Terri Lear wrote:
>I have been working with a mother who is at her wits end.  She has a
>six-week-old boy who is constantly uncomfortable.  She has an oversupply
>issue and a forceful letdown.  I have given her all the standard =
>remedies
>for these.  She has cut her supply by feeding on one side only for 4 =
>hours,
>then switching.  She pumps the other side for comfort only.  The baby's
>doctor was reluctant to diagnose reflux, but finally did when it =
>appeared
>there could be no other reason for his sudden crying bouts.  He's gassy =
>and
>fusses at the breast.  The mom has good latching technique and she's =
>very
>motivated to make this work, but she's getting worn out. =20
>
>The birth was traumatic, but no doctor has diagnosed an injury.
<snip rest of post>

My guess here is that the baby has indeed been 'injured' during 
delivery, but not the sort of injury a conventional doctor would pick 
up.

I would suggest an assessment by a chiropractor or osteopath - one 
experienced in treating babies. Babies are easily put out of 
alignment, especially the neck vertebrae, during delivery, in 
particular after any sort of instrumental delivery, eg vacuum, 
forceps, caesarean (pulled out by the head with forceps?) or even 
pulled/guided out by hands.

Nature designed babies to be *pushed* out, and any pulling that 
happens can easily cause subtle but significant misalignment of 
baby's bones.

I would go further to suggest that the oversupply may be as a result 
of the baby being uncomfortable, either physically from the delivery 
or via the digestive system as a result of vagus nerve irritation 
from neck vertebrae misalignment. Reflux is common in these babies as 
well.

An uncomfortable baby seeks comfort at the breast, as this is the 
only source he instinctively knows, and hence can induce an 
oversupply from frequently 'comfort' feeding. This can cause lactose 
overload, which in turn causes more GI distress - vicious cycle set 
up.

If this is what is happening, then fixing the underlying injury 
should help fix all the rest.

Joy
-- 
******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html