Fussing baby

[baddyfreckleface]

My 3 month old has started fussing a lot when I am breastfeeding her. She feeds nicely for the first couple of minutes but then starts to pull her head about (still holding onto me!) and wriggle a lot. She will latch on and then pull off. If I move her onto the other side she will do exactly the same and feed for a few minutes then start fussing again.

First I thought she was maybe not that hungry but she does it every time now and if I take her off completely she cries.
I wOnderer if maybe she wasnt getting any milk after a few minutes but I checked myself and milk still comes out.

She does have one bottle of formula a day and does not fuss with this. She calmly drinks but does only have around 4 oz before she is finished.

She is also getting a lot of tummy ache/wind in the evening and I wondered if that's because she is mostly getting the thinner, less fatty milk?

Thanks

Sounds like it could be a couple of things - firstly the fussing could be down to your milk starting to flow slower after a couple of minutes and therefore your LO may be getting frustrated at having to work a bit harder for milk after the first couple of minutes. If this is the case, maybe try breast compressions at the point she begins to fuss? Can I ask how long she has been doing this? Has she fed ok up until now?

If you are switching sides after only a couple of minutes, you could also be right in thinking that she may only be getting the foremilk that comes at the beginning of a feed, and missing out on the fattier hindmilk that comes later on. This can result in alot of tummy ache due to the amount of lactose being taken in - at such a young age their digestive systems do not contain enough lactase to break it all down. Explosive, frothy poo that may be green is an indicator of this and may be something to look out for?

Another thing to consider is that your LO needs winding after those first couple of minutes, especially if you have a fast flow of milk to begin with and your LO is gulping the milk down - this can lead to them taking in alot of air. I would maybe suggest winding when your LO begins to fuss and then pop them back on the same boob rather than switching sides. However, because you say she will happily feed from the other side if you switch her over, I would be more inclined to say that she is getting frustrated when the flow slows down. If it was a wind issue, she would likely pull off the other boob as soon as you latched her on. Take a look at the kellymom website - it contains some great info and advice!

Hi scrumdiddlydoo, thanks for your reply.

I would say she only started with this less than a week ago and has been fine before that. Until this week I have only fed on one side per feed most of the time.

I would say while she seems to have pain/wind in the evenings her nappies are not green or frothy. Mostly just like yellow liquid type stuff. She only does one around every 3 days.

I try to wind her during breast-feeding but nothing comes up.

I have a feeling that you are right with her getting frustrated with the slower flow. I will look at kellymom and try compressions

Thank you

No worries - Sounds like it is frustration with the flow - at around the 12 week mark some women find that their milk supply sort of evens out and becomes more in line with what baby actually needs - maybe this is what has happened in your case, especially as you say that you only fed from one side up until a week ago. Before that, she probably got all the milk she needed for a full feed with relatively little effort!

I think she has had it easy so far as had a LOT of milk, was often swollen, sore and leaking. Now think you are right and my milk has adjusted, she just has to work a bit for it now!
I just persisted with one side and the feed took an hour. She used to be done in ten minutes!

Just after some more advice please.

Dd has carried on fussing on the breast every feed and now doesn't even go a few minutes any more.

It seems like she is in pain with wind almost immediately and her squirming is quite violent now. She throws her arms about and cries on and off. She pulls her legs up too and forces trumps out. If I take her off to wind her she screams and I just can't get any wind up at all. And will she just be swallowing more air when screaming anyway?

Last night it got so bad a gave her a bottle of formula and she gobbled it down, no wind or squirming and then went straight to sleep.

I did wonder if her latch has become a bit 'lazy' and she might be swallowing air and getting tummy ache that way but then would it case wind problems with trumping? Would that air want to come up not down?

I feel a bit like if this keeps up and I don't give her more formula she will always be hungry. I am not against ff her but like bf for the convenience, especially at night, and I don't want to replace or top up bfs too much as it will obviously effect my supply.

Just don't know what to do!

baddy, this is something any of the breastfeeding helplines would be able to discuss with you.

I can't tell what might be happening here - it could be a 'nursing strike', it could be your period coming back, it could be some sort of behavioural thing after a separation from you, it could be earache, it could be a phase of just wanting to feed for a couple of minutes and fussing when you keep asking her to feed more.....anything, and it could disappear by itself!

Give one of the lines a call (all nos. listed on mumsnet bf pages).