HELP!!!!

[my*2*angels]

I just had my third baby, but this is the first baby that I have been able to nurse! I was so excited to see that she could latch and nurse. I had been praying my entire pregnancy that she could. All was well while in the hospital, but now that we are home, we are having choking issues. At first, I thought it was because my milk had just come in and maybe she needed time to adjust. But she is still getting choked. She does it every few minutes while nursing. What am I doing wrong? I really really want to nurse, but I hate that she is choking so much while eating! Any advice would really be appreciated!

[carolineb]

It's most likely your strong letdown. She will eventually be able to manage it. Try laid back nursing where you recline and let her nurse more upright. Also, let her nurse until you get the let down then take her off and catch it in a burp cloth or cloth diaper or towel then let her latch back on once it slows. You could also try pumping a little or hand expressing first. You aren't doing anything wrong! It will take a little time for you to both get the hang of things so don't give up!

[cherrycoke]

It sounds like you may have an overactive letdown. You can try hand-expressing some milk before you get her to latch, you can also try leaning back while you feed her (so the milk is fighting gravity).

A really great breastfeeding resource is kellymom.com. Here's a link about overactive letdown: http://kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

[my*2*angels]

Thanks ladies! and thank you for the link! I will def read up and try your suggestions!

[Thismomma]

My Bug had issues with choking for the first couple of months. She had to learn what to do with the milk once she had it in her mouth. Some babies are just slower at learning it than others. I recommend nursing her for a minute or two and then unlatching her for a few seconds to give her time to "reset" and get some air. You may have to nurse her more often to keep her full so that she's not frantic to re-latch when you pull her off to let her rest. Time and patience was all we needed

[my*2*angels]

Thanks so much! That link was very helpful and she actually nursed through her last feeding without choking!!!!! It took some time to figure out how to hold her "uphill" but it worked really well. I did pump about an oz before she started, so between the 2 we had a very successful feeding. Thank you ladies so much!!!!

[BabyFishDesigns]

My oldest had that problem too. So glad it seems to be getting better!