Impatient breastfeeder!

[mikid]

I have started combined feeding with Ella because she was dropping centiles like it was going out of fashion and I wanted to give myself some peace of mind that she was getting everything she needed after worrying myself silly that I wasn't giving her enough. Just a couple of bottles a day.

I was really keen to keep breastfeeding for as long as possible but I think I may have made things a lot harder for myself

Ella will latch on no problem, and will feed for a couple of minutes but as soon as the milk slows down she gets really impatient and just starts screaming at my boob and won't latch back on to get things going again. I'll swap her onto the other one and the same thing will happen again so I end up topping her up with EBM or formula if i've not got any EBM left.

Now i'm worried that she's going to get really lazy and not want to keep feeding from me as it's much harder work than the bottle.

I suppose if the worst comes to the worst, she is nearly 4 months so will be weaning soon and as long as she's getting what she needs, I'll have to come to terms with it... I know we all have to stop breastfeeding at some point, I just always imagined it would be my choice not hers!

I have bought some fenugreek today so maybe that will help boost my supply and perhaps it will come a bit easier for her but i'm not sure if there is anything else I can do

 

[xxbeckyxx]

OMG, I could've written that post, I know exactly how you feel! That's why I've pretty much given up feeding Lizzie myself - she has expressed milk in bottles most of the time now. The only time she'll feed for a bit longer is if my boobs are quite engorged or if she's asleep. So I give her boob first thing in the morning (nice and full), and then express throughout the day for bottles. Then I dreamfeed her from the boob during her afternoon nap, although sometimes that isn't particularly successful either.
Sometimes when she starts her screaming at the boob after 2 minutes feeding I sit her up and she kinda forgets about it, and what little she has had will last her about an hour, so I guess she just has to be really hungry to bother staying on the boob.

If this is a recent thing with Ella then it might be a nursing strike which some babies grow out of....here's hoping!

 

[mikid]

Ella's the same, if they're full or she's sleepy there's no issue so i'm feeding her myself during the night without any problem and just topping her up in the day with formula.

She also sometimes stops when i sit her up, most of the time she carries on screaming until i give her a bottle! But every now and then it's like she's trying to say 'i've had enough now but you keep shoving your nipple in my mouth!'

It does seem to have become more of an issue since i've started giving her a bottle, it only ever happened once in a while before then... hopefully she'll grow out of it... i don't want to stop breastfeeding just yet

 

[xxbeckyxx]

What I would say is definitely try lots of different feeding positions. Lizzie will stay on longer if I hold her like a rugby ball under my arm and walk about, or if I latch her on while sitting on the bed and then lay down once she's on

 

[mikid]

Ooh, thanks Becky, will give it a go