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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Breastfeeding making me cringe! Help.

24 replies

lifeas3plus1 · 30/09/2010 22:27

It's fine during the day, in fact it's lovely.

Perfect latch, no problems with blocked ducts etc, baby gazing into my eye's or hand wrapped around my finger etc.

But the middle of the night feeds are awful. The way he is feeding is no different that I can tell but it feels completely different and it makes my toes curl, my legs get twitchy and makes me shudder like nails down a blackboard type thing.

It's making me dread him waking up for feeds at a time when it should be the most perfect (toddler in bed so not having tom run around after him, just me and baby, relaxed and comfy)

Does anyone else get this. I absolutely love BF him but this is really starting to put me off. Is it just a case of grinning and baring it or is there a reason for it? Anything to just make it stop thatndoesn't involve giving up BF?

OP posts:

tiktok · 30/09/2010 22:30

How old is your baby, life? Did you bf before and did this happen then?

gingerkirsty · 30/09/2010 22:32

Wow don't take this the wrong way but that is wierd! :) I assumed from your title you hated BF altogether! How mysterious.

I think you need to try to pinpoint what's different. When you say it feels different, do you mean physically different ie uncomfortable or painful, or just emotionally different? Where do you feed during the day and at night? Is the lighting a bit wierd and could that be unsettling you? I really can't think of what else could be causing it!

On a practical level have you tried expressing during the day and giving him a bottle at night? If so, how did that feel?

gingerkirsty · 30/09/2010 22:33

Ooh good tiktok's here :)

sundew · 30/09/2010 22:35

could you try some different positions - it may be you are sitting in a different position?Or could you try feeding lying down which worked for me with dd2?

TheBreastmilksOnMe · 30/09/2010 22:36

Do you feed him in a different position during the night such as lying down? If you are feeding upright then is it because you really want to be asleep and are impatient for the feed to end because if it is frustration/impatience then I would suggest astering feeding lying down so that you can relax and possibly nod off whilst he feeds.

MrsSawdust · 30/09/2010 22:37

I haven't heard of this (though I'm not an expert, just a bf mum) but I wonder if it could be that you're tired and the broken sleep causes this to happen - something to do with sleep hormones or something.

Do you feed sitting up in the night? If so, you might find lying down with him in bed with you more relaxing. When I discovered this, my whole world changed But I didn't have your particular complaint.

Hope somebody more clued up than me comes along soon.

mollycuddles · 30/09/2010 22:37

Not the same but - in the first few weeks when I was extremely sleep deprived and quite anxious (I always get anxious in the immediate postnatal period but fortunately hasn't turned into pnd the last two times), I got a bit jittery with night feeds. Just felt on edge and slightly crowded. Once I was getting about 3 hours unbroken sleep once a night the feeling passed. Could it be something similar eg exhaustion or anxiety ?

gingerkirsty · 30/09/2010 22:55

OP I just went and fed DD and realised I basically called you wierd - I am so sorry, I didn't mean it like that but shouldn't have said it at all :( What a twonk.

loopyloops · 30/09/2010 22:59

I don't think it's weird, in fact I felt like this too.

Nothing has to be different at all, but sometimes (not every time) I get a real nails-down-blackboard thing going on during night feeds.

Now DD is 15 months and night feeds are rare, but when they do happen I still get it.

I wonder if it's a physical sign of exhaustion?

Some people feel a bit orgasmic apparently maybe it's like the opposite of that?

ConnorTraceptive · 30/09/2010 23:00

Do you think on some level you just resent being woken in the night and that it's more a feeling of irritability rather than cringing? I didn't used to mind breast feeding at night time but after a year of two hourly feeds every night I wasn't that chippy about it!

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 30/09/2010 23:00

I used to get fidgety legs when I fed DS sitting up in bed, I wondered if it was a trapped nerve or something but looking back I think my body was just crying out for sleep!

Are you sitting up or lying down?

NumptyMum · 30/09/2010 23:06

I sometimes found that DD was more enthusiastic/desperate about her night feeds, so 'drew' on me more strongly. That, plus tiredness making the feeling worse. She's now sleeping longer (3mo) and it's a lot better...

Original poster

lifeas3plus1 · 30/09/2010 23:08

tiktok. He's 2weeks old. I did Bf ds1 for 6months and never got this feeling with him.

thebreastmilksonme funnily enough, now you mention it, when I feed him lying down I don't get the problem. Just when sitting up, but the way I sit to feed him in bed is the same way I sit on the sofa to feed him during the day.

I wouldn't say it's impatience/frustration at wanting the feed to end though as the night feeds are the time when I can really relax and really focus on just feeding him without wondering what on earth my toddler has just put down the toilet this time.....

