Problems with BFing 4 month old

[chloechloe]

DD is 16 weeks old and is EBF on demand, except for one small bottle (90-130ml) in the evenings - she was small at birth and according to the MW had a few weeks where she didn't gain enough weight.

Over the last couple of weeks she has really started fussing during some of her daytime feeds. She pulls off the breast and starts wimpering, goes back again, pulls off again. At this point I try and calm her down but sometimes she carries on crying for some time and on occasion can barely be calmed down at all. It definitely isn't wind, as she cries in a different way when it is and I can usually burp her within 30 seconds if that's the problem.

Usually she starts doing it about 5 minutes into the feed and will sometimes calm down if I offer her the other breast. That made me wonder if she is just getting frustrated when the milk starts to slow down? Today she started the crying after just 2 minutes though. It tends to get progressively worse through the day, with the last feed being a nightmare. She is pretty rubbish at sleeping during the day - she has never slept for more than 30min and had now dropped one of her daytime naps, so perhaps it's a case of her getting more and more overtired during the day? When she gets her bottle in the evening she'll drink it (usually from DH) without any issue.

During night feeds she's an absolute dream - she drinks peacefully for 10 to 20 minutes and falls asleep.

Does anybody have any ideas? It's really getting me down as it feels like so many of our feeds are a battle at the moment. Plus it's so depressing to see how content she is with the bottle - I had to give it to her this evening and she practically to it out my hands she was so happy!

[MrsAukerman]

Where do you feed her in the day?
I only ask as at this age my ds was too distracted by the TV / lights in the sitting room so I had to stop watching daytime TV. Twas a sad day but it did the trick.

[chloechloe]

In the bedroom - we have an upside down flat with the lounge upstairs and I never bother going up the stairs!

She is definitely going through the distractible stage though as the other thing she does is to unlatch and try to grab her toes or give me a big gummy smile (on the occasions she's not in meltdown mode!)

[BoeBarlow]

Is she teething? Sometimes that can cause pain when latching on.

[Nomorethongs]

We're at a similar stage and baby fussy, lactation consultant suggested buying a beaded necklace to wear when she is feeding to keep her hands busy and keep her focus on me! I bought a special breastfeeding necklace off eBay, all different shapes and colours but she said cheap beads from charity shop would do as well!!

[chloechloe]

She could be teething boe - a couple of weeks ago she started drooling for the first time and also biting on her fingers lots.

[BoeBarlow]

When my DD started teething she became much more fussy at the breast. She was getting frustrated I think because she was hungry but it hurt to eat You could always try a topical treatment like bonjela or anbesol before a feed. The good news is that if it is teething then it'll get better as soon as the teeth appear.