My Little Maya

J.,
My suggestion is to talk with a lactation consultant. They can be wonderful. Maya may not like how you hold her when she nurses, have a poor latch, or she may not have a strong enough suck reflex. You can find a lactation consultant by following this link:
http://www.lllofmd-de-dc.org/index.shtml
If you pump and give her what you pump, it is easier to know how much she is getting and that may help relieve some fears that she is not eating. **BUT you will only increase your supply by pumping more or breasfeeding more and you will decrease your supply once you supplement with formula.**
A lactation consultant may suggest a breast shield to help with your daughter's latch/reducing gas. I encourage you to keep trying to breastfeed. I wish you strength, joy, and peace as you work through this difficulty.
J.

If she is struggling to nurse, drooling while nursing, milk slipping out the side of her mouth...I would check with a speech language pathologist (SLP), she may have some weak mouth musculature (which can be worked on with exercises given by the SLP. My son had nursing issues and now that he sees an SLP, when I mention some of the early feeding issues he had, she could have done something about it...my ped didn't pick up on it. Don't just ask your doctor, call your insurance, find a SLP in your area and just go see one.

If she is fussy, gassy, colicky...I would look at what you are eating...gassy veggies (broccoli, onion, cabbage), dairy, wheat. Eliminate one thing at a time from your diet for a bit and see if she doesn't settle down. She may be allergic to something that you consume and that may upset her...esp dairy products. Eliminate for a week or two and see if she feels better. If she screams on formula too it could be she has a bit of reflux.

Good luck! Don't just trust your ped, ask lots of questions. Peds are mostly trained to find illness (colds, flu, big symptoms of other problems) it is not uncommon for them to miss smaller things that could easily remedy your situation.

:)
N.

Hi J. (great name, and spelling!),
Are you sure your baby has gas? We thought the same thing with our daughter and it turned out to be acid reflux. She would start screaming at the breast after just beginning to eat, and lying down was problemmatic. I would try a few tricks to see if they help, and maybe that would help determine if the problem is reflux (in which case baby is starving, but it physically hurts to have the burning that comes along with it---so they don't). Try feeding baby as upright as possible to help keep the acid down and then hold in an upright position for 20+ minutes after eating (or make sure to place in swing/seat/etc with an incline---just not lying flat), stop to burp more often, and let baby sleep on an incline as well. If you notice the behaviors getting better, then maybe the problem was reflux and you can talk to your pediatrician about proper treatment. If it does appear to be gas only, you could use the infant Mylicon or Gripe water to help curb the pain and the colic. Good luck!!

When I tried to breastfeed my son it didn't go well at all. He wasn't gaining weight and I keep visiting the lactation consultant. He would be at the breast all the time for long periods of time it was like i never got a break. The docotr had me going in every week to weigh my son and they were really concerned. Well I switched to formula and then he was started to grow. Turns out even though I had him at the breast all the time and pumped he was just not getting enough. It was different with my daughter though, she nursed for 4 months and then I just stopped because it was too hard with my two year old. So the point of my ramble is that nursing just doesn't work for some babies. Yes it is good for them so if you have to keep pumping often but supplement with formula.