eating too much??

[Kim Allen]

hmm is there such thing as a nursing 5 week old to be eating too much??

Ds is very chubby which is not my concern he is adorable chubby. But I am afraid I am giving him tummy aches.

I nurse him whenever he acts hungry and he usually always eats when I offer it to him. But he seems fussy sometimes after eating and sometimes spits up.

Is he overeating or could this be something else?

[ewe+lamb]

Hi, is he gassy - in the lower intestine? - how long are his feeds? is he fussy right after a feed or say a half hour or hour after? What are his nappies like - colourwise? spit up is normal, but it depends how much. I actually would recommend that you go to a LLL meeting in your area to be around other nursing mothers - which is always a good thing, anyway if you can answer the questions I have we'll see if we can get to the bottom of this. Look forward to hearing from you.

[Kim Allen]

well He nurses about 10-15 min at a time but wants more about an hour later.

He does seem really gassy sometimes and that is when he usually spits up. I am not sure if maybe he has GERD?

His bm are yellow and seedy just like the should be.

When he nurses he acts like he gets it too fast and gulps and chokes most of the time. maybe hes getting too much air?

I was actaully trying to hold him off when he wants to nurse agian so soon but I feel awful and am not sure if me nursing him so much is causing the tummy aches.

With Ds1 I didnt have such a good milk supply so overeating was never a problem so with DS 2 this is all new.

[sparklefairy]

It sounds like you could be dealing with over-active "let down." http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

I would not "hold off" on feeding a child at 5 weeks. The pattern that you describe is very, very normal.

Originally Posted by Kim Allen

well He nurses about 10-15 min at a time but wants more about an hour later.

He does seem really gassy sometimes and that is when he usually spits up. I am not sure if maybe he has GERD?

His bm are yellow and seedy just like the should be.

When he nurses he acts like he gets it too fast and gulps and chokes most of the time. maybe hes getting too much air?

I was actaully trying to hold him off when he wants to nurse agian so soon but I feel awful and am not sure if me nursing him so much is causing the tummy aches.

With Ds1 I didnt have such a good milk supply so overeating was never a problem so with DS 2 this is all new.

[Kim Allen]

wow ya that sounds like it.

He has all these symptoms that kellymom list
-Gag, choke, strangle, gulp, gasp, cough while nursing as though the milk is coming too fast
-Pull off the breast often while nursing
-Make a clicking sound when nursing
-Spit up very often and/or tend to be very gassy


Also when he eats he lets alot of it drool out while he is nursing. I usually end up with a big spot of milk on me from him doing that.'

And when he pulls off I squirt milk all over and it dont stop lol.

[ewe+lamb]

Well yeah - after your second post definitely over active let down, so try and pre-empt his feeds and express off some milk and let the let down run itself a bit - you can store this for later on if you like. Then once a decent amount of milk has been expressed put him to the breast you'll find that he's able to manage it much better, also you could nurse him twice on the same breast to make sure he's getting enough hindmilk - block nursing. The thing you need to be aware of is sometimes with an over active let down or supply, baby can get so much milk they don't really need to to nurse at the breast - then the breast isn't stimulated and the supply goes down so make sure when he is nursing that he has long sucks at the breast so that you don't loose your supply - that's why I think the block nursing will work better for you, express off the other breast for comfort if you need.

I wouldn't recommend holding him off from feeding - breastmilk digests in 20-40 minutes so after one hour it's perfectly normal for a baby to want to nurse again, follow his cues and he'll let you know how he's doing, he's not overeating at all, breastfed babies may be chubby and all, but they take in what they actually need and do not over eat.

[aylaanne]

You cannot nurse a 5 week old too much. You cannot give ANY baby too much breastmilk. If he is eating, it is because he is hungry. Your body will adapt to give him the kind of milk he needs.

I didn't ever deny or postpone feedings with my son until he was over a year old.

[alegna]

I wouldn't personally express- that will signal your body to make MORE milk. I would block feed. kellymom has good info.

good luck!

-Angela

[Kim Allen]

good. What I wanted to hear was that I could nurse him as much as He wanted.

I tried the block feeding and it is going good. thank you !

[ewe+lamb]

Originally Posted by alegna

I wouldn't personally express- that will signal your body to make MORE milk. I would block feed. kellymom has good info.

good luck!

-Angela

I think you've misunderstood, the only reason expressing milk has been suggested was for comfort i.e. if the mother feels uncomfortable on the other breast which isn't being nursed whilst the nursing breast could have been nursed two or maybe three times, if excess milk in the non-nursing breast isn't taken off then plugged ducts or even worse mastitis can set in, this is only temporary until the body regulates itself and shouldn't need to happen very often but as I suggest just for the mother to be comfortable and not to have a huge watermelon on one side and a wee shrivelled prune on the other!!

[Epona]

Another baby-friendly, pump-free option, is to pull him off while you let down then pop him back on when it has passed. It works like a charm. I'm glad that the block feeding is working for you. Good luck!