My poor fussy little breastfed baby.

Posted on Jul 08 in Uncategorizedby TalinaPrint

Everly was born 2 weeks ago, it seems like it was just yesterday though. Probably because we’ve not slept the whole time huh? LOL.

We are learning about this whole parenting thing and we are so in love with little Everly. Unfortunately, we’ve got a fussy uncomfortable baby that we can’t seem to calm. Everyone is saying it is colic and everyone has an opinion about her ailment that doesn’t seem to help us in treating it.

I just hate calling it colic because the name doesn’t imply any specific condition or treatment. Everyone just throws their hands up and says “Oh colic, hang in there- it will pass”. I am sorry but just accepting that it’s a mystery that she’ll out grow isn’t okay with me. Her fussing is due to something and I want to know what so I can fix it.

She’s not fussy all day, just over certain extended periods of time. Recently she’s begun fussing at the breast too and she’s really straining to poop or pass gas.

We took a trip to the library on Sunday and checked out a bunch of breastfeeding books for me to read. Some books say colic goes away and that parents just have to tough it out. I’ve read that breastfed babies can’t be constipated but many are typically gassy and strain to poop normally. I’ve also read about how a mom’s diet can cause digestive distress for a breastfed baby.

On Sunday night/ Monday morning I had to take Everly down to the nursery and spend the night with her fussing and crying all night. We left N to sleep in the bedroom since he had to work on Monday and he spent the previous night with her fussing so I could sleep.

Anyway I am pretty sure feeding is making her tummy hurt. It’s either something in my diet or it could be her nursing pattern and the fact that she’s not getting a good mix of foremilk/ hindmilk. She could be swallowing air or not properly latching on too. Basically it could be anything…

I am just overwhelmed, frustrated and at a loss right now. I want to know what the problem is so it can be fixed but there is just so much conflicting information out there and nothing seems to be working.

Today I’ve tried breast compressions during feeding. I just read about breast compression to encourage baby to finish feeding on a breast as opposed to sleeping before sufficient hindmilk is consumed.

Everly is very soothed by feeding and has fallen asleep during feeds since she was born. I chatted with a lactation consultant about this at The farm and she showed me how to compress the breast and keep her nursing longer. I had no idea that poor latch and baby’s dozing at the breast can be a cause of colic.

To get more info I am also reading about:

Help relieve abdominal pain in infants with colic.
Colic and the breastfed baby, diet issues, let-down and other causes.

Last night was much of the same fussiness. She didn’t sleep for very long and when time came for feedings she would only nurse for like 10-15min before pulling off, fussing and grunting or falling asleep. The pulling off and fussing/ grunting is hell on the nipples and I wish she would just nurse long enough to get sufficient milk. It might reduce the constant nursing and allow us all to get some sleep.

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13 Comments

• Vanessa says:

  July 8, 2009 at 6:17 pm

  My little guy had the same problem at 2 weeks. Discovered it was cow’s milk which is common. There is a protein that they cannot process well. It takes a week or two to fully get out of your system.
• Jenni Shaver says:

  July 8, 2009 at 6:58 pm

  I have had a few times where one of mine have went through that… classic hindmilk/foremilk imbalance, (although I heard from a lactation consultant who attended a lamaze training with me that she had attended a training in which they were told to not use that term any longer…which baffles me bc I KNOW IT EXISTS!!!) Anyways, I remember it being hell on my nipples too.. it led to me not being as good about latch and I ended up with cracked nipples, thrush, etc. THAT was the “gift that kept on giving”, lemme tell ya. You sound like you are doing everything you can and I hope that your sweet baby gets some relief from whatever is ailing her soon. Hang in there!!!
• Jenni Shaver says:

  July 8, 2009 at 7:10 pm

  mommy brain here … It sounds like you are already treating to correct this as a possibile cause, but It looks like the term oversupply is being used now rather than hindmilk/foremilk imbalance? http://www.llli.org/FAQ/foremilk.html

  IN ANY CASE… hope Everyly feels better soon <3
• Megan says:

  July 8, 2009 at 8:00 pm

  I’m not a mom, so have no experience with this- well, I was a colicky baby myself, but all I remember my mom saying about that was “Damn you cried a lot…” I think it’s great that you are on the hunt for a solution instead of just accepting it, as you said. Poor baby!
  .-= Megan´s last blog ..What a fucking week. =-.
• Veronica says:

  July 9, 2009 at 6:01 am

  I just want to hug you. No really, I do. Amy was exactly the same way and it sucks. It sucks HARD.

  My advice? Use every available source of support you’ve got to keep yourself sane. Do whatever you think you need to to make it better and give yourself permission to ignore all advice. Even mine.

  xx
  .-= Veronica´s last blog ..Fatty Lumps and Dirt =-.
• Tanya says:

  July 9, 2009 at 6:11 am

  I feel the same with Emily, but she does it probably once or twice a week with bad wind. she just eats too quickly and swallows so much air. Last night she screamed for 2 hours on and off, it was horrible. I was told to keep her hard against the breast so no air gets in. (still perfecting it though)
  .-= Tanya´s last blog ..1 month old =-.
• witchypoo says:

  July 9, 2009 at 6:42 am

  It’s colic if a ride in the car settles her down. Some folks have been known to attach a small motor to the underside of the crib. The vibrations are soothing.
  .-= witchypoo´s last blog ..SB Introduces Her Neighbours =-.
• Heather Jones says:

  July 9, 2009 at 9:34 am

  I’m so sorry for more unsolicited advice, but maybe this will help. It reminded me of it when you were talking about hindmilk and foremilk. I had to call a lactation consulatant with Jaydon a few weeks after he was born for the same reason but it was due mostly to gas. I was told that foremilk is much lighter than hindmilk which has more calories that your baby needs. If your baby is falling asleep at the breast before he/she gets to the hindmik, then it might be best to pump the foremilk, and then feed her the hindmilk first. Aftwards topping her off with the bottle of foremilk.

