4mo hating feeding (ebf) - teething or boob rejection?

[gretagrape]

Hi. 4mo son is ebf and in the last week or so has become a real pain to feed - manages 5 mins at most on the first side before crying. If I squirt a bit of milk into his mouth he'll go back on but only for a few seconds each time, then the same happens on the other side.
He's a chewer and a thumb/hand sucker and just now grabbed my thumb and put it in his mouth but what makes me think this isn't just fussiness/rejection is that he put my thumb across his mouth so the whole of his gums were chewing on it rather than sucking it longways.
Is this likely to be teething? How can I make sure he feeds enough? So far it hasn't affected nightime (sleeps approx 8pm-5am) but I'm guessing it will if he carries on like this.
thanks
x

How is he about laying down otherwise? Could be ear infection if he doesn't like laying down?

I think laying down is fine but he has reflux so I keep him upright on me after feeds and he's never been good at daytime naps anyway so it's hard to tell but there hasn't been any change to his pattern. When he does feed he spends a lot of time swinging his arm up and down on me or scratching his head so not sure what he's trying to tell me!

Around about 4mo, my DS (ff) started to hate beig held like a baby ( ie cradled in my arms) to have a bottle. Lots of crying, fussing, pulling off the bottle. I think he was just getting much more aware of what was going on in the room (TV, music, family members coming in and out etc) that he didn't wanna miss out by being held on my chest having a bottle. Also he is a very strong willed and stubborn spirited baby who doesn't want to do things unless they are on his terms.

I resolved the problem by turning him round to face outward whilst feeding ie head between my boobs. I know this is not much help to you as you can't do this while ebf-ing, but I wonder if your DS too is having a period of not wanting to feed when there's so much else going on to look at! Could you try feeding him in a quiet dark room and see if that helps?