Gulping and choking when nursing, gas, scary choking spells

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

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amother

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 10:10 pm

My four-week-old has been nursing well for most of his life, except for one thing. He sounds like he's gulping down milk for most of the nursing session and he chokes at least once, often two or three times, each session. I spoke to a lactation consultant about it, and she said to try nursing him held upright in the football hold while leaning back. (Hard to explain, but it made sense.) I tried that for three nursing sessions, and he choked 2-3 times during each one. So it didn't help.

She also said that the oversupply (which is what she said was causing it) can lead to gas issues. Which he has. I was so glad to find something that might fix it, but it didn't.

The other thing she said to try was pumping for a minute or so before nursing. Other than that fact that that seems impractical with my toddler on the loose and my baby waiting to eat, it doesn't seem to make sense to me. That would pump off my "letdown milk" - but he chokes throughout the whole nursing session, not just at the beginning at all. Often it's a good fifteen or twenty minutes into the session. So that wouldn't help, would it?

Any other ideas?

Also, something really scary happened twice, once last week and once this week. Ds was crying - once because I was changing him, once because I put him down for a minute so I could get something - and he started screaming really hard (but still normal for a baby) and then suddenly he looked like he was choking and trying to breathe, making no noise, and his face turned bright red, just for a couple of seconds. Right afterwards he suddenly just "shut off" - eyes half closed, no more crying, complete silence. And then eventually went back to normal.

The first time it happened I was TERRIFIED, called the dr, and he said the baby probably just choked on his own spit up, it didn't sound like a seizure, etc. After the second time, the other dr in the practice said she doesn't think it's a problem, don't worry about it. Well, I AM worried. Should I go to a neurologist? Or is all of this maybe just related to the problem at the beginning of this post?

I feel so lost. Has anyone else experienced this?

Raizle

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 10:41 pm

Have you tried nursing lying down?
If it continues I'd go back to a doctor, a ped and get another opinion.

minnie

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 10:48 pm

I had this with my baby, exactly everything as you described. she used to gag and choke after every feeding (bottle fed). and she used to suddenly stop breathing for a few seconds, I was terrified. my dr. also said nothings wrong. it slowly went away. she is now 3 months, it never happens now. I think by about 2 months it completely stopped. good luck

GiGichai

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 10:56 pm

it could be reflux. my last baby passed out from apnea related to reflux (the pain causes it and not choking on spit up). please talk to your doc about it asap and firmly ask for answers.

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Jun 04 2010, 9:47 am

Have you tried block feeding -- using only one side for a couple of feedings in a row, pumping the other one till comfort? That reduces supply to be a fattier balance and not as strong a letdown.

Did he turn blue at all? Or just red, took a break, and then back to normal?

amother

Fri, Jun 04 2010, 11:37 am

Raizel - why would that help? I do that every night, and I'm not sure whether it helps. Maybe I'll watch more closely now.

Thank you, minnie, that makes me feel a bit better...Any idea what it was?

Gigi - what did it look like? And was your baby always fussy? Mine is not, which is why I'd assume it's not reflux. What do you think?

HY - Whoah, wouldn't that double my supply? I usually only nurse from one side, but I switch off every other time. And can you explain to me how it could be "too strong of a letdown" if it doesn't just happen at the beginning of a nursing session - and sometimes all the way at the end? This is what everyone says, but it doesn't seem to make sense to me...

Nope, not blue. Just red. And only "passed out" or whatever that was for a couple of seconds, if that.

BeershevaBubby

Fri, Jun 04 2010, 11:45 am

I agree with the block feeding... 5 hours or so on one side, then the next chunk on the other side.

it doesn't double your supply, for some reason it helps regulate it. Just don't pump on the 'unused' side.

Also, have the baby checked for a tongue-tie.

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Jun 04 2010, 11:49 am

amother wrote:

HY - Whoah, wouldn't that double my supply? I usually only nurse from one side, but I switch off every other time. And can you explain to me how it could be "too strong of a letdown" if it doesn't just happen at the beginning of a nursing session - and sometimes all the way at the end? This is what everyone says, but it doesn't seem to make sense to me...

Nope, not blue. Just red. And only "passed out" or whatever that was for a couple of seconds, if that.

