12 day old - tugging on my nipple

[LittleMilla]

Hello, my DS has got off to a really good start BFing. He's going on average between 2-4 hours between feeds and producing lots of wet & dirty nappies - we have the odd 'snack' in between sometimes. Most of the time they're bright yellow, but we get the occasional green tinge when he hasn't had long enough on the boob (I think).

My supply seems to be fluctuating and I am going from Pamela Anderson to fried eggs quite quickly. DS has started to tug and pull on my nipple when boob is a little on the small side whihc not only hurts, but I think he's gulping down lots of air as he's been very unsettled.

Is he simply not getting enough milk? Or is it that he's drained the boob and I should switch him straight away? Neither boob is feeling particularly full ATM and so I am not sure what to do? He's screaming again now (I managed to settle him about 15 mins ago) and so I better go and try to burp him again...

HELP!

When you say, he's tugging and pulling on the nipple, can you explain a bit more, what you mean? Is he fiddling with his hands? Or you mean, sucking really hard? Or biting down?

When he comes off, is your nipple a different shape?

The more time your breasts spend in Pamela Anderson form, the more your supply will go down. The more time your breasts spend soft, particularly with him feeding on them, the more your supply will go up. (And the milk he gets off a softer breast will be higher fat, too.)

You can just keep switching breasts, and there will always be milk for him, and that will boost your supply considerably.

Some small babies do not like to settle away from a warm body. You know there are no wolves in your house - your DS doesn't know that! So he feels safest on you.

Hi NotQuiteCockney thanks for coming back to me. He tends to pull his head back whilst still latched firmly on. So long nipple bit still stays in his mouth, but he reduces the amount of aerola (sp) in his mouth. It's as if he's trying to milk me...which makes me think he;s running out.

Reassuring about the soft breasts. You automatically associate hard with more, so i'm pleased it's not the case. I'm tending to put him on both for each feed...just a bit harder with these in-between snacks.

His hands are another issue!

Thanks x