  I tried it for a week before it just got way too complicated and I hated seeing Jaydon fuss while I was pumping the lighter stuff out. It did help his gassiness though. I guess when the heavier milk settles when it comes out last it can create gas in the tummy. So I don’t know how much of this would actually be helpful as I did it for a week and I had a fussy baby right before feedings but not so much afterwards once I started that. Good luck! It is very frustrating when you don’t know what is wrong with your little one. Sorry again for being the advice queen.
  .-= Heather Jones´s last blog ..My Bedtime Routine With Jaydon =-.
• Tamaroco says:

  July 9, 2009 at 3:12 pm

  Hi!
  You probably don’t have that much time for research now, so I’m posting a link and a research paper on colic and probiotics. Hope you’ll find it useful.

  Here are BioGaia drops that have researched L.reuteri probiotic:
  http://www.colichelp.com/shop/biogaia-probiotic-drops.html

  And research paper: (abstract)

  Savino, F., et al. (2007) Lactobacillus reuteri (American Type Culture Collection Strain 55730) Versus Simethicone in the Treatment of Infantile Colic: A Prospective Randomized Study. Pediatrics, 119, e124-30.

  OBJECTIVE. The goal was to test the hypothesis that oral administration of Lactobacillus reuteri in a prospective randomized study would improve symptoms of infantile colic.

  METHODS. Ninety breastfed colicky infants were assigned randomly to receive either the probiotic L reuteri (108 live bacteria per day) or simethicone (60 mg/day) each day for 28 days. The mothers avoided cow’s milk in their diet. Parents monitored daily crying times and adverse effects by using a questionnaire.

  RESULTS. Eighty-three infants completed the trial: 41 in the probiotic group and 42 in the simethicone group. The infants were similar regarding gestational age, birth weight, gender, and crying time at baseline. Daily median crying times in the probiotic and simethicone groups were 159 minutes/day and 177 minutes/day, respectively, on the seventh day and 51 minutes/day and 145 minutes/day on the 28th day. On day 28, 39 patients (95%) were responders in the probiotic group and 3 patients (7%) were responders in the simethicone group. No adverse effects were reported.

  CONCLUSIONS. In our cohort, L reuteri improved colicky symptoms in breastfed infants within 1 week of treatment, compared with simethicone, which suggests that probiotics may have a role in the treatment of infantile colic.
• Lynn says:

  July 9, 2009 at 5:04 pm

  hang in there. i know its hard to see your little one fussing and not know what is wrong.if you dont already have it i would get the what to expect the first year book. i have turned to it alot over the last three weeks.
  lynn
• Becky says:

  July 9, 2009 at 5:37 pm

  A fussy baby is maddening. Especially when you’re full of “what-ifs” and “why is this”. I hope that you and Everly get everything figured out. When does she have her first pediatrician appointment? My ped was a great resource for breastfeeding info.
  .-= Becky´s last blog ..Random Rambles =-.
• Hyphen Mama says:

  July 10, 2009 at 3:46 pm

  Wynnie did something very similar and was breastfed. I kept asking the pediatrician if it was possible for her to be lactose intolerant, they said it was very rare and surely she wasn’t. I cut out all spicy foods: garlic, milk, onions, EVERYTHING except bland food. She still cried and fussed starting around 20 minutes after she’d start breastfeeding. This went on for several weeks. At one desperate point when she was a few weeks old, I sent Mr Hyphen to the store to get several types of formula. She LOVED LOVED LOVED lactose free formula, no fussing whatsoever. I wasn’t ready to give up breastfeeding, but after trial and error found that if I pumped the milk, refrigerated it, then reheated it in a bottle, she could drink it (but NOT if the milk had been reheated more than once… to her it was “old” and yucky). SO for several weeks we did that: I’d pump and give her the milk via a bottle.

  At 6 weeks, she weaned herself and refused all breast milk, only consuming lactose free formula until she was a year old.

  I have read a mommy blogger who had a similar experience and did what some call the Thanksgiving Diet– what you’d typically eat on TG so that her milk was digestible to her baby.
  http://www.motherhooduncensored.net/motherhood_uncensored/2005/11/the_thanksgivin.html
  .-= Hyphen Mama´s last blog ..Good grief where do the days go? =-.
• Hyphen Mama says:

  July 10, 2009 at 3:47 pm

  Sorry, I should have mentioned, in that link she also links to Dr Sears’ website that explains the diet and how it helps colic in breastfed babies.
  .-= Hyphen Mama´s last blog ..Good grief where do the days go? =-.

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