>Hi all.  I have a mom with a term baby now 2 weeks old.  Nursed fine in
>hospital, given one bottle of water once home to help urinate (although in
>hindsight Dr felt wasn't necessary), no other supplements.  After a few
>days home baby starts latching for a few seconds then pulls away screaming,
>crying and pushing breast away then latching and repeating for 15-20 min at
>beginning of each feed...

Linda,
My initial thought with this behaviour is silent reflux (ie without
vomiting). It would feel like bad heartburn. Does baby do better when kept
upright? Has a more upright feeding position been tried? This sort of baby
typically hates being laid down for nappy changing, especially if you lift
her feet up to clean her bottom, because the acid runs up the oesophagus
and burns. At the start of feeds, tummy is empty with just acid and may be
refluxing, and then once milk starts filling it, it buffers the acid and
baby feeds more happily.

However, if it is reflux, I'm not sure why baby is *only* unhappy at feed
times, and happy the rest of the time - I would have expected a more fussy
baby at other times too. You say that mum is ready to quit breastfeeding
out of frustration, but this may not necessarily make things better - baby
still has to be fed! I really dislike this notion that seems to prevail
that any problem will magically be solved by weaning. If there is a problem
with the baby then human milk will be far preferable to the substitutes.

I hope others will offer opinions on this case, and please let us know what
happens.

Joy




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Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
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