One Month Old Cries Out While Feeding

Hey D. - I applaud you for trying to breastfeed your son, despite your difficulties. I had a similar experience with my daughter as I was on antibiotics that caused a severe reaction which made me unable to breastfeed (but only for a few days until I switched meds) but she is now 6 months old and still breastfeeding.
Your son got used to instant gratification. It takes only like 4 muscles or something to take the bottle and 40 or something like that to nurse. Babies are smart. He knows if he cries you will give in and give him the bottle so he does not have to wait for your milk to let down or go through the trouble of getting the milk from your breast. I know you are worried about him getting enough nutrition, but if you continue to give him the bottle two things may happen. First off, your milk supply will dwindle as it is truly a supply-demand relationship and secondly, he will never learn to nurse as he will learn that he can always get the bottle. Do you see that you have milk? I don't know if you work or not, but I suggest a "nursing vacation" It's not easy on you and requires patience and emotional support from your significant other. Basically you need to just go to bed with your baby for a day or two and just nurse. Make sure you are topless and your baby is only in a diaper as the skin to skin contact will help with production and with comforting the baby. It is also more relaxing for both of you if you are lying down on your side with him at your breast. DO you know if you have him latched on properly? That's important both for your comfort and the milk delivery. Just let him learn to nurse and to understand that's how he gets his milk. When he is hungry and knows his crying will not get him the bottle he will probably give in to nursing. BTW, does he have a good sucking reflex? Not all babies do which can make things more difficult. I strongly you go to www.laleche.org and contact a leader in your area. They will help you as will the lactation consultant at the hospital where you delivered your son. Good luck and keep at it. I know how challanging it can be!!!

Hi D. congrats on your new born.I have a six month old son and a 2 year old daughter I did breast feed them both, but not for a long time. With my daugher I was doing it totally wrong so it hurt a lot.
I was not putting the nipple in far enough so she was not latching on right so I had to put her on formula, with my son it was different I did it right wanted to breast feed him longer than I did my daughter but I had to supplement with the formula also and this made him want the formula more, but what I really what to say to you about breast feeding for over two hours he is not getting anything.I did the same but, my kids pediatrician told me that after 20-25mins on each breast thats all the milk there is until his next feeding. so after about 40mins he is sucking nothing but air so that might be giving him grips thats why he's crying and also you need two drink a lot of liquids,it will make more milk you can pump it out that way you will know how much you are feeding him.

Im so sorry you are going through this! I admire your persistance as many would have given up! I went through something similiar with my first son (now 2). I just did not produce enough milk. I had a nurse teach me how to supplement with a tub (the kind they use with a butterfly needle with the needle cut off) which I attached to a syringe and while I was nursing the tub would go in his mouth and I would be pushing formula in as well - This way the baby is getting fed yet he thinks he is nursing so he sucks more which increased the milk - I know it sounded really complicated but I promise you it is not!! I still never made enough milk to feed him without a bottle afterward but it made for a happier nursing baby! Eventually I was able to nurse him at night and throughout night without bottle - I am greattful for this technique b/c I may have given up - if you'd like more info on it pls email me!!! ____@____.com
Don't let this discourage you for future nursing with another child - I just had my second and make a ton of more milk and my second son loves to nurse
good luck and hang in there!!!

hi D., and congrats! it sounds to me like you need to boost your milk supply. the more bottles you give, the less you will produce, so that is what has been going on with all the supplementing. and thats why he fusses. he is frustrated, and also remember that it is much easier for him to take a bottle, nursing is more work, so he is annoyed. ....you need to put him to the breast as often as possible. if you are determined to breastfeed, this is very do-able. have a nurse-in. just you and your baby snuggled in bed for a couple of days, and just nurse, eat, drink, sleep as much as possible. ignore everything else. try to relax - watch funny movies, listen to music, or just stare at your beautiful baby, whatever relaxes you. and get help. enlist someone to shuttle nutritious food in to you, to take care of the house if you care, etc. drink lots of water. eat real oatmeal with fake maple syrup, a couple of big bowls a day, it will boost your supply. the water is key. and dont consume any kind of caffiene or any meds that dehydrate you. try not to give bottles. of course you dont want your baby to be hungry, so give formula when you must, but try to keep it down as much as possible. and there is no reason for him to be on you for 2 hours, you are only going to turn your nipples into chopped meat and have a whole new set of problems. 20 min is plenty, maybe a half hour. after that you are really just a pacifier, which is fine if you dont mind, it satisfies his need to suck, but its rough on your nipples, so i would keep it down for now. be sure you finish the first breast before switching, the hind milk is the last milk they get in a feeding and thats what keeps him full, puts on weight, and aids in brain development. dont wear a bra, or at least not underwire for now. be sure you have a good latch. if you dont, email me, i have a great website that actually shows video, its so helpful. i have to run so this is short, you can email me and i will be happy to help you. im sure im leaving stuff out, but i wanted you to know that it is very fixable at this point with a little determination and dedication. you sound dedicated, i know you can do it. i did it with both sons (my daughter was no problem, but the boys busted my chops from the start!) by the way, when i was having such a hard time with my first, i realized that i was so tense about the whole thing that i was actually squishing him without realizing it! so he was crying from being squished, my milk wouldnt let down because i was tense, so i got more tense, he got more frustrated, etc etc. you need to relax, your body was meant to do this. and even though we had a rough start, we stuck with it and it all worked out, and you can do it too. im happy to help. im so sorry i have to run, but get in touch if you like. best of luck, you can do it :) D.

