breastfeeding frenzy while teething?

[kaiki]

i think i read somewhere that teething babies tend to breastfeed more while teething - i know it's partly a comfort thing, and also think that breastmilk may contain analgesic but can anyone corroborate this ?

my 1 year old dd has two incisors coming through and is breastfeeding or nuzzling to breastfeed almost every waking hour - i thought she was starting to drop feeds as the weaning is going terrifically but in the last week she has been attatched to me like crazy, and it feels like she is taking two steps back.

If she wants to breastfeed that is fine by me - whatever comfort she needs - but can someone please reassure me it is a teething thing and not a regression? she took her first determined, wobbly steps last week and since then hasn't wanted to take any since and is unusally clingy as though the nod toward independence has scared her.

Yes, totally normal - I know babies who are like this. My DS does this at night (not in the day ) when he's teething.

It could also be to do with the 55(ish) week developmental spurt - in the weeks before spurts babies usually become 'clingy, cranky and crying'. I know of several babies who wanted constant bf during this spurt.

The spurts are to do with development of the brain & nervous system and you can read about the effects in The Wonder Weeks.

IME the road to independence rarely goes in a straight line and often involves what seem like backward steps as part of the process.

thanks angeldog, it's good to know i'm not alone.

i didn't realise there was a 55 week spurt - i knew there was one between 9 and 11 months, but didn't know there as so soon after. poor baby! another kind mumsnetter has told me about the wonder weeks before but i always forget to refer to it, so thanks for the link, it's bloody useful when you have a clingy, cranky and crying bundle of joy and you don't know why.

i think you're definately right about the backward steps - perhaps growing up is a bit scarier for them then i first thought - i always think of dd as a confident, headstrong little thing but forget that it's all very new and confusing for her. as far as breastfeeding goes shall i just stick with it on demand for now ? i don't want to deprive her of anything.

Well, if it were me, I'd go with bf on demand for now - I'm sure it'll subside again. That'll give her the reassurance that she wants - I think they feel they want the security and familiarity of bf when there are new things going on.

DS has learnt new skills like cruising and then seemed too scared to try them out for a bit too.

DS is really predictable and always gets grumpy when working on a developmental spurt (it always affects his sleep too ), and DH always notices him clinging to me then, whereas normally he's equally happy with either of us.

I do know of babies who bf almost constantly when they're teething too because they need the pain relief.

brilliant, thanks for you help again angeldog and i am right with you with the clinginess (right with you probably with a baby attatched to me limpet-style) - my dp has noticed it too, whereas she has previously been happy with either one of us.

a big nod to the sleep thing as well. we had a five thirty start this morning (yaaaawwwn!) wherein the happiest baby in the world quickly degenerated to a moaning grump by nine thirty. she has never been a good sleeper though, so i barely notice if her sleep is affected any differantly.

ah well, it's all part of the process isn't it ? i love her to bits but sometimes need reassurance that what i feel i am doing instinctively is actually okay!

Oh, 5.30 starts were horrible. Thankfully DS has decided that 6am is an early morning now.

Funnily enough DS's first incisor came through today and he was inconsolable unless he was bf'ing. I spent the afternoon in bed singing 'the wheels on the bus' (despite the pain he could still unlatch long enough to say 'beep beep' to tell me which song to sing ). He's never been like that before, and was so clingy it was unbelievable.

He went to bed at 5.45pm too so I could be in for an early start tomorrow too.

DS has generally been a bad sleeper (3-5 wakings a night) but he sleeps pretty well now at 15 m.o. - on 'good' nights he only wakes once, before my bedtime. I didn't do anything to help him learn either. :)