To be fed up with breastfeeding

[lizzlebizzle33]

My 5 month old has just recently become an absolute nightmare to feed, he's distracted, frantic, grabbing at my face, full on pinching my boob with his whole hand (fucking hurts!) he squirms to sit up then cries and wants to go back on again.

What's going on? We've come through the hard first few months and I thought it would be easier from now on but it's just horrible, so stressful.

Shall I just start to wean him already and not wait to 6 months? He's started to get really angry with us when we're eating and always tries to grab any food that might get near him.

I want to carry on breast feeding him but it's just got so hard again I don't know where to turn, I'm in tears almost every feed.

Hi, my ds is now 8 months and went through a very similar thing at around the 4/5 month mark.
For me taking him to a quieter place worked, no distractions seemed to calm him down. It was such a nightmare though you have my sympathy.
I have now moved him onto bottles, however this was more for going back to work than anything else!

Teething perhaps?

ugh, sounds really tough. Is he otherwise well in himself?

If he is sitting up well and can grab the food then I’d give baby led weaning a go. Ds started just before 6 monks as he grabbed my toast and started chomping... so it was a sign!
Yanbu to be fed up breastfeeding but I hope you can continue as it’s really fab when they get a bit older and are learning to crawl/toddle etc. It changes and I loved feeding an older baby/toddler far more than a wee baby.

No advice I’m afraid but my DD is nearly 5 months and is exactly the same. I thought we’d cracked it after a difficult few weeks at the beginning but it’s actually worse now. Can’t ever get her in the right position and she flaps around getting really stressed.
Hopefully it’s just a phase as pp said!

Completely with you on that one but thankfully it's just a growth thing. They become more aware and are easily distracted at around that age so feeding is a nightmare if there are things going on nearby. My daughter would be feeding, the dog would move or even breathe too loudly and she would turn her head... still latched on. Quite unpleasant but it passed thankfully.

It's awful, it really is but it'll be over before you know it.

I start introducing solids at 5 1/2 months for that very reason as DD was feeding hourly.

Its also at the same time as the sleep regression and baby realising that there is more to the world.

It honestly does pass and is the turning point for when they start to drop feeds and suddenly youve gone 4 hours without feeding.

I found feeding in a quiet dark room was the easiest when i was at home, being out and about was more tricky but they soon get over staring at a tree/dog/bus in time.

My second and third weaned at 5 months - well they could crawl and grabbed food that siblings have left and found them munching when I turned my back so started giving them finger food. They were bf.

I think they go through a developmental phase of being really easily distracted - we are in the same boat. Things I've found sometimes help -
Tying my hair back. Otherwise it's yanked out in clumps
Spacing feeds out a bit more so she is really hungry and more interested in feeding than playing
Feeding when she is a bit sleepy (this is more by chance than design as we don't have a rigid routine) as she seems calmer
Feeding somewhere quiet and boring if possible

I've heard of people wearing chunky necklaces for their baby to play with if they can't stop grabbing

I think I remember the same thing with my first, and it did get better! Good luck

Yes he is well in himself, normal happy chap but when it comes to a feed he gets really frustrated.
He's a big baby and quite difficult to get into a comfy position especially when he is squirmy around.

Possibly could be teething, I do apply teething gel but doesn't seem to do much.

He can sit up quite well, not without help though. I just feel like he is getting angry and really wants some food. Maybe it won't even help but I guess it's worth a try, is there any harm in starting blw early?

Ps I think if they can sit up well and pick up food and hold it well and chew on it they are about ready to wean

I had the exactly the same with DD at that age. It lasted a few weeks if I remember rightly and drove me mad. Then from nowhere she went back to feeding properly and breastfeeding finally became the easy experience I’d been promised. She’s 1 now and I’ve only just weaned her off daytime breastfeeds (without any drama) and feeding her at night is a breeze.

YANBU to feel fed up and YANBU to stop if you’re ready to. From my own experience though I’d say it’s just a phase and if you wouldn’t otherwise want to stop I’d ride it out. I’m not sure weaning would help, as I think it’s more that they are easily distracted with everything going on around them at that age. My DD was teething badly at the time too and she settled once they came through.

Teething necklaces are great, gives baby something to focus on.

Are you sure he always wants a feed? My DC3 is 5 months now and going a lot longer between feeds suddenly, and where I assume he needs a feed quite often he doesn't yet so if I put him on he's like that.

Theres no harm in trying food now but it might not make much difference we've just tried as he'll be 6 months at the end of the month and he didn't like it at all yet!

I had babies 25/30 years ago and then it was the “advice” to wean them at 3 months. I haven’t kept up with modern advice as to why it’s now 6, so not sure why it’s now 6. Anyway, my first already got excessively hungry at 2.5 months so was slowly weaned then, with caution and appropriate foods obviously. But he’s now a strapping man of nearly 30 with no health issues so clearly no harm done!

Sorry to hear you’re having a tough time OP
I don’t think breastfeeding is to blame though- I’m a childminder and have been through this stage a couple of times with different mindees who are bottled fed. Nothing more frustrating than having someone grab and pull and hurt you without being able to explain to them what they are doing. As others have said, the best thing for us was being in as quiet and calming an environment as possible with as few distractions as possible... easier said than done though I know!
It is definitely a stage and it will pass x

Same here, 4-5 months he would arch his back every time I tried to lay him down in position and writhe around then cry with hunger after. It was a nightmare to try and get him on and stay on. I still don't know what it was but when I tried a bottle he didn't do the same and drank it all fine. I did start to ween around 5 months and he was happy but still had a similar amount of milk so it didn't solve that problem. I mixed fed and then weened him to bottle after 6 months. Not saying you should do that, completely your choice but that was my experience.

If youre worried about him being ready for BLW yet, you could try him with some baby porridge mixed with a lot of your milk.

We had to start DC2 very young as she was 3 months prem but had to start at 6 months from her birth date still, so she had to be spoonfed and purees rather than BLW to start, then by the time she was 8 months or so she went onto BLW fine.

Really glad to hear that it's hopefully just a phase.
@BubblesAndSquarks you could be right, I pick him up if he gets a little moany an he starts rooting but then doesn't really want to eat I think it's just habit. I will try getting him to go a little longer between feeds to make sure he is hungry, that may help.

Have you tried a bright necklace? It was a phase with my son and ths necklace stopped the scratching and pinching.

They are so interested in everything, its hard for them to stay focused.

I had this exact same thing with DS at this time (he is now 6mo) it didn't last long luckily and now he completes a feed in less than 10 minutes and concentrates on what he is doing. It's frustrating but it won't last forever