lil one coughs and spits while eating :-(

sunshinez · Jan 15, 2010

Hi IL's

i am a mom of a week old baby... n right from the beginning i have been BF my baby.. now from past couple of days i have been facing this issue..

once my baby latches on he suckles for some time and falls asleep.. at that point wen he is drowsey... n still suckling.. i guess he is forgetting to swallow milk... n thus he coughs and spits that gulp of milk that is inside his mouth... is this common with all the kids...??

one more thing i tough would be the reason for his cough is.. i feel my breast are heavy n full... n that moment he starts suckling.. milk is flowing with a greater speed..that he is not able to swallow so much ...is this thinking of mine correct ?? if so then how do i readuce the speed of flow of milk to the baby..so that he is comfortably drinking ???

waiting for reply...

tikka · Jan 15, 2010

Congrats on your newborn sunshines. Your observation is very good, looks like you do have an overactive letdown and oversupply. One way of handling it is to express some milk till the worst of the fast letdown is over and then latch the baby on. The other thing to do is have him latch in a hold other than the traditional cradle hold or cross cradle. I am attaching some links here on how to deal with OALD and oversupply. Do read through them and tell us if any of it is the issue with you. kellymom.com :: Forceful Let-down (Milk Ejection Reflex) & Oversupply
kellymom.com :: Newman :: Colic in the Breastfed Baby

Your child spitting up milk could be because of the oversupply and she gulping down too much air while she is drinking from your breast. She may need frequent burping therefore. Do let us know if you are able to burp easily, moms here then can post what worked best for them. Hang in there, things will become easier in a while. Hugs.

lee50 · Jan 15, 2010

Hi Sunshine,

Kellymom is a good site as mentioned by tikka. What helped me when I faced this problem was I had to hold the cup of the nipple tightly in a C shape between my index and middle finger and then release it slowly. This would ensure that limited supply is going into LO's mouth.

Attached is the query on oversupply

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/breastfeeding-and-formula-feeding/74893-oversupply.html

Pavarun · Jan 16, 2010

Sunshinez, the kellymom resource is very helpful. I had OALD (but no oversupply) and my baby used to choke and sputter. For me nursing with baby sitting up (propped with a lot of pillows) helped a little, since milk flow is horizontal and not downward.

RekhaViju · Jan 16, 2010

I am facing this for the last 3-4 days (where is Poonam ),I cannot try different positions as Laya is already too adamant with positions ;-( I am trying hard ;-(

sunshinez · Jan 19, 2010

Thank you so much everyone for the timely reply...

tikka i went through the kellymom link that u had posted... its really informative.. i hav already started adopting few things as mentioned there..

Before i used to feed baby in football position n now hav started elevated football position.. n i hav started burping baby more often... things seems to be working fine

Lee as u mentioned about holding nipple bet C shared fingers.. my mom also suggested me the same n i am following that as well....

Pavarun popping up few pillows defeitely helps for sure...

i also read that oversupply wil come down after 3 weeks is that so... for me it is still there.. occasionally lil one coughs n spits also which makes me feel bad

one more thing... from past 2-3 days while breathing in the sleep LO makes some kind of sound.. it is not snoring.. i feel something is stuck in his throat or nostrils... not sure.. i did go to pead.. he said there is nothing wrong wit LO.. but still am lil worried.. has anyone faced this prob ??

tikka · Jan 20, 2010

It is something DS used to when he was spitting up. Our paed told us some children with reflux has stridor and it should go away when spitting up goes away. I know how you feel, everytime I heard that sound my heart leaped into my mouth. Keep an eye on it, but it should go away when the symptoms of spit up goes away.

Padminiramesh · Jan 20, 2010

My LO is doing the same. He cries for milk and suck it fastly and just spits it fully again.....dont know what to do.

Lee,
I even tried what you are saying, keeping the index and middle finger...but this guy didnt like that...he is not latching on, if i take my fingers he is fine sucking...