[Serenity Now]

My ds is 2 months old. He's nursing great and really gaining weight fast, probably because he's still nursing every 1-2 hours. Boy am I tired, but this is so worth it.

Anyhoo, my question is, why does he scream bloody murder for at least 5-10 minutes after eating? Sometimes burping and vomiting helps him, but sometimes it doesn't. Last night he was up crying from 10:30 pm until 1 am, but more usually he cries for about 10 minutes. I tried nursing him more, and he'd latch, but then pop off and start screaming. He wouldn't burp or spit up. He cries after almost every feeding.

We did try him on Zantac when he was about 4 weeks old for his constant screaming (and I do mean constant - 9+ hours straight), and it did help. I felt terrible giving it to him, though, and it did affect our nursing relationship. He seemed so suspicious of nursing, I think it's because the Zantac tastes so bad. I stopped giving it to him after a week and a half because he just wasn't crying as much as he had been. But he still cries after eating, though.

I think my let down bothers him because he pops on and off during the entire nursing session, and especially when the milk is letting down.

Keeping him upright after feeding doesn't help, and he seems pretty content for the most part except for right after feeding. I really wish he'd fall asleep nursing sometime because then maybe he'd sleep for more than an hour (yeah, right :LOL ).

Oh, I should mention this is my second child that I have nursed.

 

[Parker'smommy]

hmmm, as I was reading, reflux was the first thing that came into my mind.

You say, that after giving him Zantax that he stopped crying as much....hmmm, why did you stop when it was working? Just trying to understand...maybe I read it wrong. Oh, and zantax won't stop the spitting up but stops the pain associated with reflux. ( my older ds had reflux as an infant....kinda cleared up around 6 months old)

Have you tried an elimination diet? Taking out ALL dairy? Be worth a try. Hope you figure this out...wish I could be more help!

 

[Serenity Now]

Thanks for the reply, Heather.

I stopped the Zantac because he wasn't screaming for hours anymore. He seemed better. It was actually accidental that I stopped it. I have a 2 year old, and one day before bed I realized I'd forgotten his meds all day because we were so busy, and his behavior was pretty good. So I just never gave it to him again. But even on the Zantac he was screaming after feeds. I just wondered if it was normal, or anything I was doing. I always hear about babies who nurse to sleep, but that hasn't been my experience with either of my kids.

I don't eat dairy, actually, and we're on a pretty good organic whole foods diet. I make almost everything we eat. But, if it was dietary, wouldn't the screaming last longer? I'm just wondering why my little guy doesn't get that sweet milk drunk look; he doesn't seem happy or content after nursing. Is that odd?

 

[LynnE73]

Is it possible you have a ferocious letdown? The popping on and off the breast during a feeding makes me wonder. I myself am having that problem currently. My ds was vomiting after feedings too. What I've done to help is eliminate dairy and I actually lay on my back when feeding him so the letdown doesn't hose him down so badly. I also burp frequently.

 

[~*~MamaJava~*~]

I had this problem with my second ds. Constantly coming off and on the breast, and then howling when he was done nursing. Drove me crazy!! I figured out that I have a forceful letdown and did some different things to help him with that - nursing from one breast for a few feedings, pumping a bit first. I think I got the suggestions from kellymom.com.
I also eliminated dairy, which helped - but you don't have that problem!
Next, I tried to get some reflux meds from the dr. because he was showing signs of it. She said he had mild GERD but here in Canada they won't give you zantax type meds for babies.
Back at square one with a screaming baby, I called the chiropractor and booked him for an appointment.
Well, what a difference. After the first adjustment he was a different child. He had also had pooping issues (was always straining, even though not constipating) which it solved as well. We continued to go and see a lot of improvement.
Just recently I brought him in due to irritability and a mild ear infection, and within a day or two he was much better.
So that's my recommendation!

 

[Serenity Now]

I think it may be my letdown. I will try laying back while feeding, I hadn't thought of that. Could it be that the strong letdown is making him overfull, so he needs to vomit the extra back up? It's kind of silly, when my milk lets down he pops off and just leaves his mouth open and catches the spray. It always makes me laugh.

 

[Lula's Mom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serenity Now Could it be that the strong letdown is making him overfull, so he needs to vomit the extra back up?

Yes, absolutely. I have strong letdown and tons more production on my right breast, and my baby couldn't handle it for the first 3 months or so. He had to nurse on the left for every feeding, unless my older child had already drained a lot out of the right. If he ate on the freaky high-flow right, he had a host of problems: gas from popping on and off, choking, spitting up, and green foremilk poops. Maybe your son screams because he gets a terrible gassy tummy?

It has gotten a LOT better as my son got older. At 5 months he hit a growth spurt and needed more than the left can provide. I found that he can handle the right now, and often prefers it when he's really hungry. I call the low-flow left my "Binky Breast" because that's the one he comfort nurses on. :LOL

 

[sbgquilt]

Struggling with similar stuff -- dd is 6 weeks. Found changes in diet helped a lot. I took out gassy foods and we are both less gassy now and less crying after eating.

 

[Drewsmom]

My first ds was exactly like that. I would admiringly look at the other moms in LLL meeting and wonder how their babies could nurse so quietly without screaming and popping on and off so many times while feeding.

When you say that you don't have any dairy in your diet does that mean that you're not drinking milk and eating cheese or does that mean that all diary including things with whey and casein are taken out of your diet (may be the case but just checking). It took me until 4 mo.s old and a LLL meeting to realize that I still had milk in my diet, even the 5th ingredient down was aggitating to him.

I also had a forceful let down and i would *have* to unlatch him if he didn't unlatch himself as he would suck down so much air that it would make him spit up and burp a lot afterwards. I would just hold a diaper cloth infront of me and let myself spray as long as it was coming (which seemed like a long time) then I would relatch him. Sometimes nursing laying down can help, sounds funny but it can work.

You might also look for other problematic foods that might be upsetting his digestion. If you have The Baby Book by Dr. Sears he includes a list of highly allergenic foods that are helpful to see if they might be the culprit. Hopefully it's just the forceful let down though. Good luck!