DS 1 week old, is behaviour at the boob normal ?

[smk84]

Hi, DS is a week old and I think BF is going well, but still not very confident with it ! My son is feeding well I think (according to midwives he is well attached, good position etc), but I am finding that he writhes around sometimes when feeding. Sometimes he pulls back very hard from the nipple / pulls from side to side, and it sometimes means his top lip comes off and he sucks back on again. It isn't painful when he does this, but it stresses me because I don't know if it's something I am doing wrong, or if it's something inside him (e.g. a bit of wind making him uncomfy). Is this normal do you think? It doesn't seem to be linked to let down or him getting frustrated with waiting for milk as it can happen in both phases of the feed. He is good at emptying my boob and is content after feeds. Thank you , seem to have so many questions !!

I think that is pretty normal! By twenty week old does that too!

They do all sorts of fuuny things tbh. When my dds were a little bigger they had an occasional habit of coming off very suddenly to turn round and look at something. This resulted in a large smacking noise and generally some milk shooting somewhere!
It may be that he does this when the milk particularly rushes out and catches the back of his throat. It may be that he's just a fidget! You're comfortable during the feed, he latches on well, feeds consistently and is contented afterwards - that all sounds pretty good.

Yep normal, either wind or adjusting o your letdown I'd say... Sounds like you're doing a brilliant job, well done! X

If it hurts, unlatch him and put him back on.

Actually it could be linked to meltdown. There are often several letdowns during the course of one feed. Has anyone observed a whole feed from start to finish?
If it doesn't hurt he's having enough dirty And wet nappies (at lest two dirty And 6 wet in 24 hours) and started to regain weight. Then i wouldn't worry to much. If not then seek some more breastfeeding support either from your midwife the infant feeding co-ordnator at your local hospital or one of the breastfeeding helplines. Good luck

That should have been letdowns not meltdown

I think meltdown is very appropriate for most mums breastfeeding one week in!

Thank you all - he is doing plenty of wet nappies, he pooed on Monday and then a huge one on Thu (spoke to infant feeding midwife who said not to worry too much about this at the moment). He lost weight on 3 day weigh, but at 5 days he had put on 90g, which is apparently good for a period of 2 days. So he now won't be weighed until Monday (I wish it was before because infant feeding midwife said that as his big poo on Thu was brown rather than yellow, that if this was combined with lack of weight gain it would suggest not enough milk, but the poo in isolation would not be a problem if he is gaining). He is alert and content between feeds, and I do really think that the problem is wind, as I can hear his tummy gurgling or farting while he is writhing around. If you have any tips on how to deal with the wind I would be really grateful, because it is really starting to make some feeds very stressful with him pulling around (it doesn't hurt my nipple, but my breast tissue is getting very tender, esp on the left . Thanks again.

"and I do really think that the problem is wind, as I can hear his tummy gurgling or farting while he is writhing around. "

This is normal behaviour for a newborn, and it does not have to mean wind....despite the strong cultural idea that it always does. All tummies make a noise (adults, too :) ) and babies writhe sometimes, sometimes because they are getting into a more comfortable effective feeding position.

Thanks Tiktok, that's really reassuring, think he must be a little perfectionist with his feeding position then . Am I right to think then that I should just let him carry on and come off of his own accord, rather than take him off to burp him? I have been letting him carry on, but he does sometimes take himself off with all the moving around, then I have a dilemma about whether to burp him or whether to put him back on again (he seems to be rooting for more, so I have been putting him back on rather than messing around waiting for 5 mins for a burp to come). I am just not very confident in my decisions with his feeding yet, so thank you for your help.

Follow your baby's lead - if he wants to go back to the breast, he does not need/should not be made to wait for you to get a burp out of him....you will gain in confidence as the time goes by :)

Remember that winding and burping are hugely cultural - many other societies don't even think about it let alone invest it with the significance and complications we do :)

smk84, i didnt even realise i had to burp my ebf newborn for the first 2 weeks! i think i had a read a miriam stoppard book that said bf babies dont need winding (i do think they do now with experience).
tiktok is pretty much one to listen to but just thought i would add a post to give you some confidence. very often your instincts are right. I have learned now that babies are pretty clever and let you know what they want. Mine was very wriggly.
congratulations on your new baby, you are doing a good job and the fact you are worrying about stuff is normal. pester your mid wives as much as you can and try to meet some other breast feeding mums -that really helps xxx good luck.