sounds like my daughter was. i was also dead-set on breast feeding, but since the nurses didn't honor my request and wake me for her 1st feeding, and gave her a bottle, she REFUSED taking from the breast. since i wanted her to have all the benefits of breast feeding, i quickly gave in, and started pumping. it felt like i was pumping ALL DAY/NIGHT and only getting about 1 oz each time. i would pump about 20 min w/ 1 hr inbetween times. i had problems with the pumps (went through 3) but i HAD to supplement with formula. after 2 1/2 months i quit pumping and went to just formula, the dr said that was fine because the most important benefits of breast feeding is in the 1st 2-3 months (especially the 1st couple days). as for the screaming, it could be some kind of gas or reflux. my daughter screamed only while trying to breastfeed, it was because she was starving and couldn't get enough fast enough. MAYBE that's his problem, you try breastfeeding, and by the time he's crying from that and you go to the bottle, he's just so hungry that he can't even get that down quick enough (my daughter's problem that stopped once i went to just bottle only...about 3-4 days). just double check with the dr.

I was never able to breast feed being medication when both my girls were born so don't feel inadequet that you are having problems. It does NOT make you a bad mom if you don't breast feed. My second daughter was born with acid reflux and had to be put on special formula and was also on pepcid. She would cry through out every feeding until she was on the pepcid. She seemed to be always hungry because with the acid reflux they feel better the fuller they are but in actuallity it makes them worse. My daughter had to be on lactose free formula because it was all her stomace could handle. Your son could also be lactose intorant and the regular fomula or the breast milk is hurting his stomace. You should give you doctor a call and let them know what is going on and have them look at your son for acid reflux. It took my doctor 3 months to diagnose it. Needless to say I switched doctors. I hope things get better for you and don't forget if you can't breast feed you are NOT a bad mother. It's not for everyone.
Good luck,
Jenn

Hi D.,
I know its a sad feeling and frustrating too. But you are doing all the right things. I had a similar problem with my daughter now 18 months and ended up supplementing with formula. I ended up switching to formula exclusively but you don't have to do that.

One problem is when you supplement with formula, you breastfeed less or the baby takes less from your breast. When the baby takes less your supply decreases very fast. I use to pump for like two hours and only get about an ounce...and I was trying to pump often so my supply would increase but I wasn't patient enough...but it does increase, you just have to be patient.

Now when baby tries to get milk from your breast and he is not getting it fast enough or the supply is low, then baby will cry because he's hungry and losing patience. I think you have to stay patient, keep pumping (i know its tiring, while you are supplementing w/formula and the stimulation will signal the body to produce more milk because the demand has increased. You will know because you'll be leaking and you will get engorged.

Now babies are smart and become lazy fast..smile...they like that the formula come right out the bottle and not a lot of work is involved, so thats why its hard to do both. But try to give him the breast more and the bottle less if he'll take it.

Other causes may be gastrointestinal discomfort from heartburn or reflux. When baby starts eating, they have burning which makes them cry. You could ask your doctor as this is easily treated and the formula may need to be changed.

You're not inadequate. Your baby will be great, healthy and fine. I hope that helps a little. Also, discuss with your doctor or pediatrician for tips.

