How can I stop my baby from choking?

[Megan1213]

 I have only been breast feeding for about a week and a half, so I'm pretty new to this. Everytime I feed Avery she chokes. I do have a heavy let down so she chokes when that happens. She also tries to eat so fast, she chokes herself. I get so nervous when it comes to feeding her because I hate it when she chokes and I know it's gonna happen. How can I try to fix this?

[clcc.equals.me]

Same exact thing happened to me with my son, he would choke each and every time he fed. I hated it for him plus it would give him so much gas because he would suck down all that air. Nothing really worked for me,  just time. The bigger he got the better he got at handling the flow. I did at one point try to lower my production, it helped a bit, but that is something you have to be really careful with.

[cek302]

I remember the LC said something about babies have to figure out the suck/swallow/breath pattern and sometimes they get confused and choke. Check out www.kellymom.com - there may be some tips on better nursing positions to help your baby be more comfortable. 

[larissalarie]

Baby will get better at handling it as they get older, true, a certain amount of choking happens sometimes. But you can try reclining and nursing with baby's mouth OVER your breast to greatly help. Gravity lets the extra milk fall down. You can also nurse side lying, and/or you can take baby off right as the milk lets down and let the excess spray into a towel then resume nursing when the flow slows a bit.

[troysmami]

just try burpin more during feeding  and as LO grows he will learn how to swallow better   this is exactly how my son was and we burped 3 x during a feeding anf after feeding and once he was eating more like 4 onc at a time it was fine

[gdiamante]

I was in the same boat. Reclained nursing is a required position for us moms with a forceful letdown. Sit in a recliner that's tipped back, or in a seat that allows you to slouch back. Lay baby on top., tummy to tummy, baby's mouth on TOP of your nipple. never under it. Gravity does the rest.

Bonus: This is tummy time that baby won't argue over. 

[Baby_Avas_Momma]

This!

Quoting larissalarie:

Baby will get better at handling it as they get older, true, a certain amount of choking happens sometimes. But you can try reclining and nursing with baby's mouth OVER your breast to greatly help. Gravity lets the extra milk fall down. You can also nurse side lying, and/or you can take baby off right as the milk lets down and let the excess spray into a towel then resume nursing when the flow slows a bit.

[peekaboo528]

I would put pressure on the top part of my boob that was being nursed until it slowed down. I read to do that somewhere but don't remember where. Seemed to work. GL!

[sofia0587]

if you have a forceful letdown than try expressing milk beforehand and than immediately feed, that's what I had to do because no matter which position I fed her she'd choke especially laying side by side.

[MonicaV1982]

I agree here. A lot of times OAL is connected with oversupply. Try block feeding by only feeding off of one breast for a block of time, about 4 hours.

Quoting larissalarie:

Baby will get better at handling it as they get older, true, a certain amount of choking happens sometimes. But you can try reclining and nursing with baby's mouth OVER your breast to greatly help. Gravity lets the extra milk fall down. You can also nurse side lying, and/or you can take baby off right as the milk lets down and let the excess spray into a towel then resume nursing when the flow slows a bit.

[kalystasmom11]

The same thing happened to me too! She would choke during every feeding but it gets better. What I do is flip her on her side, tolt her head a little lower than the rest of her body and if needed I use a suction bulb to help her suck out what is left in her mouth. She is 2.5 months now and it hasnt happened in a while. Good luck and I hope this helps.