Newborn head shaking...

[~Caitlyn~]

Hi ladies,

I could really use some advice. My one week old daughter will sometimes stop nursing and open her mouth and shake her head side to side violently.... she gets really frustrated, to the point where she wont accept my breast anymore. She will suck on her hand and cry... poor thing. I will usually try to re-latch her a few times, and try switching breasts, or positions... these sometimes work, but, others she is so upset that she cant nurse anymore, and I just rock her until she falls asleep.

I read something online about a possible oversupply issue, but, they all mentioned milk squirting... and I only leak when I try to express some milk. I also read that it could be a slow flow causing her to be impatient... so, I'm not sure which way to treat the problem, since both of those suggestions have different approaches for treatment.

My pediatrician thought I felt a little engorged when I nursed in front of her, and suggested massaging the breasts while feeding... but the article I read on oversupply doesn't suggest this.

Ugh. Any advice would be HUGELY appreciated... by my dd and myself!

[zensven42]

Well, you may be in a cycle where you letdown is slow, so she gets annoyed, which causes you to tense up and assume it will happen next time, and so then it does because you are tense, etc. If the problem is slow letdown or slow flow, try to breathe deeply and relax your muscles all the way down your body, and especially in your chest and imagine the milk letting down and flowing. Try to remain calm and project an image in your head of her nursing happily, instead of thinking of her frustrated and crying. I swear they can sense you anticipating problems, almost like a 6th sense. Maybe you can break the cycle. You can also try starting the letdown before she starts nursing, so she doesn't have to wait for the milk to start coming. This may help if slow flow is the issue.

If it is fast letdown or forceful milk flow, then you also can stimulate letdown before you start to feed her, then latch her on. If it is very forceful, you can express some of the milk beforehand to relieve the pressure and then latch her on.

I hope this helps. Let me know if it does, I could use some warm fuzzies

If all else fails or she is not nursing enough to gain weight, you could call a lactation consultant for assistance or your local LLL chapter.

Good luck and hugs to you!!

Oh and BTW, her reaction does sound more like slow flow to me

[~Caitlyn~]

Thank you! I will practice relaxing while feeding her... I'll keep you updated

[zensven42]

Don't forget that you can also stimulate letdown BEFORE you nurse her so she can get milk immediately instead of having to wait. Sometimes babies get impatient.

[birdword]

I had this same issue and for me it was definitely oversupply combined with a really fast letdown. DD would get frustrated because she couldn't swallow fast enough, to solve it I pumped or hand expressed a little bit of milk first to slow down the flow and then it was much better. Eventually my body got used to breast feeding and now supply is equaling demand which seems to have solved the problem. Hope this helps!

[LilaQ]

My 6-week old does the exact same thing--has since birth. I can't figure out what causes it either. He starts the head shaking well into the feed so I think he gets impatient waiting for a new letdown to start. I've squeezed my nipple and there is flow but maybe it's too slow at that point?? This only happens during his fussy time so maybe it's more tiredness than anything. Would love to hear if you have any luck fixing this with your babe! It makes me crazy!

[zensven42]

So how has it been going? Hope you are doing well! HUGS