major fussing when bf

[sarah2807]

My Lo has just started really fussing when i am bf her. It started off being just in the evening where she would pull on and off after a few mins and scream. It sounds like a really frustrated scream. She'll do it over and over again and thrash around violently. I heard that babies do this sometimes and it's to do with the flow slowing down which make sense. I was hoping it would calm down but she's been doing it for over 1 week now , it's getting worse and has now started doing it through the day.
I know she is getting fed as she is piling on the weight and at the beginning I definately have quite a forceful let down so wondered if she was used to this and was getting cross when it's harder work???

I suspected she was going through a growth spurt cos she is feeding more often and is 7 weeks old. She used to feed every 3 hours but now it's more like every two or 1 and half.
Just wondered if anyone had experienced this and has any advice. I'm really hoping it will pass as it's really stressful and I feel like i am battling with her to feed.

I have also noticed that she has really uped her feeding on an evening-she's always fed for longer but now feeds for 3 hours +...is this going to be a permament thing or will the time of the feed reduce as she gets older?

Thanks
xxxxxx

 

[LisaJ1986]

And the fun begins! Lol. I put a similar post on here when Angel was 7 weeks old. She got worse. I hated feeding her when i was in town as i'd end up flashing to passers by! But persevere. It does get better. She had me down to tears some days. I invested in the nursing necklace and it was a really good distraction. We only have this in the evening now, and not every day.

 

[Bloom]

I get this during the day im putting it down to her age and not wanting to miss anything.

 

[Charlie:-)]

It may be wind, sometimes Maia will pull of and scream and thrash about so I sit her up and she winds then goes back on no problem usually.

 

[Sherlock]

It could well be a growth spurt is she is wanting to bed fed more often atm. Galen went through one around then. Is in one now (and for the past week) and is feeding every 90mins-2hours during day and evening

Her pulling off, fussing and thrashing sounds like trapped wind to me. Galen does exactly this when he has my fast let down boob and it causes him to take in air also. I usually wind him when he starts doing this, sometimes it takes a few minutes to get the burp up but it happens then pop him back on my boob. He goes back to sucking happily no problem. I repeat wind him as needed then.

The 3 hour feeding in the evening... is she actually feeding or comfort sucking past a certain point? If its comfort sucking you can take her off your boob if you need to. Do you swap boobs during it? Might be worthwhile and let her drink from the other and see if it helps fill her up better/quicker. So long as she had the first one, no harm in offering her the other. I often do with Galen when on a growth spurt or if I can hear he is trying to feed but not swallowing as often/much as he could be if my boob were more full.

 

[sarah2807]

It could well be a growth spurt is she is wanting to bed fed more often atm. Galen went through one around then. Is in one now (and for the past week) and is feeding every 90mins-2hours during day and evening

Her pulling off, fussing and thrashing sounds like trapped wind to me. Galen does exactly this when he has my fast let down boob and it causes him to take in air also. I usually wind him when he starts doing this, sometimes it takes a few minutes to get the burp up but it happens then pop him back on my boob. He goes back to sucking happily no problem. I repeat wind him as needed then.

The 3 hour feeding in the evening... is she actually feeding or comfort sucking past a certain point? If its comfort sucking you can take her off your boob if you need to. Do you swap boobs during it? Might be worthwhile and let her drink from the other and see if it helps fill her up better/quicker. So long as she had the first one, no harm in offering her the other. I often do with Galen when on a growth spurt or if I can hear he is trying to feed but not swallowing as often/much as he could be if my boob were more full.

I have started feeding from both now-I used to do one side per feed cos my flow is so fast and supply is quite high but atm I need to do both-I also do it to distract her when she is fussing and it helps a bit.
She always has trapped wind (poor thing) so that probably isn't helping...I do burp her often tho.

Sounds like perseverence might be the answer and hopefully it will get easier and quicker.

 

[Sherlock]

I have started feeding from both now-I used to do one side per feed cos my flow is so fast and supply is quite high but atm I need to do both-I also do it to distract her when she is fussing and it helps a bit.
She always has trapped wind (poor thing) so that probably isn't helping...I do burp her often tho.

Sounds like perseverence might be the answer and hopefully it will get easier and quicker.

Awww Galen had terrible wind and colic but its under control now. He does still get wind and fusses terribly when it happens but its much more bearable now the colic has passed. Even a tiny burp gives him great relief to be able to carry on and feed.

And yup, stick with it as it does get easier. And quicker. Galen had epic long feeds the first few weeks. 3 hours plus were usual and then he'd want to feed an hour later. But by about 7-8 weeks he settled more and once the growth spurt was over it got better again. Sometimes his feeds drag on but I am more confident in recognising when he is feeding or comfort sucking and when to change him over etc. Most times he can empty a boob inside of 10-15 minutes but likes to comfort suck when sleepy for about another 15 or longer if he can get away with it

 

[sarah2807]

You wouldn't think their tiny bellies could hold milk from a 3 hour feeding sesion!! Tho I'm sure like you say a fair bit of comfort sucking goes on...little monkey's!!

 

[clarey]

hang in there, the fussiness is so wearing but it will improve, I used to give her my little finger to suck for a bit if I suspected she was just using me as a dummy, bit less stress on the nips. Hope those marathons ease up soon x