I have an almost 4 week old son who has been an excellent nurser since day one. The problem is, he snarks milk up his nose when he feeds-mostly at night when he's all sleepy and relaxed but sometimes during the day as well. I have a very good supply of milk and I'm wondering if I just have TOO much for him to handle and he just can't keep up with it.
I have a Boppy and a Brest Friend. I use both and both seem to give him problems. I've tried a regular pillow, I've tried no pillow, I've tried elevating him higher, then trying to put him lower...I've tried what feels like EVERYTHING but haven't found the perfect solution to this problem. It wouldn't bother me so much but it seems like it interferes with his breathing when I put him down to sleep. He's so snarky and stuffy sounding when I lay him down (you know, like a construction worker trying to work up a loogie to spit-it's really yucky sounding.)
Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do?
That sounds like something may be abnormal with his anatomy. Maybe there is a malformation of the nasopharynx. Could he have a cleft palate? I would take him to the doctor and have it addressed right away. Especially if he has trouble breathing when you put him down to sleep. If he's aspirating milk he could develop pneumonia.
From what I have heard it is never normal for milk or food to come out of the nose. This usually happens with a cleft palate or sub-mucous cleft palate. I would definatly have this checked out by an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) doctor.
Hi L.,
The milk going into his nose is called aspirating. From my experience, as long as the baby is only aspirating into their nasal cavity and it is not causing infection or other health problems there is really not a ton of concern. It's definitely something to mention to your ped. if you're in or if it bothers you too much, but it's usually okay if it's not going into their lungs. Hope this helps.
D. Rylander
A Blessed Birth Doula Services
____@____.com
Hi L.,
I have a 9 month old baby girl who had similar problems of milk coming out of her nose. She also had reflux issues and at 2 months, we went to see an occupational therapist who discovered that she had a submucosal cleft palate. I am not trying to say that your son has a cleft but it might be worth asking your pediatrician to check it out. At all our previous check ups etc, no one ever noticed her cleft. The occupational therapist made a "wedge", an inclined foam bed kind of thing which helped her a lot.
Good luck.
Congrats on breastfeeding! You should probably check with your pediatrician to make sure his upper palate is developed normally and such. It's probably just a matter of your son learning how to eat and breathe at the same time. Probably nothing to worry about, but I'd call the MD just to be sure! :)
As opposed to what others have said I hear that that is pretty normal. My daughter had that too and it actually helped a lot with the constant stuffy nose she had - she would only sleep well when nursing because the milk helped clear her nose. I was actually told to put some breatmilk in my daughter's nostrils to help with her nasal congestion. The stuffy nose is also pretty common in newborns, and, for us at least, had nothing to do with the milk coming up the nose.
If you haven't yet, try the football hold, it gives the baby a little more control over the milkflow.
Anyways, if it's a problem you should talk to your doctor.
Mine eventually grew out of it after a few months.
Thank god my son isnt the only one. He is now five months old and caught a cold awhile ago from his brothers. This is when i started noticing him doing it. I giggle at it now because nothing i have triedhas fixed it. I have tried having him lay with his head up a bit more...doesnt work and uncomfortable. i tried another position...still happened. I dont know how to stop it either...if anyone else has ideas please help!!! hang in there though..and congrats!!! ill check back to see what others have said!!! thanks for the post!!
Hi there! When my second was that age, he did the same thing. I thought it was really weird because my first never did that. I think it's just because he has always been a very good nurser, so when he needed to do something like sneeze or spit up because he was maybe eating too much, he wouldn't unlatch and the milk would just come shooting out of his nose. I thought it was weird, but he didn't seem the tiniest bit phased by it. Babies are crazy. =) He also sounded kind of rattly when I laid him down for the first couple weeks, but we just tilted his mattress so his head was higher and it worked itself out in a couple weeks. Good luck!! I don't think you probably have anything to worry about. Congrats on your new addition to your family!
B. =)
Oh thank God my son isn't the only one!! When my son was about that age (he's 7 months now) he would do the same thing, and mostly at night time would make this terrible like weazing noise. i took him to the doctor and they did chest x-rays and looked him over, but everything was normal. the x-rays were not easy, he moved a lot so they had to do it several times. in hind sight i wish i had just trusted my mommy instincts and not put him through all that. they told me his larynx was just being lazy, and he was just being lazy about eating too that's why it would drip. so i don't think you have anything to worry about. my son has out grown it for the most part. sometimes when he's really tired and mostly asleep but still suckling does a little drip out his nose still. so thank you for posting that, and i wish you happiness with your little one!!
try elevating her head alittle more.
