6 week old in pain during/after BFing

[Ldogg]

DD often is her fussiest after (and sometimes during) feeding time. I really think it's a reflux issue, but everything we do doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Am I missing something? Here are the things we do (or have tried):

- we sit her upright for 1/2 hour after every feed (except at night, but she seems better at night for some reason). In general I try to keep her upright a lot by babywearing, putting her in a carseat stroller or swing, etc.
- I've been propping her up during feeding, this has made a slight difference but nothing major
- I gave up dairy for 10 days; she seemed marginally better but there wasn't a huge difference
- tried Mylicon drops for gas, didn't seem to make a difference
- tried to feed for shorter times and more frequently, but there's only so much I can control... she's a hungry bebe!
- tried leaning back so she doesn't get milk so fast--I have a lot of milk and usually letdown several times during a feeding, but I don't think it's overactive b/c I never spray/leak milk

Could it be a food sensitivity? Or am I just pathologizing normal behavior? It's so tough to see her fussing... and sometimes it seems like pretty intense pain... when it's something I may have control over. I just can't tell! I've brought it up to my pediatrician (they mentioned some of the strategies above), but didn't seem very concerned.

[mamaw/two]

It sounds to me as if it could be a food sensitivity, especially since you mentioned a slight improvement with cutting out dairy. While milk is a very common allergen, there are several others- I believe wheat is one. There is an elimination diet which may be helpful. You would have to look it up a bit more, probably on kellymom, but I believe you basically eliminate most everything from your diet and add foods back (I think, turkey is one of the safe foods to begin with). We dealt with quit a bit of food sensitivity in the beginning of my last 3 lo's lives, the good news it that alot of times, if you stay away from the offending foods for a few monthes you can slowly add them back and they are tolerable to the baby. GL to you.

[mamaw/two]

Here are a few links that I hope will be helpful
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns...nsitivity.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...e-nursing.html

Another though, do you have a chiropractor? It might be a good idea to get her in for an adjustment.

[ramama]

My youngest DD behaved this same way and we thought it was reflux too. Turns out she was allergic to dairy, eggs, and peanuts. It REALLY caused her a lot of pain and screaming. I actually had a neighbor ask me the next day after a particularly bad night if everything was okay, and said she almost called CPS (OMG!!). If you suspect dairy, also remove soy from your diet, as the majority of children allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy. Although you should see some improvement after a week or two, it takes a month or longer to actually remove the dairy from your system.

Oh, I forgot something! What does your DD's face look like after, say, a sloppy night feeding? Does she get a rash where breastmilk touched? This was the big clue for me. Of course, I was drinking about a gallon of milk a day, eggs for breakfast everyday, and pb&j for snack, so it may have just been the shear amount of allergens in my milk. But, keep an eye out to see if she gets rashes.

[kavamamakava]

How about the laid-back nursing position since you say she's mostly ok at night? http://www.biologicalnurturing.com/Pages/bioflash.html

[LadyCatherine185]

my DS did the same thing and he had silent reflux. No spitting up (he would burp it up and swallow it back down), just lots of screaming at the breast. It got worse and worse (to the point where he would pop off and scream 10+ times during each feeding) until we finally got him on medication. Zantac did nothing for him, Prevacid was a MIRACLE. It saved our breastfeeding relationship. He also had a dairy allergy, so I cut that out as well. As far as the dairy goes, it can take 2-3 weeks for dairy to get out of your system. And there is a lot of hidden dairy in packaged foods. Even a lot of breads have milk in them.

He also would nurse peacefully at night, because when they are more relaxed the reflux does not hurt them as much.

[Comtessa]

Have you had her ears checked for infection? My ped told me that fussing at the breast can be a sign of ear infection, b/c sucking/swallowing can exacerbate ear pain. It might be worth a check just to rule that out...

[Ldogg]

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! I think I'm going to try cutting out dairy again, and perhaps see if heartburn meds do anything...