Wrenching at the nipple

[Penethea]

Hello all - my premature ds is 14 weeks actual age, 6 weeks corrected. I am bfing and lately he has started to wrench at my nipple, not at every feed but often enough to make it really painful feeding at the other feeds. He also has a really strong suck - strong enough to give himself a love bite when he sucked his arm the other day! - but don't know if that is normal.

Could it be nipple confusion, as I have to give him medicine three times a day which I do in bottles? I've heard opposing things about that - that nipple confusion doesn't exist/that this is definitely the problem. I dread having to give him his medicine via oral syringe as he hates it and spits it out. Feeds can take a long time too so I wondered if my milk supply was low. It's often more of a problem in the evening.

Any thoughts welcome as it is really getting me down - I worry I'm not getting him enough milk and that he's not enjoying his feeds.

[ilovemyoboe]

Hello,

Much empathy - I'm no bf expert .. am currently finding my way with my 11w old son. He has started wrenching at my nipple too, a few weeks ago. Usually it meant that let down was a bit slow and he was getting impatient. Can you feel 'let down'? I usually can but not everyone does. If he's been on one breast for a bit, it might help to change sides - maybe he's had enough on that side and want the other? Or maybe he's just finished? Sometimes babies don't take themselves off but just fuss when they're finished.

One website I've seen advised on how to tell the difference between when he was drinking and when just sucking, and if he was just sucking how to do breast compressions to get some milk out and encourage him to drink. That seems to help sometimes.
Site home:
www.nbci.ca/
How to increase milk intake
www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29:protocol-to-increase-breastmilk-intake&c atid=5:information&Itemid=17
List of information sheets including breast compressions:
www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=17

Sometimes fussing at the nipple can mean they need winding or that they're about to do a poo (think they find concentrating on both pooing and feeding too much!), but I think wrenching is usually related to feeding from what I've read.

Not saying the above web links are the gospel as there's lots of conflicting advice, but I found it a helpful site. There are some video clips showing the difference between sucking and drinking too, and that was useful.