difficulty with nightime breastfeedings?

Question

My daughter is almost 5 weeks old. Sometimes (especially at night) she seems to choke while she's eating. I can see it coming on because she sucks and doesn't swallow for a few seconds...than she can't seem to swallow, then she can't breath and then she starts panicking, pulling away and then finally crying/screaming. I calm her down and try again...but it seems like once it starts, it continues...while I am calming her down I am leaking milk all over myself, or else I cover up with the breast pads and then we seem to have the same problem once I feel the let-down again. My question is...does anyone else have/had this problem? What can I do? THis will go on for hours it seems. And then finally after hours of crying she'll fall asleep (who knows if those one minute feedings are filling her up after awhile or what). Anyway, this just happened, and I tried to offer her a bottle of formula and to pump instead...I got less than 1 ounce, but I usually fill a bottle..what is going on?

The breastfeeding is going great other than this occasional 7-11pm nightmare...I am not even sure if it IS the milk...she wouldn't take the bottle of formula I made for her either...

Answer 1

Please don't give up on breastfeeding! I have been through what you described. It sounds like what is happening is that your daughter isn't sure what to do when you letdown (you may feel it, you may now - I feel a pulling sensation through my entire breast when I letdown). My son would choke and gag everytime I let down. He has only gotten the hang of it over the last few weeks (he is 5 months old now and feeding wonderfully). He now slows down his sucking rhythm when I let down. But until recently he would choke/gag, and then fuss and cry. I tried burping him when it happened and then resuming - oftentimes it helped. If it gets really bad, take her off if and when you feel yourself start to let down. Take a break for a minute or two, and then resume feeding. But don't do this all the time if you don't have to - your daughter needs to learn (eventually) what to do when you let down.

Sorry to repeat the letdown problem - I didn't read that far down before answering - I apologize. I had the same problem, yes. Over time your daughter will learn to slow down her sucking to accomodate the letdown. Try burping her and taking a short break when she pulls off choking/gagging from the letdown.

Are you pumping at night or during the day? I found that pumping at night (until recently) didn't yield much milk and just freaked me out by how little came out (I kept thinking I was drying up). I had less milk in the evenings. I found that the best time to pump was while I was feeding - I pump on one side while my son eats on the other. That way I get more of the benefit of the letdown. At this point (5 months of breastfeeding) I don't have to do that anymore. I fill up a 5 oz bottle in about 10 minutes.

Another option - pump for a few minutes right before the problem feeding time - that way they aren't as full and might not overwhelm her as much. I have had to do that on occasion when my breasts were too full and it really helped my son!

Good luck and hang in there! There is a mountain of benefits for breastfeeding your baby! She will get through this. Kudos to you for breastfeeding! If you still have trouble, contact your local breastfeeding/lactation consultant. They should have one at the local hospital. Or try www.lalecheleague.com or kellymom.com. Good luck!

I agree with the 1 side feeding comment also - I was told by mt lactation consultant to offer only 1 breast per feeding. In addition to helping your problem, it is also more beneficial to your baby. The hindmilk has more nutrients in it.

Answer 2

What you have described sounds just like an oversupply or forceful letdown issue. Basically you have too much milk! I have had this problem myself. This article really helped me:

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

Basically, you have two possible issues. First, the milk is flowing too fast for your baby to swallow. As your baby gets older, this will no longer be a problem, but for right now you want to stimulate your breasts to let down milk, catch the leaks in a burp cloth or towel, then put your baby to the breast when the flow slows down a bit. You can hand-express some milk, use a pump to get the milk to let down, or nurse your baby for a few seconds until you feel let-down, then take her off for a minute or two, then put her back on. Of course, it will help if you do this when she is only a little bit hungry, and not starving.

Another problem you may have is a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. The article I linked to really goes into this in detail, but to correct it you basically want to only nurse on one side per feeding, or for a certain period of time (like one side for 4 hours, the next side for 4 hours). Let the baby completely "empty" each breast before switching sides (the breast is really never "empty" since it is always making milk, but you know what I mean). Ease into this schedule gradually, though, for your own comfort.

Also, don't worry about not getting much milk with the pump. Babies are *far* more efficient at getting milk out of the breast than the pump is. I never can get more that an ounce or two at a time and, like I said, I have an abundant supply.

If you really get stuck, call your local La Leche League leader or a lactation consultant who may be able to see what your baby is doing and have more ideas. Hang in there though! The first few weeks of breastfeeding can be tricky, but it is about to get *much* easier and, like I said, this is a totally fixable problem.

EDITED TO ADD: I have no idea why this would be happening mostly at night. Perhaps you are nursing in a different postion than in the daytime? Gravity can affect the speed of milk flow. Try leaning back instead of forward and put the baby on top of you. Or, your baby could be experiencing some colic, in which case correcting the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance should help a lot with that.

Answer 3

It sounds like you have an oversupply with a forceful letdown. I had this same problem. My daughter would start choking and pull away and milk would spray everywhere. I fixed this by only feeding her on one breast at each feeding. Offer her one side only and then do not offer the next side until the next feeding. You will get a little engorged at first on the side that you are not feeding on, but your body will adjust. Be patient, it might take up to a week for this to work. If you find that this is still not helping, offer one side for two feedings, then the other side for two feedings. My daughter nursed on one side only per feeding until she was 6 months old. She is 7 months old and nursing on both sides per feeding with no problems. I also found help by calling my local hospital and speaking to a lactation consultant. It was free and she was very helpful.

Answer 4

You may be having such a strong let down of the milk that she is struggling to keep up with the high milk flow. Try getting your milk to let down before putting her to the breast, once the milk isn't jetting out, you can put her on and she should be fine. Also, make sure your breast tissue isn't blocking her nose. Baby's are obligate nose breaters and if you block her nose, she will struggle to breath and this will interfere with her sucking and swallowing sequences. Hope this helps. Call your hospital and see if they have a lactation consultant on staff or find out if there is a local La Leche League (LLL) in town. LLL is a group of women dedicated to helping breastfeeding women, meetings and help are FREE!!!!!!

Answer 5

I actual have a 7 week old as well and that i will allow you to recognize, a breastfed infant needs the relax of nursing. I expressed sufficient milk for my daughter to have for a whole nighttime and day so i ought to actual have some beverages, (I pump and promote off even as I attempt this), yet my daughter did a similar accurate element that you probably did and went through the finished provide because she wasn't attending to nurse to sleep. I nurse her to help her nod off, knocks her precise out. some children are waiting to pass from breast to bottle actually, yet no longer all. i recognize my daughter truthfully prefers the breast so i have fairly bucked up and began feeding her in public, which isn't undesirable once you're used to it. All you've were given to say is "My infant has to devour." and also you'll get through it.

Answer 6

Aw, the poor baby! I agree with the others, it sounds as if your let-down is much too strong, and your baby is literally choking on too much milk. Try expressing a bit before offering the breast so that the let-down is weaker.

Answer 7

I personally would give her formula. The breast feeding nazi's will be after me now but i dont care. I will love my baby no matter how he is fed (he is coming out in 13 days).

Good luck