Feeding FAQ: 8-12 Weeks – Breast Feeding

For the last 2 weeks after a few minutes of the 6.15pm feed my 8 week daughter starts screaming as if in pain

For the last 2 weeks after a few minutes of the 6.15pm feed my 8 week daughter starts screaming as if in pain. We have also noticed a lot more possetting during this period and she has had a lot of hiccups since birth. She has suffered from bad problems with wind since birth so we started infacol with every feed at a week of age which really helped. No other feeds are affected and my diet hasn’t really changed. It means that she scream for up to half an hour and when the symptoms seem to ease she is too tired to then feed properly. I am still doing the split feed as the feed after the bath is becoming less and less successful. Consequently her sleep has occasionally altered. Since a week old she has only woken once in the night, but when these symptoms started she woke twice a few times. I am a GP and wondered if it could be reflux so started Infant Gaviscon after the 5pm feed. This did partially seem to help and the screaming settled a lot quicker, there was even 2 nights of no waking from the 10.30pm feed until 6.45pm. However, over the last 3 days it has got worse again. I was concerned about the length of time it was taking me to express in the evenings but have tried the suggestion of expressing at 8pm and 10pm which has made it a lot better. I would be very grateful for some advice as to what could be causing this new problem.

My daughter breast feeds for both feeds at 7am, 10.15am and 2.30pm. She feeds at 5.15pm form one side. I am trying to reduce this feed to 15minutes. 6.15pm Breast feed, remainder of first breast and second, lots of screaming. 10.30pm 4ozs expressed milk. 3am Feed from both sides. This time has varied form 3-5am and twice she has gone through.

My daughter naps from 9-9.45am, 12-2.20pm and 4.30-5.00pm.

Your daughter could be crying through over tiredness at this time of day. As you have already started to give her Infant Gaviscon and found that her improvement was short lived, getting her into her bath and offering her feed 15 minutes earlier may help. Many babies of this age are only able to stay up for one and half hours before needing to settle to sleep. The more tired they are, the more they fight sleep and are unable to feed well.

Another reason could be a lower milk supply at 6pm. This often happens by this time of day and results in a smaller feed and a baby who is slow to settle. You could try offering both breasts at 5pm and an expressed feed at 6pm or, once you have fed her at 6pm, offer her a top up of expressed milk so you know that she is well satisfied and able to settle better.

Until your daughter is sleeping through the night consistently, keep the split 5pm/6pm feed in place. This will ensure she takes a really good feed at 10pm. If, before she is sleeping through, you move the whole feed to after her bath, she may cut back on her 10pm feed resulting in her waking earlier in the night again.