1-month-old crying through evening feedings

[aramat]

Posting for a friend who says in the past few days her 1-month-old has become a terrible eater. Baby has started screaming during evening feedings, with brief respites of eating. Baby is still peeing and pooping and gaining well. Does take a bottle about once a week--could be nipple-confused?? Baby has also started choking at least once during every meal, and sometimes milk leaks out of her mouth mid-session.

My friend asked me for "Help!!" but I'm feeling a little stumped. Ideas? Maybe regular evening low-supply/growth spurt? But mom is frustrated and already thinking of switching to pumping and bottles; I want to be sure not to let her think she can't BF normally.

[leigh09]

If baby is choking on the milk, maybe mom has a fast or strong letdown?

I have never had problems with this so I can't offer any personal advise, but it would be my guess as what might be the problem. Perhaps look this up on kellymom.com and see what they advise and if any of their tips relate to your friend.

[dancingflower]

Chocking and fussing may be signs of strong letdown. Well it could be something else. But she could try to see if it's forceful let down by nursing in cradle hold using pillows in a way that her breast is lower than baby so the milk is running up to baby's mouth. This way her Lo will have control over how much is coming in.

[gkb2215]

It does sound like a forceful letdown issue. One thing that seemed to help for me was that I would unlatch her when I felt the letdown coming and then re-latch her once the sensation passed. Also, like the PP said, maneuvering so that baby has more control may help, e.g., cradle-hold with baby held a bit more upright.

[Megan73]

But would overactive letdown suddenly be a problem at a month post-partum?
I would suspect normal newborn fussiness – which is worst in the evenings and peaks at six weeks – and tell my friend that the problem likely has nothing to do with nursing and will pass.

[jecombs]

Originally Posted by Megan73

But would overactive letdown suddenly be a problem at a month post-partum?
I would suspect normal newborn fussiness – which is worst in the evenings and peaks at six weeks – and tell my friend that the problem likely has nothing to do with nursing and will pass.

I had over-active letdown (OALD), but it started a week or two after birth. My breasts would spray wildly (rather like a firehose). What I did to combat it was to latch baby, get letdown, un-latch baby, let breasts spray into a towel until the flow slowed down. Then DD could handle it a bit better.

Your friend could have OALD, but it would give the baby a problem all day, not just in the evening. In fact, it would probably be more of a problem in the AM, when supply is higher. I suspect LO just has a case of the evening fussies. You could practically set a clock by my DD at that age. At 7:30 PM exactly she would start fussing and crying. It didn't matter what we were doing... walking, wearing her, riding in the car, BFing... she would carry-on for 1-2 hours every night, no matter what. Luckily, she calmed down between 2-3 mo. old.