4 week old choking whilst being breaa... - Pregnancy and Par...

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4 week old choking whilst being breaastfeed.

deemuir profile image
7 Replies

Hi all

lately my 4 week old daughter has started to choke during some of her feeds. She is breastfeed except for 1 feed where she has expressed milk in a bottle.

After choking she feels and sounds like she may have a slight wheeze. I can't tell if she has aspirated her feed or not.

does anyone else have experience of this?

as its not every feed I don't know if I should go to the drs or not or how I can prevent her choking. Any ideaa?

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deemuir profile image
deemuir
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7 Replies
gigglysheep profile image
gigglysheep

My daughter is the same age and she chokes most of her feeds. She is ebf and only occasionally gets abottle of expressed milk when dad can feed her. The choking usually happens when she sucks furiously and guzzles. Its like she swallows too quick and some goes down the wrong way. I haven't found anyway to stop it but im not overly worried either. If u want to, u could try asking a breastfeeding councillor about different positions u could try, that might prevent the choking. Good luck xx

shazabirch profile image
shazabirch

Have you tried sitting back a bit whilst you feed? Your milk might be coming out too quickly for her while she is still so tiny. Also not sure if you have already but get her checked for a tongue tie as this effects her sucking and swallowing as well. Try to find your local breast feeding support group, meet loads of new mums who are going through exactly the same thing and get lots and lots of support good luck xx

mummymummy profile image
mummymummy

If ur concerned about the wheeze after have a word with ur health visitor they can pop round and maybe u can show them xx

CarolineDarz profile image
CarolineDarz

If you have strong let down, then the milk can make them cough. They aren't choking, it is just gagging reflex which i very strong in babies. x

birthedu-support profile image
birthedu-support

I agree with shazabirch. I have had the same problem as you have with both of my children, and the information that shazabirch and CarolineDarz gave have held true. Our babies aren't actually CHOKING, but are gagging on milk that they can't swallow fast enough at this young age. It is likely that we have a strong let-down reflex or that we have an overabundance of milk. Neither will really cause our little ones much harm, but it can be frightening when they respond that way when nursing. Definitely try the laid-back breastfeeding position: keep your baby on you, tummy to tummy. Recline supported on the couch or bed, or scoot your bottom forward in your chair so you can lean backwards some. This makes the milk work against gravity to come out and your baby will have more control over suckling. Also, if too much comes out, it'll be less likely to overwhelm him or her, but will be able to come out of the mouth easier. As your baby gets older, he or she will most likely learn to cope with (and even enjoy) your abundant milk flow. One more trick that I was taught was to use two fingers to clamp above the nipple (it was compared to holding a cigarette) to slow the flow of the milk when it is first coming out. It is helpful, if you can do it without getting in your baby's way, but I prefer the laid-back breastfeeding solution.

cheekymonkey3791 profile image
cheekymonkey3791

I concur with the other ladies, my LO is 24 weeks and from time to time my let down can be strong and takes him by surprise and he will cough and splutter, sometimes I give him a little pat but normally sorts himself out. Either express a little off and/or feed essentially with her neck to the ceiling and her body lengthways to yours (not across) so that you milk has to work against gravity, it can help. As time goes on your supply will sort itself out and you will find your let down is a little more chilled out about it :-)

deemuir profile image
deemuir

Thank you all for your replys.

When I actually think about it logically and not like a paranoid mum, she can't be aspirating the milk as I'd soon know about it and she would be ill very quickly with pneumonia or chest infection. Sense does just disappear at times.

I find myself feeding Eliza in the laid back position quite a bit, which is good. It seems to happen more at her 3am feed. I'll try to express a little first (if she will let me).

Thanks for the advice and reassurance.

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