I posted another thread askng for advice on why my three week old (now four week old) might be becoming fussy, but the more I think about it the more I think it must be related to feeding.

Where he used to latch on and suck for twenty minutes, now he latches on, sucks for two minutes, and then starts to twist and grunt and toss his head around. It's not that he's not getting enough milk, because I hear him swallowing, and it's not that the milk is coming too fast, because at first I would take him off and express but he acts the same way whehter the milk is squirting or dripping. Even if he doesn't come off, he makes unhappy noises and jerky motions. Sometimes he'll go right back to nursing; other times I need to hold him and stroke his back for a while before he agrees to nurse again -- even though he's hungry. Sometimes it's gas -- sometimes it's not.

He's also started having a lot of trouble passing stool. Instead of just seeing a concentrating type look on his face and then hearing a rumble, I'll see him straining and grunting and turning red for sometimes ten or fifteen minutes. Sometimes he'll start screaming in the middle and it's hard to calm him down -- but eventually, once the stool passes, he's fine.

Are these related? Could this be food allergies manifesting themselves? He doesn't have a rash on his face or diaper area, and I haven't changed my diet, so I would be inclined to think not. Can you think of any foods (or anything else) that could cause this?

I had been through the mill and back with ds when he was that age too. It sounds like him to the T! I figured out it was a mix of a heavy let down, and getting too much foremilk, and no tenough hind milk, and also his temperment. I know wha your thinking, but ds really did have enormous amounts of stubborness and personality at that age. I had a very heavy letdown, and even if I expressed some at the beginning, it didn't matter, it was still squirting him in the back of the throat, and I'm sure that was uncomfortable.
I highly doubt it is an allergy related problem. It is very uncommon to find a baby who is allergic to this mothers milk, or somethin gshe is eating, but trying to cut the most obvious might be e good idea to see. Broccoli, asparagus (and other gassy veggies and foods) dairy, spicy foods etc. It's probably not the problem, but I would keep a diary for at least a week or two.
That said, ds had gas and uncomfortable BM's because of the inbalance of foremilk and hindmilk. i had to work on this my taking him off the breast after the letdown began, and waited a few moments, and put him back. It made him mad, but eventually my letdown became less strong(although it always remained a bit). Ds got used to it, and my body adjusted.
My biggest suggestion is to call a lactation consultant(your hospital can suggest one) or look on the LeLecheLeauge site can help.
Your littl eone is getting smarter, and knows what he wants, so don't be shocked that he knows how to show it. When I would get very upset about nursing given the stress we were having, he would feel it, so try to relax.Eventually he needed to nurse less often ,and he got so good at it, I only nursed for a few minutes at a time, and he was done. Keep working on it, breastfeeding was the most rewarding experience of my life. There were so many ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I still loved it. Take it one day at a time. I hope this helps a little bit!:angel:

Hm.

Well, here are the reasons I'm not so sure:
1. I'm never engorged. Then again, I didn't even get engorged in the beginning, and I clearly had enough milk as my son gained a pound in his first two weeks, so who knows?

2. I don't think the letdown is the issue, as he doesn't really act differently when the letdown is strong from when it's weak, judging by the force of the milk ejection when expressed by hand.

3. I can only express a little more than an ounce per breast at a time. Then again, I'm pretty sure there's more in there that he gets, because he'll be satisfied after nursing on both sides but he's not satisfied with the expressed milk alone.

4. His stool is very wet, it's true, but it's yellow and seedy, not green and slimy the way the Internet (not so reliable, I know) says it would be with a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance.

But you are certainly right about personality asserting itself early. My mother's last children (numbers 5 and 6) were twins, and she said you could see personality differences between them before two weeks.

North --

If you're saying milk allergy because of constipation, he's not constipated. The stool is quite watery and soft -- I actually think it's because it's so soft that he has trouble getting it out.

Not necessarily constipation, but the straining and grunting. That also sounds like gas pains, which can also be from dairy. What could it hurt to try? For what it's worth, at almost 9 months old, I still can't have caffeine. It effects her REALLY badly. Not only does it keep her up, but it upsets her tummy. It sucks. I love coffee.

Edited to add: breastfed poops are naturally really liquidy and runny. He can be constipated without them being firm. If he's in pain or discomfort while pooping, it sounds like something you're eating may be effecting him. It's good that his stools seem normal (aside from him being in discomfort while having one).

