Let down and flow too strong for 2 week old baby - lots of wind! Help!

DD is 2 weeks old now, and I've had too much supply initially which is settling (but definitely thankful it's not too little!) but it's all very full on still and she can't cope with the let down and flow yet. She doesn't really choke, but she guzzles, gurgles, gulps and manages to "click" suggesting she isn't maintaining her latch properly - all to try and cope with the drowning milk coming at her! She seems to be trying to swallow whilst she is breathing, to keep up.

As a result, she has *awful* wind - I burp her several times a feed, which gets a lot up, but she spends heaps of time straining to get wind out of her bottom, which she does! I massage her tummy a fair bit and move her legs to encourage the wind to shift, which definitely helps.

I've spoken to breastfeeding counsellors and a midwife has checked our attachment/latch, which is really good (I don't have any pain feeding her) so the problem is not that.

I want to be able to stop the problem with the wind, so I tried leaning/lying back today, but it took her 2.5 hours to get through her feed! I kept thinking she was finished as she would detach, but then would be screaming for more 5 minutes later! It must have really worked to stop the flow, because she wasn't gulping at all and had much less wind to burp up, which was great... but...

Is there something I can do inbetween these two things to help get through a feed without the wind caused by gulping, but without it taking huge amounts of time? I tried leaning forward later in the feed when I felt things were not so full on flow-wise, but she just goes back to gulping again.

Any advise would be much appreciated! Starting to get a little overwhelmed by having a very windy baby, and wish there was something I could do to help her!

Miss C

Hi, you soud exactly like I was with my first, I found laying on my side and feeding really helped with it,if you can, the other thing I found to help was to roll up a cloth nappy or hand towel and put under my breast to that it lifted it slightly for some reason this stopped it a little bit. I would also try and have a shower and let some of the flow of then to lessen how much was stored (did this 3 times a day), and sometimes expressed a little inbetween feeds (which meant alot came out in like 4 min would get almost 100ml) though at the 6 weeks mark my first little one seemed to get the hang of it better and was no where near as windy.

If it is the initial let down and flow that is the issue you can express off a little by hand is fine before her feeds, so when you feel the let down you can attach her when the flow settles down a bit, iykwim.
I had the same problem with Charlotte and after a couple more weeks you will find she will cope better with your strong let down.
The other thing I found really great, like sweetpea, was feeding laying down. When they are tiny like that it can take some getting used to but it eases the gravity effect.

Good luck!! :)

Hi Miss C,

This is the exact same circumstance I had with my DS. It sounds like you're doing everything right, I did all the same things but still DS took a long time to feed. I know it's exhausting and very trying and you've probably heard this a million times but it does get better!

You're daughter will get more efficient with her feeding and much quicker, but it takes time, and she is still learning, I can only suggest being patient and taking extra special care of yourself (when you have time). Just get through the first 2 months and things will get better.

These are the things I tried and found helped:

*Expressing a little milk before starting the feed

*Attaching baby and then leaning back during the feed until the initial gush of milk has finished and then sitting up to finish the feed so baby drains the breast properly

*Spending a few minutes burping baby after the feed

*Only feed from one breast each feed so baby is getting more of the fattier hind milk and consequently less wind (I only offered the second breast when and if baby had completely lost interest in the first breast and was clearly still hungry)

*At every nappy change and during play time rubbing babies belly in a clockwise direction and then bending the knees up and down against the tummy (like baby is riding a bike) to help shift wind

*Carrying baby around in an upright sling, I found this was great for getting wind out!

*Put a rolled up towel under babies mattress so baby's head is slightly elevated, this also helps with wind.

Good Luck, and try to be consistent and patient with these techniques and they will help.

We have a similar issue. I found the best way around it was a last off / first on pattern for feeding.
Now Ruby is 5 weeks old she can hold herself up better and the wind comes out heaps easier. My let downs are really strong and she can keep up heaps better now too.

I used to lean back till the initial let down passed.. if you can' attach leaning back. sit upright attach then recline in your chair till you feel you can sit forward..

miss c - most of what I was going to suggest has been mentioned, but this is one thing that worked really well w my DS - he had silent reflux and I had massive milk supply with jet stream let down and this helped to give him the hind milk more than the foremilk. When you put Emily on and you feel the let down take her off for a moment and, with a towel on your chest, lean forward slightly until your flow becomes just a dribble / drip rather than a jet. This will get rid of the majority of that gas-inducing foremilk and more of the good stuff. HTH x

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions and support.

I have been trying various things that you've all mentioned, and will continue to work at finding the best way that I can, a day at a time.

I think it just may be something we have to deal with and understand that there won't be a complete solution, not at least until she matures a little more and can handle the flow overall (which I'm now feeling is definitely more of the problem than let down).

We're getting better and better at finding ways to get the wind out, and mostly she isn't too distressed with it, so that seems to be the best angle to approach it for now.

I'm going to look into cranial osteopathy for her also, as I feel her birth may have impacted on her, as she was born via emergency c-section as her neck was flexed and i wasn't dilating past 3cm despite augmentation.

Thank you again for all the responses - I've learnt a lot from just reading everything you've all had to say, and I really appreciate the support :)

Miss C

Hunni it sounds like how I was when I first started feeding, good news though!

Ashton has learnt to adapt, he sucks then waits for the let down to stop, for this time he isn't sucking, just swallowing.
The rest of the feed he is a guts! He has lots of wind, it doesn't bother him anymore, but when he was little, until about 2 months, he was a little cranky after some feeds. They do get better though :)

I too had similar issues with with DD and like the other girls have suggested I found lying down helped as well as some minor hand expressing just before a feed.

one of the turning points for us to avoid the 2-3 hours of screaming due to her sore post feed belly was to feed her only from one boob at a time. that way , like someone else mentioned bubs is also getting the hind milk which helps settle their belly as it is a bit more fatty and kinda acts as a barrier.

good luck and it will eventually settle, promise! :)