14 week old DD started crying, flailing arms, tugging and pulling at breast! WHY??

[SydneyB]

My 14 week DD has started crying at the breast combined with flailing arms and frantically pulling at my breast, face and clothes especially during the evening feeds. Has anyone else experienced the same thing? Is really upsetting that the one thing guaranteed to make her happy and stop her crying now seems to cause it sometimes..

[isaidno]

sounds like frustration and impatience; does she settle down once the milk starts flowing?

[luciemule]

did she have traumatic birth, ie ventouse/forceps etc?

[Elasticwoman]

Sounds like a growth spurt to me. Should settle down when your supply increases to meet the increased demand.

May well happen on its own within a few days, but things you can do to encourage it are:

• express between feeds (and you can also use that milk to supplement evening feeds)

• have a rest during the day (esp if you are having bad nights)

• keep well fed and hydrated (ie, drink when thirsty and don't drastically restrict your own calorie intake)

• give up alcohol (only until things go back to normal).

[Elasticwoman]

Sounds like a growth spurt to me. Should settle down when your supply increases to meet the increased demand.

May well happen on its own within a few days, but things you can do to encourage it are:

• express between feeds (and you can also use that milk to supplement evening feeds)

• have a rest during the day (esp if you are having bad nights)

• keep well fed and hydrated (ie, drink when thirsty and don't drastically restrict your own calorie intake)

• give up alcohol (only until things go back to normal).

[Thalia]

Hi. Sorry to hear this. Feeding problems are huge because you spend so much time doing it and it's so important to them. Have you checked your baby's mouth for white spots caused by thrush ? I had painful breastfeeding for nearly 5 weeks and didn't realise that's what it was. My baby gave me thrush on and in my nipples. Was very painful. I have read that thrush can make the baby flail around although that part didn't happen to me. Just have a look at your baby's tongue. Hope you find the solution.

[Leoness]

Do you exclusively bf? or dshe have a bottle ever?

[beanstalk]

I agree with Elasticwoman. I experienced exactly the same thing only 2 weeks ago. My DD is now 12 wks and has just stopped the flailing, crying etc. It lasted about 2 weeks though but she is now back to feeding calmly. So I put it down to a growth spurt. Hard though as you're never quite sure! The one thing I always try to remember is that it won't last - hard I know when your evenings become stressful. Hang on in there and feed her as much as she wants.

[jules44]

Itoo have experienced this, my daughter is 13 weeks old, it was about a month ago that she seem to want to breast, but then after a few mins would move her head side to side, would suck let go suck again??

i produce alot of milk so it would end up all over her face!!!

i dont know if the problem was too much milk but luckily it settled after about a week.

hope things improve for you.
xx

[cathcart]

Hi Syd, I have this exact problem most evenings right now with my 7wk old. She feeds like an angel during the day and night but between the hours of 7pm and 10pm she works herself into a right state! She is trying to latch on, 'pecking' frantically and crying and waving her arms. I think it is a combination of being tired, grumpy, and trying to fill up before bedtime. Its really hard to soothe her but she does eventually by either falling asleep for 5 minutes or by me firmly managing to get her to latch on properly and holding her there securely for a minute so she stops bobbing on and off. It can be very upsetting and frustrating for you both but a few people I have talked to have said similar things about evenings which has set my mind at rest that there is nothing 'wrong'! Hopefully it'll pass

[CODalmighty]

mine did htat
ithink hungry etc

[SydneyB]

Thanks for your messages. Yes, , she does have a bottle last thing at night and we noticed that we'd been buying some 2/3 hole teats as opposed to the newborn teats so cut those out to see if it was frustration at the flow and that seems to have worked a bit. She still does it from time to time but I do think its a combination of tiredness, grumpiness and trying to get comfort and just getting frustrated and it is beginning to calm down. MN is so great, such a help to hear people are going through similar things..

[cruisemum1]

My ds did this! It was usually because he was full but comfort sucking. He wanted to suck but didn[t want the milk iyswim. It was distressing becasue the very thing that comforted him was causing him distress. He just stopped doing it eventually.