I am exlusively breastfeeding my 7 week old boy/girl twins. We have gotten past most of the hard parts and are in a good routine. I know they are getting enough milk because they both have plenty of saturated, pale diapers, and are both gaining weight. Recently though, the smaller twin, my boy, has been very fussy at the breast. He seems to be taking in a lot of air, especially when the milk lets down. He gets overwhelmed and pulls off, and I have to burp him 3-4 times in the first 10 minutes of feeding. Sometimes he screams and pushes away, and won't finish the breast.
I have them each on their own breast, and just changed his feeding position to a football hold with him sitting up, hoping that will help him handle the milk. He gets very fussy at night and sometimes will cry very loudly for long periods, unable to be comforted. This is making life very hard for me, because it seems that no matter what I do, I always have one baby that needs something at night, even when the other is settled. I have just implemented a babywise schedule and that has helped during the day, and has the other twin, my girl, sleeping through the night for the most part. But the boy keeps waking with what seems to be gas pain, and I just don't have the heart to let him cry it out. Any suggestions for feeding changes, or soothing methods, or just general reassurance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
Thanks so much to everyone for the great advice. I really suspect it has to do with him not being able to handle my forceful let down, like some suggested. The new nursing position I have been using seems to have been helping today, and I have been keeping him upright for 30 mins after feeding. I am not super strict on the babywise schedule, it just gives me a good guideline for the day, which I need with twins because otherwise it's sort of havoc around here. I frequently adjust as needed.
I am hesitant to take him to the ped, because of flu season, and will try to see if we can work it out at home before I go that route. The fussiness is not at every feeding, and since I have changed his position, it seems to be getting better.
Thank you so much for all your input. I really appreciate it.
Vanderbilt Hospital has lactation consultants on staff. I have 4 children and they really helped me with my first child who had trouble latching on and with my baby that would not take a bottle when I went back to work. They are wonderful and they helped me in person and over the telephone. Call them.
Mylicon works really well for us! Also, he may be overwhelmed with the amount of milk. Some babies do better eating more often and less at once. This probably doesn't work well with Babywise but it may help with the tummy problems.
Our story is very similiar- though I had a wonderful 3 year old boy instead of girl. My twins responded a lot like your story. I found my son was just so "rushed" to eat and a full breast was overwhelming him. So I would let her eat first and then put him on her breast letting him get the "oh I am so excited" stage done on a NOT so full breast when he calmed I would switch to "his" breast and he then would eat well and not suck in so much air causing stomach gas. Good luck, and congratulations!!
what are YOU eating? Perhaps he is having a reaction to something that way. It may not affect your daughter as she may not have the same allergy or reaction. Maybe add in a bottle of cereal for him at night before he goes to bed. He may be needing a little more than you can offer. Good luck and God Bless.
Hi K.,
Congratulations on the birth of your twins and I applaud you for breastfeeding both. What you describe sounds very similar to what I experience with my 3rd child. I had an overactive letdown and this would cause her to fuss, cry and gag as my milk let down. I found that La Leche League had some articles on over active letdown that was very helpful. One thing I found that helped was to lay down while nursing and to latch her off when I felt the let down. I would let the milk drain into a cloth diaper or a cup until it slowed and then relatch. This helped tremendously.
Peace J.
Hi K., This situation sounds very much like what I went through with my 3rd child. The screaming at night was awful and she would become very aggressive. The feedings would be short and sometimes painful with her trying to feed then pull off abruptly. After many visits to the doctor we finally discovered it was an adnoid problem. She wasn't getting enough air through her nose so when she nursed she couldn't breath and at night her air would become restricted as well so she would wake up very upset from lack of oxygen. I reccommend talking to your doctor about her airway and seeing if you should consult an ear, nose and throught specialist. Good luck, I hope you find a solution!
Hi K.~
I went through that same problem with my little girl. She was born 8 weeks early so she was small as well. When they are that little, sometimes it's hard for them to take in all the milk you are producing, especially during your letdown (when it sprays and it's fast). I would highly suggest you pump off the breast you intend to give to your little boy until the breast stops "spraying" milk. When they are that little, they just can't keep up! That helped me so much and my little girl wasn't fussy or gagging once I did that. I also gave my little girl Mylicon before every feeding. It helped with the gas tremendously! I've given my girlfriend the same advice about Mylicon and it has saved her too!