It wouldn't double. It would help there be a higher proportion of fatty hindmilk since you "finish" it up from one feeding at the next. You only pump the other side till it's comfortable -- not till it's empty. It helps a LOT.
People can have more than one letdown; some do have another during a feeding or what not. Does he ever

Baby not turning blue is a good thing -- no cardiac issue or lack of oxygen that jumps out at me. (We had a different concern with my baby so that's why I mentioned it. B"H she's fine.) I think the few seconds is to calm himself down. I'm happy you brought this up with your doctor, and I hope he has the experience to tell you definitively that it's not really a problem.

good wifey

Fri, Jun 04 2010, 12:13 pm

As a first time mother I guess I probably dont have much experience but I also did have a similar situation. but opposite from an overload of supply, I had tool ittlte and because my baby was sucking very strongly and very little came at a time she got stuck on her breath and starting gagging and sometimes turned blue for fresh air. it took me 3 weeks to find a correct position for me and baby and bh it never happened again. if u wish to continue nursing and wana make it pleasant, pls try to be calm when u start and try any different position that u and baby are comfortable enuf that it shudnt happen. good luck!!

amother

Fri, Jun 04 2010, 4:47 pm

YESHASettler wrote:

Hm, I never heard of this before. I'm supposed to call back the LC, so I'll mention this to her. And I'm assuming I need to pump at least a little bit or I'll get engorged, right? I mean, if side A is ready to be emptied at around 2:00 based on my current schedule, and I don't nurse from it until 6:00, won't it get really uncomfortable?

My last baby had an attached frenulum (tongue tie). This feels nothing like that - is there a reason why you would suspect it?

MamaKikow - Thanks! This is my second, and as far as I can feel, he's getting a LOT of milk, not a little. I can tell from the sucking and gulping sounds, and from how it feels, I think?

HY - Does he ever...what? Thank you for explaining, though! That makes sense. Yeah, I'm paranoid by nature, so I'm not sure I'll trust the dr. Have an appointment coming up, though, so I'm going to speak it through with them then. They said they can do some neurological tests if I want...and I might feel more comfortable knowing they've been done.

BeershevaBubby

Sat, Jun 05 2010, 3:35 pm

amother wrote:

YESHASettler wrote:

Until about 3 months, your milk supply is mostly hormonally driven. After 3 months it adjusts to supply and demand. If you have a need to pump, I would simply express enough so the engorgement is no longer painful. But otherwise, I wouldn't pump.

The tongue tie may be giving the baby some swallowing issues. It's worth a look at the next doctor's appointment.

Raizle

Sat, Jun 05 2010, 10:23 pm

amother wrote:

Raizel - why would that help? I do that every night, and I'm not sure whether it helps. Maybe I'll watch more closely now.

supposedly, lying down while nursing slows down the flow so it doesn't come out so fast.

BeershevaBubby

Sun, Jun 06 2010, 12:40 am

Actually it's having the baby lay on top of you to nurse that's supposed to help because gravity prevents the milk from coming out too fast...

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jun 07 2010, 10:12 am

OP, I have no idea what I meant to write when I wrote "Did he ever" -- I type up as I help clients and multitasking sometimes makes me lose my train of thought...

Another issue that causes a hard time sealing a latch is a high palate, but this would be something that would have caused problems from the very beginning, and gets better with time as baby gets bigger....

amother

Mon, Jun 07 2010, 11:15 am

I say ask the dr about acid reflux.the symptoms u describe sound like what my 4 month old has and he takes meds for acid reflux and the choking stopped. my baby is also not fussy in general but someties would suddenly cry very loud. does yours do that?
btw,interestingly enough, my first also was tongue tied, and this is my second. quite a coincidence...
amother cuz I dont want anyone to recognize me by the symptoms....

sima

Tue, Nov 01 2011, 11:43 am

had something similar with mine. I was told to unlatch the baby during the first letdown which is the strongest. of course baby is hungry so protests when you do this,,,,, but it does help with the gulping. I had very strong letdowns which were overwhelming such a small baby. I was also told to pump a bit before nursing, but as you said very impractical, and I was afraid it would cause me to produce more milk. Block feeding yes, that helps. good luck

chocolate chips

Tue, Nov 01 2011, 12:31 pm

I never had this but I do know that my baby brother used to choke all the time when eating because he would suck so fast. Some babies just do that. It has happened a couple times to my ds that he is so excited to eat and he starts sucking so fast he just chokes on it. Try calm your baby down when you hear he is gulping pull him off and then let him latch back on, stroke his head, it might help.

And about the screaming, my sister does that, my aunt used to faint from screaming (lasts till about 3 or 4 years old) it may just be from that, losing breath from screaming but it may be something else so try speak to your ped. when you next go.

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