vicious cycle of spit up

[nilatti]

I have what seems to be an excessive milk supply, and my poor son (3 wks) gulps hard to keep up while nursing. He then spits up A LOT, beginning about 30 mins after we finish. I think he must spit up at least as much as he retains! So then he's hungry again, having half-emptied his stomach, and demands to nurse. But he'll spit most if that up too. The result is a gassy, fussy baby who insists on nursing hourly.

He's pooping plenty and gaining weight, so he's clearly managing to get enough. I've tried nursing lying on my back or leaning pretty far back, which seems to help a bit. I've also held him upright for 20 mins after nursing--that doesn't seem to help at all. Ideas? g2g, the changling wants to feed again! PLEASE HELP.

[PatioGardener]

Have you tried block feeding? That helped me.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

I feel for you. Hang in there, with work you can improve things A LOT!

nak

[nilatti]

Thanks! Block nursing seems to be really helping.

[TulsiLeaf]

Originally Posted by nilatti

I have what seems to be an excessive milk supply, and my poor son (3 wks) gulps hard to keep up while nursing. He then spits up A LOT, beginning about 30 mins after we finish. I think he must spit up at least as much as he retains! So then he's hungry again, having half-emptied his stomach, and demands to nurse. But he'll spit most if that up too. The result is a gassy, fussy baby who insists on nursing hourly.

He's pooping plenty and gaining weight, so he's clearly managing to get enough. I've tried nursing lying on my back or leaning pretty far back, which seems to help a bit. I've also held him upright for 20 mins after nursing--that doesn't seem to help at all. Ideas? g2g, the changling wants to feed again! PLEASE HELP.

Also, try giving him breaks during the session. Feed him for a few minutes, then burp him, let him rest for a few then continue.

also, you could try letting him nurse for a few, and then if you can let down into a towel or something to catch the milk. It could be that you have an overactive let down and it's forcing him to gulp all that air to.

[lizfu]

Block feedings were KEY for me/Henry. I also found that sometimes if I pumped a bit with my hand pump before feeding, and detached him right after letdown and expressed as much as I could in a minute or so into a cloth it helped a lot. I found with him, as opposed to my 1st DC, we had to find other ways of comforting besides nursing because he would ALWAYS barf if I overfed him. Just now at 8 mo he is beginning to be able to nurse on both sides per feeding- before now he'd barf if I tried to nurse on both. The one bonus of the oversupply/OAL issue is that Henry has been able to soothe himself better, since he never could nurse endlessly to sleep- and feedings were quick at least!