I think both of these will really help you. Please continue...you are doing so great! You can't give your babies a better gift. It will get easier. I'm still breastfeeding and my baby's 8 months old now! We definitely had our problems in the beginning but if you just keep at it, you can do it!
There is something called colic calm (google colic calm) that is an all natural medicine for colic, reflux, and gas. He may be beginning to have reflux. My daughter around that time was really fussy and was having the milk come back up in her throat and burn. somtimes she would spit up through her mouth and nose and sometimes it would just up in her throat. She started getting choked on it. She ended in the hospital at around 6 weeks old and they did a barium swallow and found it it was reflux. My son and other daughter though had the belly gas when they were babies and would just cry because their tummies hurt. Good luck.
first off, way to go mama with breastfeeding your twins!
you've gotten lots of good advice. I've had similar experiences with my daughter. I wondered about diet changes and such but so far things have greatly improved with some adjustments to our nursing routine. I do the cross-cradle hold with her and lean back with her on a boppy so that she has to nurse downhill somewhat - gravity helps control the flow. pulling off and catching the initial letdown into a burp rag works well too. what are his poopy diapers like? my doc said that she's never seen a case of milk protein allergy where there wasn't an indication in the diapers - very mucousy and green and sometimes slightly bloody.
you might google hyperlactation syndrome and see if it fits your experience - if baby's getting more foremilk than hindmilk, it can actually cause excess gas and stomach cramping. this seemed to be the case with us - you might try feeding him on the same breast for 2 feedings in a row (i know this might be tricky with twins but maybe not?)...that way he gets more hindmilk the second feeding on the same side.
we also swaddle our girl, and try to do lots of belly massage (gently massage around the bellybutton in a clockwise motion) as well as bicycling legs to help get the gas out.
best of luck to you!
Hello K., Congratulations on your new babies! Also on your little girl too. I suggest talking to some great mom experts on that ... Nursing Mothers of Raleigh is a wonderful resource. http://www.nursingmothersofraleigh.org/
I remember my son acting kind of crazy at the breast sometimes around that age. His problem was that he needed to nurse more often and was frantic when I fed him ... I solved it by feeding him more often. He needed to nurse a minimum of every 2 hours (sometimes 1 and 1 1/2) until he was four months old.
Good luck! D.
When my little girl was that little, we had to swaddle her at night. She would wake up during the night a couple times and no matter what we did, we couldn't soothe her. Eventually we heard of the swaddle blanket and tried it. It was awesome and she started sleeping through the night. You said he has gas pains, maybe try those Mylicon drops, that seemed to help with my daughter too. Good luck!
I had a similar problem with my second son. It turned out he was lactose intolerant, and even though I wasn't drinking any milk, I was drinking eggnog (it was Christmas time) and eating cheese. There are so many things that infants can have a sensitivity to, so one thing you might want to try is going on a very bland diet for at least three days and see if that helps. Do an online search for common infant allergies - my grand daughter is allergic to oatmeal, which I had never heard of before, but every time my daughter in law would eat anything with oat in it the baby would be miserable! Good luck!
I don't have a solution for your particular problem, although when one of mine seemed gassy, I'd give Mylecon (sp?) drops, and at least I felt like I was doing something. (Not sure if they helped the problem, though.) I did want to respond, though, because I, too, nursed twins and there were definitely nights when if it wasn't one, it was the other. They will grow out of this phase, so hang in there. If it doesn't get better soon, though, ask the doctor about it.
When I had my daughter, I produced way too much milk and would let down really fast. This would cause her to become very fussy and she would push away not getting full. So I went to the Nursing Station and talked with a lactation specialist who informed me that she wasn't getting any hind milk because I was producing so much. I had to wear raw cabbage in my bra in between feedings to stop making so much milk and it worked. I also would drink chamomile tea between 12-2 pm. so it would have time to get into my milk to calm her gassiness at bedtime. Hope this helps,
J.
