Newborn falling asleep while breastfeeding

[momma2alauna]

I posted a thread a couple of days ago regarding my concerns about my 1 week old daughter who is choking everytime that I breastfeed her. I have tried numerous different breastfeeding positions with her, all of which entail her being above my breast in some manner.  Nothing is working. It's really scary when she chokes because sometimes she can't catch her breath and then immediately goes into a deep sleep. It almost seems as if she is passing out. Tonight I realized that everytime she chokes it is either when she is falling asleep or after she has fallen asleep and is still occasionally sucking. After realizing that, I took her off of my breast everytime that she fell asleep and she doesn't choke anymore. The problem is, is that after taking her off she gets adgitated and wants to go back on and now wont go to sleep very easily. My question is, should I be taking her off my breast even though she is continuing to suck but have to deal with her choking? Or should I take her off, put her back on, take her off, put her back on until she finally lets me take it away and continues to fall asleep? Or should I try giving her a pacifier as soon as she starts to fall asleep and let that soothe her instead of my nipple? Would she be missing out on milk that she should be drinking if I give her a pacifier instead of my nipple? Sorry for the long post with a million questions. I would really appreciate any feedback because I am at a loss. Thank you!

[dogretro]

Originally Posted by momma2alauna 

Or should I try giving her a pacifier as soon as she starts to fall asleep and let that soothe her instead of my nipple?

This is what I did w/ both of mine.  DD2, especially, was not able to be truly soothed at the breast b/c my milk came out much faster than she liked.  When she got drowsy, she wanted to keep sucking but would get rather upset that milk was coming out when she wanted to sleep, not eat.  B/c of this, she never turned to my breast for comfort, only for food.  She took a pacifier from day one.  IMO, if she is choking, she wants to suck, not eat.

[neonalee]

I agree.  Sometimes DS chokes.  It took me awhile to learn that I had OALD/OS.  Somehow he manages to keep up with the spray most of the time, but that has other issues as well.  Now I pull him off once the let down starts until the spray goes down (not fun for either of us but necessary) or sometimes I'll even pump a little first.  I never put him on the side that hasn't been 'emptied' in awhile unless I've pumped first.  All that said, if  you've dealt with that possibility, I agree with the pacifier.  I swore I wouldn't use one but it's been a lifesaver for me.  He took to the Gumdrop pacifiers right away.  Good luck!

[KempsMama]

I had to use a pacifier with both my boys because of OAL/OS.  They wouldn't be able to comfort nurse because the mil kwould come to fast or they would be full and there was still a ton of milk.  The paci helped a lot, and over time I believe it helped correct my OS with my second son.