he seems to be comfort feeding - HELP!

[mum2A&L]

Lewis seems to try and comfort feed quite a lot, esp at night!! He will only be in for 5 mins and then drop off... Ive tried sitting there with my finger in his mouth, but he gets so worked up i start to think it is hunger so i pop him on me and then he will drop of to sleep again, no matter how much i prod or poke him. So i take him off and 10 mins later he is doing it again... i carry on with trying to get him to suck my finger instead of my boob and he does the same thing. This happens quite a few times and then he decides that in fact he is hungry and will have a good old feed.

Help!! i don't want to introduce a dummy at this stage, and the finger trick doesn't seem to work. There seems to be no difference at the moment in comfort crying or hunger crying, and its not until he falls asleep on my boob i realise its just comfort he wanted! any one got any suggestions?

Also, when he does this, should i keep offering the same side until he has a good feed? i kept offering one side earlier but he did it for so long earlier he ended up emptying that side, and my other side was bursting! should i alternate them every time he wants a comfort? problem is what if he ends up taking a full feed of the same side each time? do i need to wait for him to almost empty a side when he is doing these silly little feeds before swapping?


Does that even make sense?

 

[Becky]

I know how you're feeling - DD was exactly the same at this age and I posted on here panicking about what to do because all he wanted to do was suckle and I didn't know what to do. In the end I just let him suckle when he wanted to but he would also suck a finger sometimes so OH could help. He did settle after a little while though, I'd say by 3 weeks he was so much better. I know it seems like an age but if you can get through this you'll be fine.

I was told that if he wants fed within 30 mins of his previous feed to put him back on the same side but if he's feeding a lot I would just alternate every hour. It is hard and I remember thinking it was awful especially with DS being around and I didn't want to neglect her but we got through it and DS is so chilled out now.

 

[millie15]

Same as here, Niamh used to do this. I think its pretty normal. Might be wrong but I think it helps to stimulate your milk supply? I just let her do it (didnt have much choice!) and as Becky says, it doesn't last forever! If you are struggling, La Leche and the NCT often have some good suggestions - ways of getting through the trickier times rather than changing what baby is doing, which I found to be really helpful.

 

[mum2A&L]

its not that i mind having him attached to me - its a great excuse to get OH to do all the running around after alice and get me anything i need. i just don't know what to do in terms of swapping sides and i worry im doing it wrong. after failing to breastfed alice i think ive ended up putting too much pressure this time around to make it work without meaning to, so im worrying about the little things.

I think i will go down the hour route. If he has sucked little bits off one boob for more than an hour i will swap sides.

thanks for the replies ladies i will have a look at those sites later when i get a chance. thanks for suggesting them

 

[Becky]

Oh I understand your worried about succeeding/failing at breastfeeding, even though I fed DD with relatively little problems I panicked a bit about DS because he was so different to her and I started imagining failure. All I can say is try to relax and take it easy, you'll find a way that works for you both.

 

[keli]

At this stage the suckling will be telling your body how much milk baby wants and your milk supply will be becoming established so the more the baby on the boob the better With baby just having little drinks then falling asleep i'd put baby back on the same breast to ensure that he is getting the hind milk, when your breast feels empty, all soft and squishy, i'd then swop boobs. Even when Cooper had had a good feed i always popped him on the same boob just to make sure he had all the good stuff. Sounds like your doing a fab job. Babies have such a small belly at this stage so little and often is the key xx