This may be only part of the problem, but every little bit helps. If he's drowning when you let down, then either pump it out a bit first (or hand express), or let it down on a burp cloth until it slows down and is manageable for him. When they gulp all that air (while drowning) if it all doesn't come up in burps, then it will come out the other end as gas, further causing discomfort. When they're that small, they need "slow flow". Also, foods that make you gassy (or in general make a lot of people gassy) will likely make him gassy as well. Good work on breast feeding them both - that's fabulous, and soooo good for them!
Could something that you have eaten be causing gas in your son? I could not eat broccoli when I breastfed our middle son. When I did eat it he was so very fussy that everyone in the house was miserable. Do you have the support of a breast feeding support group. If you need to find one let me know. God Bless
.
I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds as if he may be developing colic. I had 2 boys and 2 girls (no twins), and both boys had colic (neither of the girls did). I hope not, but this sounds suspiciously like it.
Might I suggest that you take day about with the breasts? (Girl L/Boy R one day then Girl R/Boy L the next). It seems that this would keep your milk supply more even.
God bless and happy parenting!
It sounds like your son is going thru the "period of PUrPLE crying" Dr Robert Barr has done years of research about the normal crying amounts that babies cry. It starts to increase at 2 weeeks and peaks at 2 months. The period of purple crying is a campaign the National Center for the prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
I would also have the pediatrician check him for reflux.
Hang in there it does get better. Enjoy these early times they are gone too soon.
Every baby is very different. The babywise schedule may not work for every child. I have 2 girls and they were both fussy at night, especially my youngest who is 20 months. Babies cry for a reason; hungry, uncomforatble, need to be held, tired and at times they need to release energy. You may want to consult with a lactation consulatant about different posititions while breastfeeding. You may try hodling him as upright as possible while nursing (football hold), then rub his back gently to get a good burp out of in. Try and keep him upright for 20 minutes after nursing (very difficult at times). Are you using a sling? These are very comforting to babies. You can try one and see if this type of movement and closeness comforts him. I used carries for both, all the time, they needed the close contact to soothe their nervous systems. Also, there are several homeopathic remedies for colic if you think he is colicky. My yougest had slight reflux and would cry after and while nursing at times. They usually outgrow it but your pediatrician may be the best to consult with. It is less common for a baby less than 9 months to sleep through the night; especially breastfeeding babies. There bodies are not programmed to do so. All of my friends nurse their children and none of thier children have slept through the night until at least a year. And on a last note, crying out is never healthy for any baby. There is so much recent research about the stress which occurs on their little bodies and the creation of anxiety. He is too young to cry it out. He does not have the tools to self-soothe. A baby should be at least a year old before they are allowed to cry to sleep, and at that point they should be comforted and not left alone. You may want to look into the No Cry Sleep Method and Good Nights (Dr. Jay Gordon). We had to carry our baby in a carrier to sleep every night, or push her in a stroller for almost 8 months, she needed the movement. I could never just nurse her to sleep. We were very tired! I hope this helps. Best wishes.
Hi, K.!
Congrats on breastfeeding two babies! So many Moms wouldn't even consider it, so be proud of yourself for choosing such a good thing for them!
Your situation sounds very similar to my BF experience with my 16 month old son. He was only about 2 or 3 weeks old when he suddenly started pulling away and crying, sometimes arching his back during a feeding. My pediatrician has a lactation consultant on staff and for the price of my co-pay ($25) I could go and do a feeding session with her. Almost immediately she said he had acid reflux! Lots of babies have reflux but it manifests itself different ways; my daughter had the projectile vomiting reflux which never interfered with feedings but was obviously a challenge for different reasons! I never medicated her and she grew out of it. With my son, there was a dramatic difference after just a couple of doses of baby Zantac. He was much more confortable and was no longer having the burning in his throat during feedings. The sooner you are able to diagnose and treat his discomfort the less chance you have of impacting his feeding schedule/ habits long-term.
Good luck and hang in there!
Try a little Mylicon or gripe water.
