember Matt not liking certain positions well. I could barely hold onto him sometimes! I had to lay down with him tilted up in the crook of my arm and a pillow stuffed behind him so he couldn't squirm away. Ack, it can be rough, but it's so worth the struggle to get to the good stuff!

[Kanga]

I remember DH's family all FF and they thought DS would have to be fussing or crying before I feed him it made things very difficult. Whe he started nuzzling and smacking I'd literaly have to pry him from the person hold him.

Do we have the same family? No matter how many times I explained it, they still didn't get it. To top things off, everytime she was crying, the automatically assumed she was hungry. I'd say no, she just ate not that long ago, she should be fine for another hour or so. Then they'd pretend to be her talking and say "But I don't eat on a schedule, Mom. I'm just hungry when I'm hungry, I don't care what the clock says." Cute. Not. She does eat on a schedule, her own schedule and yes I can just about always tell when she is hungry vs. upset. Whew that felt good! Back on track now ...

My ydd did that at around the same age. I never really did find out why but it passed quickly. My best guess is that I waited too long to feed her and she got so hungry she was beside herself. Common sense would be to hurry up and start eating, but I doubt most babies get things like that yet. Secondly, is she stuffy at all? I know my kids always got irritate with the boob when they had stuffy noses. The didn't correlate that it was their nose making them stuffy and thought it was the boob.

[slaferriere@berklee.net]

Thanks everyone. I checked her mouth for thrush and it looks clear (my best friend said the same thing because her daughter had thrush and got fussy during feedings because of it.) I just fed her and she did well, she does better when she's half asleep. It is frustrating because one moment she will be fine the next she will freak out. I think I may have to try to lean back while I feed, try a new position because I think that the milk flow is sometimes too fast for her. Well it is good to know I'm not the only one and that things will get better. There's just so much going on right now it is just nice to have emotional support.