Do you drink coffee?

Nope, no coffee. Or Coke.

My major vices are sugar and now I suppose I have to add milk :).

Not just milk, but cheese, yogurt, ice cream (oh you poor, poor girl.. lol). Also keep an eye out on the ingredients label for "whey", which is a milk derivitive. LLL has a list of hidden dairy products on their website. I tried the daiy elimination diet, and it didn't do anything (this was pre-reflux diagnosis). It sucked, so I feel your pain. The good thing is that they often out grow it in a couple months, so you could slowly start to add certain foods back in, after a couple of months.

Hang in there!

My daughter acted like that for a while and then she also had projectile vomiting really bad. We took her in and they did an upper gi and found out that she has reflux. She is on zantac. She is so much better. I tried the milk thing and she was the same way. I didnt eat or drink anything that had any form of dairy in it and it didnt change the way she was at all.

Good luck with it.

Hi! I had the exact same problems with dd. I discovered that it was related to my diet, but wasn't as bad as you think. I started by taking everything out that was known to cause problems, vegies like broccoli, etc., spicy food, all dairy products, no caffiene, etc. Then I started putting them back in one by one. It turns out that the only thing that bothers her is milk and eggs. Eggs? Yes eggs! It took me awhile to figure that out but eggs are the worst ever for her. So I think every baby is different, but I can eat spicy food, all dairy products except for milk, etc. so it really hasn't been that limiting. I can do without milk and eggs :D Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies.

One last question: (If you can't tell, I don't like the idea of trying the dairy elimination diet unless I have too...)

Would a baby who was having lactose intolerance issues be thriving? My son has gained more than two ounces a day since he was a week old -- he saw the doctor at exactly a month and he was more than three pounds above his birth weight. It seems to me logical that if he were having intolerance issues he wouldn't be gaining so much weight, which is why I'm thinking it's more likely to be a milk imbalance -- also because I've started only switching breasts every few hours and he seems to be doing a little better.

What do you think?

It's entirely possible to still thrive in spite of food sensitivities. I would think they would only fail to thrive if they threw up so much that they were not taking in enough calories or fluids.

My daughter has such an extreme sensitivity to caffeine but has always thrived even in spite of it.

BUT, since you have started block feeding and it seems to be working, I would go with that. I too hated the elimination diet, so if you can avoid, good for you!

Keep in mind all babies are different. I know some who cannot have ANY dairy proteins, which means mom has to do a complete dairy elimination, and I also know some women who have simply cut out their morning coffee cream. It's so variable that you may find it's more doo-able (is that a word?) then you think. If it's needed of course.

I would try the block feeding for a week, as it can take that long to decrease your supply enough to make a difference. If after a week he's still bothered I might try cutting out *some* dairy and see how that works.

I just have to say cutoes to you for sticking with it. Sometimes BF'ing is not easy and requires a lot of trial and error, but it's so worth it in the end. Go mama!!

Well, on the decreasing my supply, I'm not sure I want to. There are so many babies out there who need breastmilk that if I have an oversupply, I'd rather just pump it and donate.

I think the block feeding is working just because he's emptying one breast completely instead of getting the foremilk from both and only a little hindmilk, so I think it should work just as well if I pump from the second breast while he nurses the first as if I let the supply decrease so that there was only just enough in both for what he needs.

Any thoughts?

If you want to donate I think that is a GREAT idea. You can do it locally through LLL (there is almost always someone willing to take milk) or you can do it through a milk bank (which will require health screening, shipping, storing, etc).

I would caution you about pumping though, because if you forget to pump one day or are unable, you son's issues could relapse when they excess milk is not pumped off.

If you are willing to pump I would suggest you pump it for your own use and freeze it (it can be stored for up to 6 months in a deep freeze). It's great for when baby is old to be left with a baby sitter. It's also great for mixing with food (if you make your own) instead of water. You can also offer it in sippy cups, etc. I have enough milk stored that she will be able to drink it from a sippy cup for a while instead of introducing cows milk (which we are going to hold off on).

I think it's great that you want to donate it, and if you have the milk you should, but I would also consider letting your body regulate how much milk you make without a pump for a while too.

FWIW, I pump in spurts. I'm not pumping at the moment, but once my freezer supply dips I'll pump again for a few weeks to build it up.. and so forth.