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  1. #1
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    Default BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    Any experience with /advice about a newborn making really loud gulping sounds when nursing? Seriously... he sounds like a sea lion. LOL, but it sounds like a throaty "Arr! Arr!" sound. You can hear him across the house.

    He seems to have a good latch and he's growing appropriately, but he's very gassy and I fear the gulping noises are him swallowing air(?). I've played with positioning and holds, but can't figure out a "fix" for it.

    Fancy Nancy 8/04
    Snuggle Puppy 5/07
    "You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway."

  2. #2
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    this month's la leche league magazine just did a mom's letter on that. Her baby was having stomach spasms too-they ruled out reflux and were going to do a barium swallow when she realized he was swollowing a ton of air. The advice her LC gave was to block feed-feed on left side, then left side again, right side, right side.... No IRL experience but I was just reading that section this morning and thought I would share...
    Margaret and
    (DS 2/06) and (DD 3/08)

  3. #3
    egoldber's Avatar
    egoldber is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    He could be swallowing air. Do you think you may have a fast letdown? He could be gulping to deal with that.
    Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)

  4. #4
    Moneypenny is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    DD did that. I didn't know enough to think anything of it until my mom was over one day and remarked on it. I had strong letdown and a bit of an oversupply issue. DD was also very gassy. I actually didn't do anything about it, because I didn't know what to do and never really recognized it as a problem, and by the time DD was maybe 6 weeks old, it had stopped.

    Susan
    mama to my cutie pie, Avery
    http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif[/img][/url]

  5. #5
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    Fast letdown was the first thing that came to mind for me, too. Nursing DD was like that in our early days, and like you, I had a hard time fixing it with re-positioning. Here are some tips from kellymom -- see the section on block nursing. We tried that and some of the other tips, and eventually it got better. Not sure if the changes helped or she just outgrew it. HTH, and congrats on your new baby! :-)

    http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

    Katia
    DS 2003 and DD 2006
    Katia

  6. #6
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    Thank you all. I will look into block-feeding (I'd never heard of that before). I considered overactive letdown, but I didn't have an issue with that with DD and I don't see anything different this time around, but will look into that too. Thanks for the tips -- I had searched kellymom, but nothing came up re. "What to do if your child sounds like a sea lion." ;)

    Fancy Nancy 8/04
    Snuggle Puppy 5/07
    "You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway."

  7. #7
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    Why I remember this, I don't know, but Rashmi (papal) posted ages ago about a barking sound that her daughter made when she was a newborn. They had to get it checked out by a doctor and I think there was a medical reason for it. I have not been able to find her post about it, which I assume was in the Lounge, but you could try contacting her directly if your little guy seems to be making barking noises.
    Advice and commentary on living overseas

    DD1 15, DD2 12, and DS 9

  8. #8
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    Thanks, Karen. I found this post regarding stridor, which is probably what you remember.
    http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboar...ng_type=search

    I will do more searches and ask the ped/LC at our Friday appt.
    Thanks for the tip!! I tried to "feed uphill" today in case the problem was oversupply, but it didn't seem to help.
    Fancy Nancy 8/04
    Snuggle Puppy 5/07
    "You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway."

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    maybe this will help?
    OAL:Gaining, Gulping, and Grimacing?
    http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing...e/gulping.html

    or any chance it's a short frenulum?
    ~laura in miami~
    ds1 7/03
    ds2 7/06

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Default RE: BFd newborn and gulping sounds -- advice please!

    Yep, it sounds just like Hannah did when she was small, and I had really overactive letdown. I followed the advice of the LaLeche Leage article and did block feeding (2-3 feedings in a row on each side before switching to the next side) and after a month there was a HUGE difference. I also did various holds that would cause my milk to work against gravity (Kathleen Huggins book The Nursing Mother's Companion has some info on this).

    http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/LVSepOct95p71NB.html
    http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/oversupply.html

    Good luck, and I hope things get better there for you!
    Mama to "The Fantastic Four":
    DS 02
    DD 06
    DS 09
    DD 12

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