I need breast feeding help

[kristie]

Campbell's has been very fussy for the last week and had green poop. So I was googling and a lot of foremilk hind milk imbalance/over active letdown stuff came up. I have all the other signs too. She pulls off when feeding a lot and chokes, except when I do side lying at night. But I have to put a towel beneath us, otherwise we get a puddle in the bed. When she feeds on one side, the other side squirts, painful letdown a, etc. it said to only feed on one side for the whole feeding to make sure she is getting fattier milk and getting some out before she starts feeding. I have been doing this for a few days, but nothing is improving. She has still been very fussy, poop is still green, engorgement is almost worse than the first week.

I don't know if I am trying to fix the wrong thing, if I just need to give it more time, or if something else is going on. I made it through the growth spurts, but this crap could make me switch to formula real soon. OMG.

[iamali]

frkls

[luvvy]

Can you expel a bit first or pump on the other side while she is nursing?

Feel free to ignore me. My boobs refused to work.

[papie]

I had similar issues. I had to do block feedings. If I remember correctly, you keep feeding from the same boob for 2-3 feedings in a row, then you switch. But frkls probably knows better how it works, it was 6 years ago so it is all vague in my head. But honestly I just powered through, trying to ignore the fussiness and green poop and it fixed itself in about a week, maybe two? I squirted in the sink from the other boob (I know, wasted milk, the horror!) to relieve the pain and make sure I didn't get engorged.

ETA: I also squirted in the sink right before a feeding from the boob I was going to feed from, that way the letdown was less forceful. 

[daisybuchannan]

Block feed. Look on kellymom for details.

I'm on my phone do can't type too much detail. Do you have oversupply (frequent engorgement)?

I had it, and needed to feed one breast only per session and pump only for relief on the other side. At the next session, offer the opposite breast.

[kristie]

I have been hand expressing some out before every feed to at least get past the squirting phase so she won't choke. But I have only been doing the feeding on one side and hand expressing for 3 days now. I don't know if it just takes longer to fix.

[papie]

Mar 4, 2014 14:42:40 GMT -5 kristie said:

I have been hand expressing some out before every feed to at least get past the squirting phase so she won't choke. But I have only been doing the feeding on one side and hand expressing for 3 days now. I don't know if it just takes longer to fix.

I am pretty sure it takes longer.  I would give it at least a week. 

[laceylaplante]

I dealt with the same issues you are. I would hand express almost all of the fore milk before latching and then switch sides sooner than I had been before, so the production would slow down slightly. I also cut way back on dairy at the same time, so I really don't know what helped out more. It took 2-3ish weeks for the diapers to go back to normal. Being super engorged got better after about a week.

[daisybuchannan]

Also, after she initially latches on and you feel the let down, unlatch her and spray into a towel or burp cloth. The true let down (not just expressing prior to feeding) is probably the part that is too much for her to handle without choking.

[janiejones]

The green poop can also be a virus. I had this same situation, and assumed fore/hind milk imbalance. Then all of my friend's kids had green poop.
Was it slimy & green, nearly mucusy?

[kristie]

Mar 4, 2014 14:49:05 GMT -5 janiejones said:

The green poop can also be a virus. I had this same situation, and assumed fore/hind milk imbalance. Then all of my friend's kids had green poop.
Was it slimy & green, nearly mucusy?

Today it was mucousy. It seems to be getting worse in the poop department. I considered virus, but figured it wouldn't stick around for a week or so? Plus I had all the other signs, but I definitely haven't ruled it out. Ugh, I just wish this stuff was easier to figure out.

[kristie]

Mar 4, 2014 14:54:52 GMT -5 @greyowl said:

How long is she nursing? If she falls asleep at the breast are you unlatching her?
Also, cut back on dairy. My kids were all very sensitive to dairy when they were tiny.

I used to time it, but now I am not so sure. Maybe 15 minutes? I have no concept of time anymore. Lol. She doesn't fall asleep so much as cry, fuss, and pull off. I am not a huge dairy person because I am very lactose intolerant myself

[lilac05]

I had that with DS1 & think I would with DS2, except I started with block feedings from a Day 1. Everyone talks about not enough supply, but oversupply sucks, too.

I did block feeding. One side per feeding. I also fed on a schedule, so I knew both sides were getting emptied relatively equally. It takes awhile to even things out, but once it did, I LOVE it. No paying attention to time or switching during a feeding, just latch, eat, done!

At first, I would leak quite a bit on the opposite side, so I'd just switch nursing pads afterwards. Now, as long as I have pressure on the other side, it doesn't leak. There is a little shell-like thing that you can put on the opposite side to catch the letdown milk, but I never felt like messing with it. Only pump to relieve pressure, but watch for signs of a clogged duct/mastitis, as it can happen. Eventually your boobs get the message that they're only needed every 6 hours instead of every 3. It's also a good idea to squirt into a towel during letdown if she's having a hard time tolerating it.

