Baby choking on milk
My newborn is about 3.5 weeks old and used to do just fine nursing but now he chokes on my milk when nursing on the left side. I had surgery in the right breast that drastically effects my output (it rarely gets over 1 Oz) or I’d just try to have him start on my right side and move him to the left once he wasn’t so eager to nurse.
I hand expressed some milk tonight to try and see if he would be alright to go on once my breast wasn’t so full. I noticed that on my left, I have 3 streams of milk at one time. That produces a lot all at once so it’s no wonder he’s choking. The right side that had the surgery has one stream of milk and you can get 2-3 squirts out of it before it just kind of dribbles out. He will nurse on that side until he falls asleep if I let him.
I just need some other ideas for how to make this BF relationship last before I decide to throw in the towel. Here’s what I’ve tried:
💋 during feedings... (all positions make him pull off and scream)
- sit baby upright
- lay baby on his side and let excess milk dribble out
- lay back in recliner and let baby face down onto my breast to work with gravity and give him more control over the flow
💋 hand expressing
💋 pumping then bottle feeding (the only solution I’ve found for now)
💋 feeding more often
Thanks for any additional advice on if there are some tools I can use to assist me in feedings until he’s bigger and can handle the flow of my left breast. It’s kind of the only breast I’ve got that works so it’s important to me to make the most of it!
I’m curious about whether a nipple guard would make it easier to work with the flow for our baby but I’m unsure.
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