Help!!!

[@llli*kysmommy12]

Hi all, I’m a first time poster and first time mom to a beautiful baby girl born 12/4/12. I have so many questions I don’t know where to start. Well here it goes. I am strictly bf my little one. She does ok most of the time however, the last 4 days she will feed well for about 3 feedings and then she will start screaming when I try to latch her on. I don’t know what to do because she acts like she is hungry with the whole hand chewing but when I try it’s a huge fight. Sometimes she will give in a latch on but only feeds for like 10 minutes or so. Other times I just have to give up and rock her until she falls asleep. Yesterday she went 7hr with only eating for 10 minutes. I try to feed her a least 8 times a day but the last few day she’s only been eating 6-7. Every once in awhile, her stomach will rumble and I don’t know if it’s from hunger or pain. When she gets so mad at the breast she starts to pour sweat. I’m at my whit’s end and almost ready to quit bf. I really don’t want to quit because I start back to work in a few week. I want to bf as much as possible because I feel like when I go back I won’t be able to continue but that’s a whole other question. Someone please help, I’ve tried all the holds, lying down, sitting up and nothing seems to work. Oh btw she takes simethicone for gas, colief a lactase enzyme drop and zantac for reflux. She had very bad gas a stomach troubles in the beginning

[@llli*carm3]

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

I have a few thoughts. First off, it might be worth taking the baby to the doctor's to get her ears checked out. Babies can get fussy nursing when they have ear infections - the position can be uncomfortable, and it can hurt to swallow. I think it's worth ruling out.

Secondly, you're right that 6-7 times is probably not enough for her at this age. Have you tried dream feeding her? Keep a close eye on her outputs too!

[@llli*still.here]

Is she nursing at night? Sometimes babies that are fussy at the breast will nurse better cuddled up in bed half asleep.

[@llli*mamamia]

Possibly an issue with tongue tie or other mouth problem making it difficult for her to latch?

How's her weight gain?

A soothing bath will sometimes encourage a baby to latch -- get into a warm tub, have an adult hand you your baby, gently lower her bottom area into the bath, and make sure breasts are "available"

Lots and lots of skin-to-skin contact (only-diapered baby on your bare chest) really helps babies get the nursing instinct!

[@llli*kysmommy12]

Thank you all for replying. She feeds at around 10-11pm and then not again till 4-6am. I don’t try to wake her in the middle of the night anymore because she refuses to eat and just screams. Weight gain has been great. She was in the 50 percentile at her 1 month check up and her newborn clothes are getting tight. Her doctor checked her tongue at the last appointment and said she wasn’t tongue tie. I did speak with a nurse at the doctor’s office and she said that if she continued this over the weekend that they wanted to see her. She hasn’t had a fever or been pulling at her ears but I will be sure to go to the doctor if she continues.
She has gotten better with crying fits. I think it’s because when she starts to cry when I’m trying to feed her I will just give in and quit. She still cries almost every time I try to get her to latch on. I have gotten now to where I have to give her the pacifier for just a sec. I then remove it, replace with the breast and she will normally latch that way. She will go up to four hours sometimes during the day without eating. Diapers have been fine at least 6 to 8 wet ones a day and bm every day to every other day. She is still eating her hand after some feedings but when I try to put her back to the breast she screams. It’s a real struggle to get her to eat at the most 8 times a day, she normally get 7-8 feedings in a 24hr period. Her pediatrician told me as long as she getting 6-8 feeding in a 24hr period we were ok. I really don’t know what to do, I get so many different opinions it’s hard to know what’s best.

[@llli*mamamia]

Trust your mothering instinct.