Green poop can also be a virus, and I think it can also be a milk intolerance.

[kristie]

I don't think it is reflux, only because she doesn't seem to be in pain. I know some of this could be witching hour stuff too, because she is fussier at night. She just never falls asleep at the boob/comfort feeds. She fusses and pulls off in the beginning a lot and fusses at the end and pulls off, but settles down when I give her a paci (usually). Last night I wasn't sure if it was her stomach or just that time of the night because she cried for a good three hours and I drank a beer and cried with her. I know the excess lactose from too much foremilk can make them super fussy and make the poop green, smelly, and mucousy.

I just feel like we get past one problem and another creeps up.

[Deleted]

Ok, so...(here I go, one trick pony!) - if it's mucousy...I would eliminate obvious dairy from your diet for a full week and see if that helps.

Green poop by itself sounds like an imbalance but the mucous makes me suspect she might have a dairy sensitivity (especially if she's also been super fussy)

[kristie]

She will be eight weeks on Thursday, two months on the 9th. Her two month appointment is in a week and a half. I will consider cutting out dairy (sobs) The only dairy I eat is cheese, but I love cheese. Would a sensitivity just show up randomly? I guess that is why I haven't considered it being diet related.

[kristie]

Thanks Frkls! I think I want to go to all the classes you did so I can help my patients with this crap. For being an L&D nurse, I feel pretty freaking clueless about all the breastfeeding issues. I am going to power through with block feeding, and hold out hope that in a week this will be better. Otherwise I might start drinking a lot more, lol.

[angelaa73]

One word: block

One more!: patience

You'll regulate soon. Keep up the good work!!

[janiejones]

Mar 4, 2014 14:54:52 GMT -5 kristie said:

Mar 4, 2014 14:49:05 GMT -5 janiejones said:

The green poop can also be a virus. I had this same situation, and assumed fore/hind milk imbalance. Then all of my friend's kids had green poop.
Was it slimy & green, nearly mucusy?

Today it was mucousy. It seems to be getting worse in the poop department. I considered virus, but figured it wouldn't stick around for a week or so? Plus I had all the other signs, but I definitely haven't ruled it out. Ugh, I just wish this stuff was easier to figure out.

The one I'm remembering lasted 2-3 weeks.

[janiejones]

Mar 4, 2014 15:43:31 GMT -5 kristie said:

Thanks Frkls! I think I want to go to all the classes you did so I can help my patients with this crap. For being an L&D nurse, I feel pretty freaking clueless about all the breastfeeding issues. I am going to power through with block feeding, and hold out hope that in a week this will be better. Otherwise I might start drinking a lot more, lol.

You should look around and see if you can find the WHO 18 hour training for health professionals.  It's essentially the same training I did for peer support volunteers, but they create sessions specifically for nurses/Dr.'s, etc.

[cville]

Dairy protein sensitivity showed up in both of my kids around 7-8 weeks.

eta: Not that this means it's dairy.  Just sharing my experience.

[dbsk8dance]

I had this issue and block fed. It took about 2 weeks to sort out. However, when I talked to my pedi about the green poop, she said she only worries about black poop or white poop. As long as weight gain is good, she was fine with green.

[kristie]

So.... Blood showed up in her poop yesterday. I was never really sure if the block feeding was working. Headed to the doctor and he wanted me to switch to hypoallergenic formula. I probably won't see him again, he isn't our usual ped and I really didn't like the immediate jump to formula. He said she hasn't gained enough weight either. So now I am cutting dairy and soy out and will go back in a week or week and a half to follow up with our regular pediatrician.

[papie]

I am sorry that sucks. Cutting out dairy and soy is a good idea to start. Wtf at that pedi, I hate how quickly some of then jump to formula recs instead of dietary changes.
(((Hugs)))

[SKP82]

The same thing was going on with my DD. Green mucousy poop and blood in her stool. Same pushing away during nursing and crying. Turned out to be a dairy intolerance. Things are much better since I eliminated it from my diet.

[lilac05]

Sounds like cutting dairy (& maybe soy, too) is a great next step. Sorry the doc was not so helpful.

I'm sure you've read, but just a reminder that dairy can take 2-3 weeks to get completely out of your system. If you don't see huge immediate changes, it's still possible that it's a dairy intolerance.

[kristie]

Oh and then DH and I were fighting all night because he thinks I am a know it all RN that thinks I know more than doctors. Lol, duh.

[Overthemoon]

Block feeding was going to be my suggestion too, but I did have another tip to add. My other side used to leak too, so i started using a Milkies Milk Saver. I was able to collect a bottles worth of milk without having to pump, several times over the course of a week.It was nice to have it in the freezer for grandma or babysitter to give to the baby if I was running late.