Breastfeeding Troubles

A.,
I breastfed both of my sons for approx. 14 months each. I had a very hard time the first three months or so with sore nipples, poor latch, overactive letdown etc. My suggestions are to try different positions with her. Maybe try the football hold using just a regular bed pillow underneath her. I always used just a regular pillow and typically used the cradle position. I would say that when she is slurping and making noise break the suction with your finger and try to latch her on again. With my overactive letdown, I had to let them nurse until I felt the letdown and then I had to pull them off for a few seconds and spray my milk into a burp cloth and then put them back on when it was coming out slower. I had to figure this out on my own. Tne nurse practioners at my peds office had never heard of overactive letdown...so of course I researched it online. My boys would choke and swallow too much milk at once because my milk was coming out so fast. Plus, of course they were swallowing lots of air and miserable with gas. After about three months it was better. I did not have to pull them off once it worked itself out. This may sound like weird advice, but when I was pregnant, someone told me to drink a beer to get my milk to come in sooner, and it really did work. The night I came home from the hospital(which was about 24hours after delivery)I had one beer and my milk came in about one hour later. I would have the occasional beer throughout breastfeeding and it really does help with milk supply. I checked with my pediatrician of course and he said it was fine. My mom breastfed my brother back in the 80's and she said she had a glass of wine every night. He is now 25 and a lawyer...so I don't think it affected him in any negative way. Everyone is different when it comes to this subject...Some people pump if they drink even the smallest amount and then throw it out. I never exceeded a beer (or 2 sometimes). It probably does make them a little sleepy..so for me, that was not a bad thing either. Anyways good luck and I hope it gets better for you. Just one last thing, make sure you are relaxed and comfortable when you are nursing...don't worry about cleaning etc. just enjoy your experience with your little angel...the dishes can wait! When people ask if they can help, say yes please do my dishes and laundry(HAHA)!!!

a lot of times baby girls (and some boys) short-latch. this is from tongue sucking or thumb sucking in utero...you'll need to re-train her—easy to do. when she's not nursing or hungry but awake let her suck your pinkie nail side down as not to scratch the roof of her mouth. then when she's been sucking well turn your finger pad side down and draw it down & out pushing on the back of the tongue...you'll see how strong it is!! after a few times of pushing her tongue down she'll loosen up on that tongue bunching and relax and nurse right : )
another indication of tongue bunching/short latching is if your nipples look like the "nuk" brand pacifier after a feeding...
my second also a girl also did this and after retraining the tongue as the lc told me to do whe was a perfect nurser!! up until she weaned herself at about 20 months : (
best wishes...and feel free to ask for any help...i've been thru lots of nursing fun & spent countless hours with a wonderful lc—which is now my passion & hopefully will turn into a career after all my babies are grown!!

I guess I don't have much to advice to add, but want to thank you for posting it and for all the responses! My daughter does the same thing, she is 4 months now, and although she is doing much better, she still has troubles. I will try the re-latching idea.
I also wanted to add to you and the other former teacher that I am also staying home now! Its been 1 week and so for so good! Although I have a slight urge to do a bulletin board!
Have a good week!
L.

That sounds like overactive letdown. There is really nothing you can do about it except maybe pump a bit (until you feel letdown) and then put baby on the breast...or carry a cloth diaper with you and when baby nurses, when she pulls off at letdown, you spray into the cloth diaper (or towel...whatever you want to use). Then put baby back on.

OALD has the symptoms you are talking about. As baby gets older, they become more skilled at controlling the flow and bigger to be able to handle the fast flowing milk more easily.

My son just turned 9 weeks old (I have a 6 year old and a 20 month old) and he still refuses to nurse on the right side (OALD)...like my other 2. I'm sure once he hits around 4 months of age, he'll be more willing.

Just hang in there!

Oh, and be sure to check out www.lalecheleague.org. Great, great message board.

It does sound like overactive letdown...I had trouble with it too. I started nursing on only one side which helped my production a little and as he got older he got better at handling it. When she comes off, soak some of the milk spraying off up and you just have to be patient that there is going to be a lot of on and off (and because of it, gas). Also try some of the suggestions here http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

I thought I was reading about myself when I saw your post. So many correlations it is crazy. Except I nursed girls to begin with and now have a boy. I use to live in Elgin. I use to teach school and now stay home with my kids.

Anyway, I have exactly the same issue with my son. And I do mean the same. You describe him to a T. He pulls, growls and tugs so much at times that I knick-named him Little Bear. He will nurse calmly for 10 to 15 minutes from time to time, but most of the time it is like trying to nurse a bucking bronco or something.

He has gas so bad that he belches like a man and constantly blows farts so loud that people hear him standing several feet away. His gas is so bad lately that he is not sleeping at night. He's been up every two hours as if he just got home from the hospital. He slept for six to eight hours for about two weeks and I was in heaven, but alas we are back to the old routine.

I spend so much time in the glider in his room that I fall asleep in it almost every time I sit in it.

I feel for you....OH do I feel for you!

I tried eliminating everything from my diet but for only about a week. The bread and water diet was killing me. I think eggs bother him, but then again so do onions, bell peppers, salad, beans of any kind, bananas, dairy products, spices, chocolate, grapes, .......so basically everything I eat.

I can't even begin to figure out how to determine what is giving him so much gas. La Leche League says on their site that food does not affect the breast milk...I just don't know.

How does a nursing mother eat a healthy diet and not eat things that cause gas? How do I get my little man to calm down and nurse without swalling so much air? How do I get him to sit calmly without screaming his head off when I need to cook or get the girls ready for school? I know all of those things are probably making him so gassy but how to eliminate the problems and how to survive until he outgrows them????

good luck!!

Those first few months of nursing can be tough. I nursed my first for 2 years, my second for 1, and my third is 8 months now and still nursing. I have found that www.kellymom.com is one of the best sites for advise with nursing. That is their specialty and it's free. If you go to their forum and post your question, I bet you'll get some help. Also a good lactation consultant would be worth it. I would recommend Carol Chamblin in St. Charles. Google search her name, and I think the website is something like breastandbabyproducts.com It could be an overactive letdown, her latch needing work, etc. I would think with the proper guidance it could be better soon. By the way if you post at kellymom.com tell them how often you feed, etc. The more detail you give the better idea they have of what's going on.