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Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Is he hungry?

14 replies

Roo31 · 30/05/2009 22:04

My 4wo DS is asking to be fed all the time. He latches, then pulls my boob out of his mouth and bounces around, then reattaches, then repeats again and again. Eventually he'll settle for a bit, and suck a bit then apparently doze off. This tends to happen when I'm sure there must be very little milk available. I think he's hacked off with me for not having enough food for him. Today he's spent most of the afternoon feeding. I'm tired out and my nipples are sore from all the pushing and shoving. I'm sure he's tired out as he'll rarely settle to nap in his cot. Sucking seems to be the only thing that calms him down at all, he spends the rest of the time screaming.
I don't know whether to give him some formula as a one-off, or if I should just let him stay on the boob. I'm happy to let him comfort suck a bit, but it's getting sore with the bouncing!
I don't actually know if he's really hungry or just tired, we've tried to settle him time and again and he won't nap for longer than about 30 mins.
I feel awful handing him over to DH when he's telling me he's hungry, but it's exhausting and sore.

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onepieceofcremeegg · 30/05/2009 22:07

My dd2 was a little like this. A dummy worked for us but I appreciate that you may not want to try that.

Some babies do seem to want to suck more. Would someone be able to check if his latch is 100% right (e.g a hv or breast feeding counsellor)

I hope that someone will be along soon with better advice.

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Roo31 · 30/05/2009 22:17

Thanks creme egg, we've got a dummy to settle him at night, but I've not been keen to use it during the day. When it's like this I think I might have to. I'm confident that his latch is good, the breast feeding nurse and my NCT teacher have both seen him feed. Thanks again.

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morocco · 30/05/2009 22:22

when you try to settle him, are you putting him down? will he sleep longer if you keep holding him? could be he just likes being cuddled, in which case just get a sling or sit on the sofa with a box of chocolates and a movie for a few hours (or do that anyway)
does he seem to be in pain when he latches on?

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Roo31 · 31/05/2009 08:40

Hi Morocco, thank you. No, definitely not in pain when he latches. You're right, he definitely likes being close to us. I put him in bed with us for part of last night and he slept really well. I'll try the sling around the house - thank you.

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onepieceofcremeegg · 31/05/2009 19:36

How are you (and ds) today Roo? Hope you managed to get a little bit of rest.

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babyphat · 31/05/2009 20:14

my baby sometimes used to comfort suck when she was uncomfortable with wind and she really needed to burp. it took me a long time to realise. could it be that? she still does it now at 9 months, with the sucking then coming off (and shoving) that you describe.

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Roo31 · 01/06/2009 20:32

Hi all, thank you for your help. Babyphat, I think you're right. Last night he couldn't settle at all. We rubbed his tummy and the longest trump I've ever heard came out! We're going to try tummy rubbing earlier this evening and hope for the best! He's been comfort sucking all afternoon, so I think he's still feeling windy.
Creme egg, thank you, hubby watched him while he napped yesterday afternoon, so I'm human again!

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logrrl · 01/06/2009 20:35

I've posted about this before-it's frustrating, isn't it? My DS definitely does it in relation to wind, very effectively!

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nosleeptilbedtime · 01/06/2009 20:45

My 7w DS does this sucking on and off thing every day at about tea time, I think it means he is tired rather than hungry as I offered him bottle of ebm just in case there was no milk left in breast but he wasn't interested. Think it's tiredness more than anything.

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Roo31 · 03/06/2009 19:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

morocco · 04/06/2009 00:18

hi again
did you see an nct peer supporter or an nct bf counsellor? (just there's a lot of different levels of expertise out there now). I wondered because it's not all that often you hear 'supplement' given as advice straight away by properly trained breastfeeding experts. of course, there's always a place for supplementing but can I suggest you also go along to a local baby cafe or phone the nct/lll phone lines for more info just to check and to get more info on other ways of improving his milk
have you tried breast compression yet?

some interesting reading here for example
intakewww.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/fussy-while-nursing.html

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morocco · 04/06/2009 00:20

sorry- see computer is eating my words
meant to say 'improving his milk intake' - am sure your milk is gold top standard

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tiktok · 04/06/2009 00:27

Roo - who did you see exactly? NCT teachers don't usually see mums about bf, though some teachers are also breastfeeding counsellors, in which case they might.

I don't understand that the suck would be a 'problem' and the latch would be 'fine' - that's a contradiction, really. Are you sure this is what was said?

'Not getting the hindmilk' - a baby does need to feed effectively and when he does he will get the milk he needs. Is this what she meant?

Sometimes, babies who are not getting the breastmilk they need may have to have some formula temporarily, and it's possible your baby is one...as you say, they can return to the breast when they have got things sorted. But it's a risk, a hassle and v. time consuming to feed formula, bf and also express. What is the story of his weight?

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Roo31 · 12/06/2009 10:38

Hi, sorry for vanishing. I was very ineloquent in my last post.
DS got back to his birth weight when he was four weeks, having lost 10% in his first few days. He put on a pound in the first week of supplementation.
His latch is great, and my boobs seem to produce a reasonable amount of milk. I can express 90ml in the night. I've occasionally seen him doing the 'drawing' thing to get the hindmilk out, but a normal feed will see him sucking to get the foremilk and then get angry when the flow slows - he pushes himself off the breast, plays with the nipple, tries to feed again and eventually starts shouting. I've tried compressions but it seems to annoy him.
After a few days of particularly unpleasant feeds when he started kicking and gouging when the flow slowed, and a lot of sleepless nights, I'm now formula feeding, offering the breast before resorting to formula and also between formula feeds, and expressing when I get chance. DS is quite clingy (which is fine!) so it's difficult to find the time to express, but I'm getting enough for one feed, which I guess is better than nothing.
I'm still hoping that we might get back to breastfeeding, but don't know how to help him improve his technique. I don't know if I'm helping by giving formula, but I can't bear to see him hungry and angry. Any suggestions?