Flailing around wildly while nursing??

[kewpie-o]

Sometimes in the evening, 3.5 week old DD gets all weird when she is breastfeeding. She'll start flailing her arms around, arching her back, and she'll yank her head away from the breast (only, sometimes she doesn't unlatch. Yowch!) Many times, she will pop off when she's writhing around like this and she'll immediately want back on. When I try to get her latched back on, sometimes she'll fight it.......but once back on, she'll suck voraciously, like she's starving. The whole thing usual starts all over again. And again. She's very wide-eyed when she does this. Instead of getting that satisfied, sleepy milk-drunk look, she has this wild I'm-gonna-tear your-nipples-off-from-sucking-so-hard look. This morning, she nursed constantly from 12:30a-3:00a.....she couldn't get enough and would not get sleepy, doing this crazy writhing around thing all the while. My nipples are killing me!

The flailing around like crazy and acting irritated makes me think she's gassy and uncomfortable, but then that doesn't explain the wild sucking and need to nurse for 2 1/2 hrs straight. I thought maybe she's not getting enough milk, but she is having TONS of wet and poopy diapers and she is gaining well.

What the heck is she doing? :

[Amris]

Actually, it does sound like she's gassy.

You're right about in the time period I started to realize my DD was reacting to the dairy and gluten in MY diet...

And yes, if it's reaction to something in your diet, they'll nurse for a long time straight, because their little tummy hurts. : Nursing makes it feel better... until they get over-full, then they vomit. But at least now there's room to eat more!

[Fujiko]

Wow, that's exactly what's happening my my 2-month dd. Except she doesn't nurse very long (10 minutes or so, always been like this). When she does that, after awhile I pull her off and let her suck on my pinkie (or a paci if she takes it, usually doesnt). Then she calms down. I don't know why she has such a crazy need to suck, but I think my dd just gets pissed that there's milk coming out of my nipple when all she wants to do is just suck. I think her tummy hurts from being too full and the craziness and flailing is from that. If I don't pull her off to let her suck my pinkie, she eats too much and vomits.

Incidentally, she also has cheek rashes, is very gassy, and has a few diaper rash spots on her bottom that won't go away. I'm currently trying to figure out what she's reacting to in my diet (assuming it's that)...I never considered that the two problems could be related.

[SPOpa]

What do her poops look like? What color/consistency?

How much is she gaining?

[kewpie-o]

Her poops are seedy and bright mustard yellow, very liquidy. she usually has about 3 very small poops (I call them wet farts ) and 3-4 BIG poops a day, and that's minimum. I don't know exactly how much she's wetting, but she never has a dry diaper, and i change her very frequently, since she's in cloth most of the time.

Her weight has gone like this:
Born 4/19 8lbs 5oz
4/20 7lbs 14oz
4/25 7lbs 13oz
4/27 8lbs 1oz
5/4 8lbs 8oz

I haven't had her weighed since then, but I'm really curious to know what she's up to now. I think I'll see if my midwife will weigh her this week sometime.

Fujiko, I wonder that about my DD too....that maybe she's getting too much milk, when she's really just wanting to suck. We haven't had much luck w/ a paci either....and the few times she has actually sucked on it for a while, I notice a difference in her latch and it got me paranoid about nipple confusion, so I haven't offered it since then.

I don't mind being her pacifier....I just don't want to give her a belly ache in the process....and how do I differentiate between her need to suck and actual hunger/sucking to build supply for a growth spurt? :

[Fujiko]

Originally Posted by kewpie-o

Fujiko, I wonder that about my DD too....that maybe she's getting too much milk, when she's really just wanting to suck. We haven't had much luck w/ a paci either....and the few times she has actually sucked on it for a while, I notice a difference in her latch and it got me paranoid about nipple confusion, so I haven't offered it since then.

I don't mind being her pacifier....I just don't want to give her a belly ache in the process....and how do I differentiate between her need to suck and actual hunger/sucking to build supply for a growth spurt? :

That's hard to answer. I struggle with that too. I figure if she is that upset by the whole thing, it is better to pull her off. I haven't had supply problems, but I am ever watchful for them. My dd always nurses within 15 minutes, usually 10 or less. I just let down really efficiently (it is normal for her to cough and sputter while at my breast, and also come off to breathe as if she's swimming laps, I just let down that much).

I've never had problems with latch when I had her suck my pinkie. Although every baby is different, so it doesn't mean that you won't have problems. Maybe you just need to wait a few more weeks before you introduce another suck object. IMO, it's worth a shot later.

My dd's poops are exactly as you described...it's as if I could have written this whole post. Weird! DD has wet farts all the time, too. Yesterday she had a coughing fit while I was changing her diaper...can we say "aerosol poop"? yucky! I had to go wash my face after that...

[kewpie-o]

Originally Posted by Fujiko

Yesterday she had a coughing fit while I was changing her diaper...can we say "aerosol poop"? yucky! I had to go wash my face after that...

Oh my gosh, I know! Sometimes when she poops while I'm changing her, it seems so foamy! No wonder the poor girlie has a belly ache....her poop is like froth!

[kewpie-o]

Grrrrr......she's at it again :

[doudat]

Originally Posted by kewpie-o

Oh my gosh, I know! Sometimes when she poops while I'm changing her, it seems so foamy! No wonder the poor girlie has a belly ache....her poop is like froth!

I'm no expert, but anytime I see dairy as a possible culprit, it seems frothy poop is one of the indicators... I'd look up on that. Dd is gassy too, but I think it's just normal newborn gassiness. No frothy poops at all.

[SPOpa]

.

[kewpie-o]

Hhhmmm....didn't know that about frothy poops...about over-supply and reaction to dairy. Her poops aren't green, and it's actualy been a few weeks since I've seen her poop the frothy stuff (although she still may be - I just haven't seen her in action) I do drink quite a bit of milk, as I am a cereal fiend. I am now thinking about cutting dairy from my diet. I don't need to be eating all that cereal anyway. LOL

[nataliachick7]

reflux. probably with a milk/soy protein intolerance. goes hand in hand most of the time.
many refluxers are comfort eaters because liquid soothes the throat. my son has been a different child since starting prevacid. he can eat pain free.

[nataliachick7]

oh yeah, this is what saved me when i was in your place:

http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/default.asp

[_betsy_]

Sounsd like a combination of things. Dairy in your diet is probably the most obvious culprit.

Have you tried swaddling the baby so at least her limbs aren't as uncontrollable?

[PookieMom]

My son does the flayling thing too. It's basically constipation, and sucking helps as well as wiggling.... so he does it at the same time

I don't know if this helps but I read that sometimes when babies have to poo they tense up and try to push but they can't coordinate their sphincter muscle to relax so they tense that up as well. All that straining causes pain and the best comfort is the breast which helps them relax to allow the sphincter to open.

And the three hour nursing session sounds pretty normal to me. I think growth spurts are at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months but that aproximated, all babies are different.

HOpe this helps

oh, as for pacifiers, the best one i've found is the Avent brand. He won't take it from me but he'll suck on it if dad or grandma wants to rock him to sleep to give me a bit of a break