Or at least it would be a time for relaxation and focus if I could stop the cringing!

gingerkirsty lol, no worries. I understand what you where trying to say.

OP posts:

Original poster

lifeas3plus1 · 30/09/2010 23:10

And sorry to everyone I didn't reply too. Apparently I type too slow!

OP posts:

sundew · 30/09/2010 23:15

Lifeas3plus1 - is it the feeding bringin on the fidgety legs - it just sounds a bit like restless leg syndrome (which you can google it is nothing scary).

Restless legs can be caused by anaemia (so it might be worth getting your iron checked). My dad had restless leg syndrome when he was anaemis which resolved itself after taking iron tablets.

Just a thought.

VeronicaCake · 01/10/2010 10:24

I had a horrible squirmy feeling during night feeds a few times in the first few weeks. I began to worry if it was due to some hangup about my breasts (I was sexually assaulted about 10 years ago) and would prevent me breast-feeding. Advice online seemed to be to seek therapy to resolve unresolved feelings about sexual abuse which didn't sound like it would help in the short-term!

I felt nauseous and uncomfortable and fidgetty so it sounds quite similar.

It stopped of its own accord, I can't remember when exactly but definitely before 4 weeks. I haven't had it since. In fact I'd forgotten about it until your post reminded me.

TruthSweet · 01/10/2010 11:23

I felt like that when I was tandem nursing DD1 & 2 (as in feeding at the same time). It just felt like too much sensation and with nursing the two of them I was trapped in the chair (and I really wanted to crawl out of my skin and run away).

It's just a thought (and feel free to ignore it) but do you concentrate on feeding DS2 more when you feed at night? I'm guessing with a toddler running around you don't get much chance to have peace and quiet whilst you are feeding DS2 during the day. If you are feeding in the dark, sitting up and trying to stay awake when tired I'm guessing you would naturally be focusing on the sensations of feeding more than you would in the day with lots going on around you. A bit of sensory depravation (lack of sound/light) with sensory overload at one point of your body.

Could you read a book (with a book light or torch) or listen to ipod or do a crossword or whatever to distract you? I almost always read during night feeds with a mini maglight (you can alter the width of beam so it just lights a small area rather than the whole room) and I find it takes my mind of keeping awake otherwise my mind just runs away with itself.

Hope you find a solution to these feelings soon.

tiktok · 01/10/2010 12:36

life - I think you need to get an informed medical or midwifery opinion on this. In a few cases, and there have been a couple on mumsnet, mothers may get a rare reaction to oxytocin that can include anxiety, acute feelings of depression, nausea...I don't know why it would not happen all the time with you, except that in the day things are less intense than at night.

There's a bit about the nausea thing here

It goes away in a few weeks, if this is what it is.

Bumperlicious · 01/10/2010 13:39

I find I get a bit nauseous if I've recently eaten and I breastfeed.

I also got the 'orgasm' feeling when bfing DD1 and I actually hated it! So that's not any better either!

Hope it passes for you soon. It's not still afterpains is it? God, those made my toes curl.

fernie3 · 01/10/2010 21:28

I had restless leg syndrome when i was pregnant it was awful it made me feel like My insides were crawling and my teeth felt weird it was awful ( was more restless body syndrome) i have had this occasionally since she has been born when breastfeeding although not limited to nights and not at every feed. I have found it has got less as time goes on (she is 10 weeks old now) I'm wondering if its hormones of some kind.

Original poster

lifeas3plus1 · 02/10/2010 20:12

Thanks for all the replies.

Sorry haven't got back sooner.

Can't tell you if it's got better as baby has decided to start sleeping 11pm- 5.30am after cluster feeding all evening.

But just in case it's fluke, I have made an appointment at docs to check iron levels and for the time being I'm just gonna grit my teeth and wait it out as it seems from replies here that it might get better with time.

If all else fails I'll take tiktoks advice of seeking proper medical opinion.

Thanks for not making me feel strange.

OP posts:

Longtalljosie · 02/10/2010 21:13

Putting two and two together and possibly making five - I think oxytocin levels are higher at night, I remember learning that at NCT... so possibly you're reacting to it at higher levels?

tiktok · 03/10/2010 12:10

josie - it's prolactin that's higher at night :)

Oxytocin levels do go up and down - it's oxytocin that goes with the milk ejection reflex ('let-down') - but nothing to do with time of day/night, AFAIK.

Porcelain · 03/10/2010 15:43

I had something similar in the early days. I was a bit sore/uncomfortable which was bearable during the day, but made me twitchy at night. It passed if that is any consolation

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