Tracy

Comgratulations on trying to breastfeed. It sounds like you have had a bit of a tough time with it since being vack in the hospital though. This is not uncommon at all when mom and baby have needed to be seperated for significant periods of time at this age. When a new baby is not able to nurse from the breast and needs to be bottle-fed, he/she will come to prefer the bottle as it is easier to drink from the bottle than the breast. Then when Mom attempts to resume breastfeeding, hse experiences difficulty because often the baby will not want to latch on or gets frustrated when nursing because he/she is not getting enough milk from the breast due to decreased supply. Pumping your breasts is a good option for the time that you are seperated from your baby, but sometimes it is not enough. Also, it was you first delivery and it usually takes a bit longer to establish your milk supply with the first child, so your supply tends to drop off more quickly with the decreased stimulation. This is probably contributing to why your son is crying while nursing. Fortunately, there are great formulas available for times just like these. Although you will hear the addage that "Breast is the best", it is not always possible, and you should not feel inadequate is you are not able to, or choose not to, breastfeed. I work in the Women's Health field and believe that a woman should make a decision to breastfeed or not on her own with no other person coercing her to do so. It doesn't make you any less of a good mother to opt for formula if you need to. Enjoy your son!

Hello D.,
My son who is now 2 months and 2 weeks started pulling away from my breast at about 1 month into breastfeeding and would cry at the top of his lungs, he also did this when i would offer him the Enfamil formula he was on, he would just pull away from the bottle and scream. I went to his pediatrician who informed me that he had reflux, and put him on Prevacid and changed his formula to Similac (Alimentum). This has helped alot, although he still has his bad days there is more good days with drinking the formula. I stopped breastfeeding because the Dr said if i continued I would have to go on a dairy and soy free diet, but with me always running around I knew I wouldnt be able to stop and look at every label of what I was putting in my mouth so i just stuck with the formula. Hope this helped and call his pediatrician he may suggest the same. Let me know what happens, and if you have any question feel free to ask.

It is great that you are working so hard to keep breastfeeding. The first month or two of breastfeeding is really hard for most women under normal circumstances; let alone the additional circumstances that you have had.
Right after my daughter was born I was having difficulty producing enough milk and the lactation nurse at the hospital gave me the tube setup that the other poster mentioned. I attached the tube to my nipple and the other end of the tube went to a small bottle of formula. When the baby would suck at my breast she would also get a suppliment of formula. I think it helped. After a few weeks I would also suppliment with a regular bottle, but if I supplimented, I always made sure that I pumped around the same time to keep stimulating my breasts so they would produce more milk. Even if you don't get anything out from the pump a good pump will stimulate more milk production.
My daughter cried at the breast almost every time I fed her for the first 2-3 months. I could never figure out if it was from not getting enough milk or from acid reflux or something else. It used to really stress me out, but we got through it. My daughter was gaining weight at each doctor visit and eventually breastfeeding went more smoothly.
Hope some of this info helps and good luck!- B.

I would say that when he was on the bottle for that week he liked something about it and now thats what he wants. I wasn't able to breast feed my daughter for the first few weeks but I pumped and gave her the bottle so when I went to give her the breast she was like no way!!! So I continued that.
Its easier to just put him right to breast but sometimes the easy way is not the way you kids go. BELIEVE ME I KNOW!!! lol

When I had my daughter (now almost 20 months old), She started to cry when I tried to nurse her after I came home from the hospital. For some reason my mild never came in and she was crying because she was hungry and not getting anything. I had to supplement and after trying to stimulate milk production through pumping and supplements for close to a month, I gave up on nursing, with her pediatrician's support.

He could have Acid Reflex. My daughter has this and has had it since birth. She is on special formula and Prevacid. Before we got this under control, she would cry all the time.

Congratulations on the birth of your handsome son! As you will learn in your adventure while you are a parent, that things are not always as planned. I salute you for trying to breastfeed your son. But, it doesn't sound like he is getting anything out when he breastfeeds and this is why he is crying out of frustration. I mean how can we really measure how much milk they drink at each sitting. Maybe he is trying to tell you something. If he seems to be satisfied with the bottle then give him the bottle. It sounds like breastfeeding seems very important to you but it also sounds like you know deep inside what he needs. - How many of people are in this world that for some reason or another were not breastfeed, I am sure that they are okay.... - Another thing is that children can sense when we are frustrated and I know from experience that even if we are very patient when holding our children they can feel the things that we feel. So, isn't more important that he eats as he should and grows like the beautiful boy he must be... I do hope it works out for both of you.. Good Luck! As you get more experience you will see that even though we try our best as parents to make things go the right way, sometimes with kids it just doesn't... Good Luck!!

Hi. It sounds to me like you may not be producing enough milk and the little guy is hungry so he cries. I could be wrong but you said it is better when you give him a bottle where he is getting to eat. Just try giving him a bottle and see what happens and never feel inadequate. Motherhood is tough!! LOL Good Luck.