Breathing/ wind issue? Help!

[bizzygirl101]

Hi

Ok my baby was born on wednesday and i am having my first irrational hormonal breakdown!

i have just phoned the delivery suite thats how bad it is. i am worried about my babies breathing, he seems to be panting and grunting, they said it is wind. But he doesnt cry, he has however been breakin off his feeds choking on them. He is breast fed and has been feeding really well, just today he hasnt been able to complete a whole feed without choking and breaking off coughing he sounds very chesty in his breathing but not all the time
Has anyone else experienced this with their baby? Also does anyone have any winding tips, he never really sems to bring an up but as he hasnt been crying i didnt think this was a problem

Going to have to spend all night sitting up watching him now
thanks

 

[Emmylou]

First of all these are for you
Libby sounded wheezy/ chesty in her breathing when she was newborn, to the point my DH asked the GP to listen to her chest, she said she had never heard a wheezy baby before (but checked to put our minds at rest ), she was constantly grunting, squeaking, panting, sneezing, hiccuping etc.
I have found some info that might help you:

rest assured that it's normal for young infants to breathe somewhat irregularly.

When an infant is awake, his or her breathing rate may vary widely, sometimes exceeding 60 breaths per minute, particularly when the little one is excited or following a bout of crying. Newborns will also commonly have periods during which they stop breathing for about 5 to 10 seconds and then start up again on their own. This is known as periodic breathing, which is more likely to occur during sleep and is considered very normal. However, it's considered an emergency and you should contact your child's doctor immediately or go to the emergency room, if your infant turns blue or stops breathing for longer stretches of time.

Although talking won't come until much later, your newborn will produce a symphony of noises — especially high-pitched squeaks — in addition to the obligatory crying. Sneezing and hiccups also occur very frequently and don't indicate infection, allergies, or digestive problems in newborns.

Because newborns tend to breathe through their noses and their nasal passages are narrow, small amounts of nasal fluid or mucus can cause them to breathe noisily or sound congested even when they don't have a cold or other problem.

With regards the coughing/ choking when feeding, perhaps he is just gulping the milk too quickly, and faster than his throat can cope with? My advice for that would be to take him off the boob and sit him up whilst he calms down from the cough....Tasha20 is fab with breast feeding knowledge, drop her a pm hun, she won't mind - she'll be happy to help.

With regards to winding, breast fed babies hardly need winding, I actually found with Libby that she didn't need winding, but she did need to be kept upright for a while after a feed or she wouldn't settle very well. Say if she fed for 20 mins, I would keep her upright for 5-10mins, if she fed for 30-40mins I would keep her upright for about 10-15 mins. I would hold her facing me against my shoulder, as the pressure on her tummy would bring any wind. If you gently rub his back whilst he's against your back, or pat his back very gently he should bring up any wind if he has any.

Other winding techniques I have found helpful are:
Holding her tummy down against the length of my arm, with my hand at the top of her chest (so she is down facing the floor) and rubbing her back
Holding her in the sitting position on my knee, holding one hand at her neck/ under her chin, then rotating her body (with her bum staying sat on my knee) in a clockwise/ anticlockwise motion (so rotating on her hips) 5 times then back the opposite direction - Sorry hard to explain that one.

You need to get sleep though hun, I know it is a worrying time as you are getting used to babies noises, but lack of sleep isn't going to help. I hope you manage to get some rest sweetheart.

Be kind to yourself

 

[trixipaws]

yes millie's breathing is grunty or wheezy sometimes, sometimes its all broken up like she's chuckling! i'm not confident with winding either. take him to the docs if ur concerned, its better to go and risk looking silly & neurotic than to not go and worry urself 2 death!

 

[Rosieroo]

Bizzygirl

Your Alex sounds like my Alex! He used to breathe like a little pig, all my family commented on it all the time and yet the GPs never found anything wrong with him. He'd stop breathing, go blue and cough until he projectile vomited whilst breastfeeding, it was really scary! At one point I thought that he may have asthma as he was so wheezy. It didn't help that he picked up a few little colds so has been really mucusy in the past. However it does get better. He's now nearly 17 weeks and his breathing isn't nearly as bad as it was, my family have stopped commenting as much about it and he doesn't wheeze so badly. I guess it's something that they grow out of and I'm sure your Alex will be the same, but if you're feeling concerned then just ask your GP to have a listen of his chest to put your mind at rest, I did that a few times

 

[bev]

Hi Bizzygirl,
I totally know where your coming from!!!
Abbey made terrible noises, loud grunting, coughing, straining, pushing awful noises that you think shouldn't be coming from a baby! My husband and I would lay awake listening to her for hours and turning to each other saying "this can't be normal".
It really only happened at night but it would be nearly all night with quiet bits in between. I mentioned it to my HV and she looked at me and just smiled and nodded! I wanted to shake her, she just said it was wind. Well we did the infacol, gripe water, incline the mattress, trying to wind her but eventually she grew out of it by about 3 months. Apparently the new Dr Browns bottles "sweet Dreamz" are excellent in relieving trapped wind better than anything if you give it a go, other than that it a medical reason has been ruled out just wait it out, I promise it does get better.

Take care

Bev x x

 

[bizzygirl101]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the replies, apparantly he had bogies up his nose and we have got some nasal drops. We are both much better now, i was having a 'moment' and i am normally quite a calm laid bac person so managed to freak my OH out badly as well. You just love them so much it does your head in!!

Thanks again, really mucst get round to posting my birth story and piccys on as well.............