FTM Anxieties (any help would be appreciated, LONG)

SidraJedi · April 2013

So, my baby is EBF (I pump occasionally for convenience, but not even every week), she is one month old today, we co-sleep and we nurse on demand. I really have no idea how often she eats in a day but since its on demand the time of feedings and their frequency changes.

Some days I feel like its all I can do to unlatch her to go to the bathroom and some days we can go run errands and get a lot done. There's also days in between.

Just after DD's 3 week mark DH's sister came into town with her 9mo DD whom my ILs haven't seen since she was 4mo. It was really annoying that my ILs wre always comparing my DD to my niece but the most annoying was how often my MIL would comment on DD spitting up so much. Apparently, when DH was BF he spat up so much because he was "overfed". The comments slowed but didn't stop when I came back from a weigh-in and told MIL that DD had finally hit her birth weight at three weeks. I think she is sensitive about her first grandbaby moving away and didn't like it when my 3 week old came over to her house and after 20 minutes of pass the baby, just wanted to (mostly comfort) nurse until we left four hours later.

I brushed it off as grandma/MIL emotions that she didn't really want to talk about.

Yesterday we went to my brother's daughter's 2nd birthday (this niece was FF so brother and SIL were not used to nursing). SIL commented a couple of times how much DD was eating, but also acknowledged that babies her age are growing and hungry and do eat a lot compared to older babies. But my aunt (also at this party) who EPed while her twins were in NICU and eventually nursed from the time they were strong enough to latch until they were 18mo (they are now 5yrs) also commented on how much DD eats.

At the weigh-in she was said to have gained just <1oz a day on average in the two weeks since her last weigh-in. Also during the hour long meeting (where I offered her each breast twice) she ate 2.6oz.

Now, her poops can sometimes look like egg yolks or sometimes they can be peanut butter consistency (but still bright yellow and always with the usual curds). Is it normal to change so drastically? She also can have some really painful gas or pooping pains (especially around 6am) and she spits up more often than she burps when I go to burp her (and then sometimes spits up even more after).

All the things I read say all of this is normal and my guts says it is normal. But last night she was asleep on her back and spit up and started choking on it. She looked like she wasn't breathing when I heard her and awoke. I pulled her upright and pat her on the back and she was breathing but so raspy and "juicy" I aspirated her nose and throat and got out a ton of mucus and soon she was all better and nursing herself to sleep noisily.

Today she seems fine, she's eaten a lot but she had plenty of alert, happy awake time and she is now napping (and she's giggling in her sleep) for the first time since we got up late this morning.

Did MILs comments make me touchy and paranoid? Does my DD spit up a lot and have really bad gas/poop pains b/c I feed her whenever she wants however much she wants? Is it even possible to overfeed a baby? I hear they eat when hungry and stop when full? I'm worried, but should any of this worry me? HELP!

tokenhoser · April 2013

You really can't overfeed a baby at the breast. What you're describing sounds like a normal, happy breastfed baby. If the spit-up worries you, I'd have her evaluated for reflux or silent reflux - but I'd keep bf-ing on demand.

Is there a breastfe

PnkDingo · April 2013

10 weeks tomorrow and Colton still only goes about an hour and half between feedings most days. Every now and then we'll score a 2 hour stretch, and we're in a cluster feeding growth spurt this week I think because the past 3 days has been 45 minutes t

linzeek44 · April 2013

I had an overactive letdown and had some of those issues until my supply regulated. He wasn't over eating, just getting a lot to eat in a short period of time. He would spit up frequently but wasn't in pain like reflux; no back arching or anything. He had

Angela814 · April 2013

Everything you've described sounds completely normal. All of my babies nursed pretty constantly for the first two months. DD3 is my exception. She's been super sleepy, but she was born via RCS a week early, and she had a ton of mucus when she was born. At

lala55555 · April 2013

For the gassiness, I found that mylicon drops REALLY helped. They may even help your baby with spitting up, if air bubbles are what's forcing the milk back up. Also, if...IF...you feel like you're not producing enough, try drinking more water, juice, et

kleigh926 · April 2013

I'm not sure I agree with the "can't over feed at the breast" theory. I had an oversupply and thought I had to make DD try and eat from each side for a certain amount of time [that was what all the hospital literature said]. DD spit up SO MUCH in the firs

SidraJedi · April 2013

Thanks for the help everyone!

@PnkDingo, Thank you! I know for some of the old timers in my family Oona is a weird one, but most everyone approves. DH and I love it but its nice to know we're not alone in that. <img src="https://community.the

caeraRose · April 2013

I agree with PP. Overfeeding is unlikely, but it's possible that you have an oversupply. I had trouble with this, and when I started block feeding, it pretty much resolved my oversupply.

Also, a lot of the nursing is probably just comfort nursing

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FTM Anxieties (any help would be appreciated, LONG)

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