Baby's First Year Community

ArreynGrey,
I am so, so sorry to hear that you are having such a rough time with your son. I am exhausted just reading your description...I know you've got to be fried! When there seem like there are so many possible things going on at once, and when it also seems like they might all be intertwined, I like to break it down into individual issues. First, the arching/spitting/pain/fussy symptoms that you are describing sound like textbook acid reflux. I am not his doctor, and therefore am not able to diagnose reflux in him, but from my estimation, it is absolutely worth scheduling an appointment SEPARATE from his well baby appointment to talk about this possibility. And soon. It's not dangerous, but the lack of sleep and general unrest that you've been having to endure is! Secondly, the hunger. This seems to have 2 probable roots - your body's lack of milk production during daylight hours and his inability to eat enough to stave off the hunger longer because he's likely in so much pain during feedings that he's cutting them short. The milk production issue should improve with time, but in the meantime, there are some herbal remedies that can help, under the direction of a lactation consultant. If your pediatrician's office does not have a lactation consultant on staff, contact the hospital where you delivered, as most hospitals have outpatient lactation services. You can schedule an appointment for you and your baby to be evaluated by the lactation consultant, and recommendations can be made from there to improve your daytime milk supply. The possible acid reflux issue, can be addressed, sometimes through medication, if that indeed is contributing to his ineffecient feedings. In theory, once that problem is fixed, he will be able to tolerate feedings better, therefore he'll eat more at each feeding, and therefore he'll stay full longer. Lastly, the issue of a possible underlying milk/whey allergy. Some babies with this type of allergy have obvious symptoms like blood in the stool, but other babies just have what appears to be very bad acid reflux symptoms. There is a way to test for this in your pediatrician's office. Even if the test is negative, breastfeeding mothers who still have a high suspicion can go on elimination diets to determine which foods are causing the problem...these dietary modifications can be spearheaded by your local lactation consultant as well, but most often include cutting out dairy, eggs, nuts, and wheat. That's a tall order for most moms, so don't try to take that on by yourself...contact a lactation consultant, please! Lastly, remember that if you're not thriving (because of lack of sleep and not eating and drinking enough), eventually it will catch up with your baby too...so don't put off getting help. You WILL get through this difficult time. Hang in there and keep us updated.

My daughter (who is now 19 months) went through something similar when she was just a few weeks old. It seemed to be caused by my fast/strong let down (which I did not have with my son, who is now almost 4). My daughter would spit up a lot, couldn't get comfortable, had a lot of gas and and foamy stools from all of the gas. She would also sometimes choke while feeding because she couldn't keep up with it. She would fuss a lot until the gas passed, but by then she usually fed again! Is it possible that you are going through this? There are ways to fix it.

The problem with supply should fix itself in a few days as long as you just keep feeding when he's hungry. Just be aware that if you feed more often and you do have strong let down, then the problem with let down could get a little worse. If you want info on how to correct strong let down, look on the la leche league website www.llli.org.

Good luck!