Baby Fussing at the Breast

[JMS]

My DD is 3 months old and is breastfeed exclusively. From the start she was a great nurser, until recently. Lately she will begin a feeding and after only about 2 minutes, she will start fussing. It's hard to explain but basically she pulls off and relatches about every 3-4 sucks, fusses, and stiffens her body. Her entire feeding usually only lasts about 5 minutes. She nurses approximately every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. I've tried mylicon and maalox (at the advive of my doctor) and neither seems to make much of a difference. I would think it's either gas or reflux (she does spit up after a few feedings a day with varying amounts).. but I'm not sure how to handle / help the situation. Any advice???

[Dyonia]

My DD is 3 mo. old also, and is doing EXACTLY the same thing. She pulls off after about 2-3 minutes of feeding well, and then relatches after 5-10 seconds, then pulls off after 3-4 sucks and fusses...lather, rinse, repeat....

She has been doing this off and on for about 6 weeks. We are currently being treated for thrush, so I am hoping that once the thrush is resolved, her fussy behavior will go away.

I'm assuming your DD doesn't need burped when she fusses at the breast? My DD has a different cue when she needs burped, so that *usually* doesn't cause the fussy behavior for us.

I don't have any advice on eliminating this behavior, unfortunately. Since she seems to be pretty worked up when she does this, I pop her pacifier in her mouth when she pulls off and then just cuddle her until she wants back on. Usually doing this a fwe times will get her settled down to nurse.

Here's hoping somebody else out there can solve this :-)
--Donna

[HallsofVA]

My son started doing the same thing at about 2 months. Besides being sure to burp him frequently, I tried different nursing positions untill he found one he was more comfortable in. I had to get rid of our original positions in favor of the old cradle hold (which I didn't even use until he was 5-6 weeks old). Also, he was diagnosed with a mild ear infection shortly after this started, which seemed to be aggravated during nursing because of the changes in pressure, particularly when he was nursing with the infected ear down.

The good news is he grew out of the fussy period and yours will too. The bad news is now at 4 months he's getting more interested in the suroundings, and is constantly turning his head (w/breast in mouth - OUCH!) to see what's going on, or detaching and reattaching many many times during a feeding (but usually after the first eager nursing minutes are past.)

[JMS]

I really appreciate the advice and hearing of similar stories. I'm hoping my daughter will grow out of this 'phase' but I'm concerned that she is either in some sort of (tummy) pain or having a digestion problem. There are times, dispite great burps, that she throws up seemingly everything, whereas other times, her spit-up is moderate. I didn't mention earlier that the only feeding position that I currently have any success with is when we both lay on the bed and she nurses laying on her side. This problem especially worries me because I'm affraid she's not getting enough to eat (and that brings up other issues involving milk supply as well). There are days that are worse than others. I have been discussing this with my doctor, and if the situation doesn't improve soon, I'm going to take her in for a checkup. Again, I really appreicate everyone's responses - keep them coming!

Jacquelyn
Mom to Honor 2/17/04

[quikeye]

Hi :) Are you sure babe is hungry? Sounds silly, but at about 3 months was when ds started getting really distracted @ the breast, esp. if he wasn't *that* hungry, and would look around, kick, "flail" his arms... he still gets distracted at everything, but i notice that he doesn't un-latch and fuss as much when he's *really* hungry (not like starving, but actually hungry and not just sucking b/c i offer the breast and not swallowing). When he's gone for more than 2-3 hours he will really concentrate and not pull off as much... (Do you hear her swallowing throughout when you feed? Or is she swallowing just for the 1st few sucks and then "comfort sucking"?) It may make you feel better/not worry as much if you listen in and know she's not stopping a feed but simply pulling off of a comfort suck...

For reflux, does babe have a hard time when laying flat (arching, etc.)? Sleeping okay at night (as much as can be expected for a newborn?) These were the q's my ped asked us when we were trying to determine if ds had reflux early on... figured he didn't b/c he was generally happy as a clam at night and didn't need to be kept at an angle when laying down to be comfy.

As long as your ped isn't too worried (babe gaining weight, wet dipes, etc.) i wouldn't worry and just let her *not* nurse if she un-latches. In my experience, i've taken to not letting ds try to nurse if he's too distracted, and he will later nurse sucessfully, without a fight, within an hour or so. (I'm not saying to withhold, just to be aware if babe doesn't want to eat-- don't worry if she doesn't).

[Momof3Labs]

Sounds like it might be forceful letdown, though I'm not sure since she just started showing the signs. But it is something to look into.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

If you've ruled out everything else (esp. burping frequently) then have her checked for reflux.

[Rachels]

I agree with Lori. My DD started that at 3 months, too, and reflux was to blame.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ilies/knit.gif

"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm

[mudder17]

My DD is 3 months old and she started doing that at around 2.5 months. I'm glad to hear it's not a unique situation. I have a pretty forceful letdown, so I figured that's what it was. So I would squeeze out some when that happened and she would usually latch back on. But then she started doing it other times as well. I've attributed it to the following things (since it does seem to vary):

1. She's really not that hungry.
2. It's too warm and she doesn't feel like eating when that happens.
3. She needs to be burped.
4. Let-down is too forceful and she's not hungry enough to overcome it (when she's hungry, even the spray doesn't seem to bother her).

With 1,2, and 4, I just pull her off and see how she is and usually she'll smile at me to let me know she doesn't feel like eating right now. With 3, it really makes a big difference and after she burps, she'll act like she wants to eat again.

HTH some,

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
born 22 February 2004

http://www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya

[HeatherKor]

I too have had difficulty with my son (8weeks old) getting fussy at the breast. Mylicon drops, Babies Tum Ease, etc. seem to be of little help. We have narrowed it down to two things...trying to pass a BM during breast feeding and beign over-tired. I can usually tell by the style of fussing. Grunting and groaning for BM and frustrated high pitched cry for over-tired. The BM's just have to pass. I do find that sitting my baby up and holding his knees into his chest help him to pass more quickly and then he can return to feeding. As for times when he is over-tired, he seems to use the breast more as a comfort that back fires when he gets frustrated that he isn't falling to sleep easily. I take him off the breast and have found our Cradle Swing (Fisher Price) to put him to sleep within a couple of minutes. He then wakes after his nap and usually has a very good nursing session.

Your baby may have other things going on but but maybe our experiences will help yours. Good luck.

Heather, Mommy of Brendan 4/04

[tarahsolazy]

My DS does this too! He's three months old exactly. But, he has been doing it to some degree or other since about 6 weeks. At first, I think it was forceful let-down, and I went to single side feedings, which helped immensely. Now, he seems to do it, like Kaya's mom said, when he isn't that hungry, or he's VERY overtired, or he wants milk faster. He always fusses himself to sleep, as we walk and rock, and sometimes he does it at the breast. But its that suck suck suck, fuss fuss fuss, pop off, back on, etc. We also nurse lying down most often, it relaxes me. Sometimes at the start of a feed, he fusses until the let-down occurs, then sucks intently for a few minutes, then, when the milk slows down, fusses some more. Then I use breast compression to increase the milk flow, which seems to help. I'm trying to not worry about the crying, since he is growing well, has very yellow stools, and seems content after nursing. He has also decreased his duration of nursing in the last month to usually three to five minutes per breast, something I'm also trying not to stress about. I've kicked around the idea of reflux on and off, but it is actually hard to definatively diagnose without a ph probe study, and I'm not sure I want a trial of meds.. Can't help you out much, is essentially what I'm saying, since I'm in the same spot!! I just keep hoping it goes away. Guess I've got my head in the sand here.