Why is your 3-week-old boy straining and going bright red then howling and crying if he breast feeds hourly but falls asleep after 10 minutes?

Answer 1

Not all babies can be breast fed and I know that many nurses that visit the new mother persist on breast feeding and can often make the new mother feel badly if she is not successful at it. Why do you think they use to have "wet nurses" years ago. Wet nurses were other women who'd just had children and when some mother's couldn't produce milk or their milk wasn't satisfying to the mother or perhaps the new mom had a long recooperation period the wet nurse would take over the breast feeding of the baby. Your baby could be lactose intolerant and it's not uncommon for a baby to have a twisted bowel or gut (which is fixable) so please see your doctor. It could also be as simple as changing his formula. If you have to resort to bottle feeding at the instructions of your doctor don't feel you've let your baby down. As long as you hold your baby close to you while feeding him the bottle there is still that bond between mother and baby. It's serious when a baby strains for a bowel movement so get to that doctor immediately! All babies strain and go bright red when having a bowel movement, they just put all their little selves into doing it. Breast fed babies do not get constipated, some produce very copious stools and others just do a yellow streak. If he is gaining weight and is otherwise happy just keep on with the breast feeding if you are all right with it. It may be that he doesn't really want a feed just something to suck. At 6 weeks my first was still feeding 2 hourly, night and day, and would fall asleep after 10 minutes like yours. He had put on so much weight that the nurse asked when he had started solids. Friends who had babies suggested I gave him a pacifier (dummy, comforter whatever you call it) and that did the trick. As long as it is sterilised (keep a spare in a sterile pot for whenever it inevitably falls to the floor) he will be fine. Don't dip it in sugar, honey or anything else. It won't rot his teeth, make him bucktoothed, slow his speech or any of those things. MIne had it until he was four, spoke at 10 months and had beautiful straight teeth. A thumb can have been anywhere, and cannot be taken away. Good luck.