5 week old choking on both breast and bottle

[LysnDan]

Hi. My DD used to do the same. Have you tried a different position on the breast? And maybe a nipple shield?

When you are using bottles what kind of teat are you using? Low flow?

Can you express and try possibly thickening feeds?

These are just some of the things dd and I tried.

Hang in there lovely. Your persistence will pay off. Sending hugs x

[courts&munchkins]

Hi, yes we have tried all manner of breastfeeding positions. Lying down serves us best but its still not great and with lots of choking and fussing. With the bottle I hold her up in a 90 deg angle and all of the types I have used are the newborn flow. She always appears to be in a lot of pain directly following each feed, writhing and crunching up and grunting and crying. She does this regardless of whether its breast or bottle. We just had a slightly more successful feed with me pulling the bottle out every couple of sucks before she choked but still she only drank 40ml before she refused and started grunting and crunching like she was in pain. She is do hard to settle then and neither of us get any sleep. I haven't tried thickening her feeds, merely because I'm scared if she choked on it, it might be more dangerous.

[Barb Glare]

Yes absolutely you should see an LC. If you let me know (PM) where you live I could perhaps give you a referral. In terms of the reflux, the one thing we call “reflux” isn’t always the same thing - it has a number of courses. Reflux can be the first stage of what we call the “allergic march”. So an LC would be asking about any family history of allergies/eczema/asthma (is there any in your family) Or it could be a structural anomoly of the oral cavity, or tongue tie. Is your little one gaining weight? How often does she feed in 24 hours? You really need to find out what is going on with your little one before you start to use formula or thickeners, because many times the issues are worse on formula, but when you have stopped breastfeeding it’s hard to go back

[Artechim]

I was going to ask if she has been checked for tongue tie or high palate as Barb mentioned. They could make her more prone to choking.

[BhoysGirl]

I second Barb's call to go see an LC as soon as you can find one. LC's are breastfeeding experts, but the majority of GPs are lovely but know very little about complex breastfeeding problems, so are often more likely to suggest non-breastfeeding solutions.

[courts&munchkins]

Yes absolutely you should see an LC. If you let me know (PM) where you live I could perhaps give you a referral. In terms of the reflux, the one thing we call “reflux” isn’t always the same thing - it has a number of courses. Reflux can be the first stage of what we call the “allergic march”. So an LC would be asking about any family history of allergies/eczema/asthma (is there any in your family) Or it could be a structural anomoly of the oral cavity, or tongue tie. Is your little one gaining weight? How often does she feed in 24 hours? You really need to find out what is going on with your little one before you start to use formula or thickeners, because many times the issues are worse on formula, but when you have stopped breastfeeding it’s hard to go back

We only have one LC in our area as we live in a small town so I'll see if I can contact her. There is some history of allergies in the family. Mostly hayfever. She is putting on good weight, it has been getting less and less as her symptoms worsen but still within the good range. I'd say she feeds between 8-10 times a day depending on whether she feeds well or badly. I think she might be also choking because she sounds really congested. I've been using saline drops but the congestion sounds at the back of her throat/nose so it's not really helping. Will see if I can get in contact with our LC.

[onthefly]

I hope the LC can help you out!