Problems breastfeeding at nearly 4 months

[kateg36]

Hi everyone,

New to mumsnet so please forgive any online faux pas

I have a LO who is coming up to 4 months, a boy born at 7lbs2oz with a tongue tie (fixed within 7 days) but who quickly gained weight in the first 8 weeks, and then levelled off and is now about 18lbs.

I EBF for the first 9 weeks and then started a formula bottle for the bedtime feed to aid a quicker falling asleep process (a godsend!), but in the past couple of weeks we have developed some problems with breastfeeding which are becoming increasingly frustrating and I am worried we are going down a path which will end in stopping breastfeeding altogether prematurely.

What happens is that my LO will latch on well and suck for anything between 2 and 5 minutes (if we're lucky), and then pop off. At this point he either indicates he wants to sit up (I assume for a burp - he was a very very windy baby from the start), or sometimes (less often) retakes the nipple after a moment. From here on we have a distressing cycle of trying to get him to retake the nipple - usually fussing or screaming and then latching whilst still fussing and looking upset, sometimes willingly going back on and then off again within a minute.

I try and swap sides or positions to see if he can get comfortable and just relax and keep nursing, with limited success. So after a few attempts at relatching I have to assume (very possibly incorrectly) that he's had enough, and so we stop the feed. But my gut instinct tells me that he hasn't really had enough in 5 minutes, and usually he's looking for food again within 2 hours.

I don't mind that so much, but it's making me avoid situations where I will have to feed in public as he makes such a fuss and I almost constantly have a breast exposed , and of course I hate seeing him in distress!

We get a reasonable amount of possessing or vomiting, but not vast quantities, and he continues to gain weight in the normal range (rather than his early gains of around 500g per week).

Has anyone else experienced similar?

Thanks!

Yes, my ds went through a similar stage. I'd say he'd had enough or he's more interested in what else is going on. They get much better at draining a boob very quickly. Plus, 4 months is about the right age for him to be realising that there's more to life than boobs and is much more easily distracted, especially out and about. I struggled on for a little while trying to get him to have a 'proper feed' but gave up in the end. Just let him have as much or as little as he likes and once he fusses, stop the feed. Sometimes he'd ask for milk again pretty soon afterwards, so I would let him have another go. Babies are very clever and they will make up for it somewhere else. I also used to put ds on at the end of every nap. He used to be sleepy and not realise he was having a good feed lol!
As baby gets older and wiser, feeding patterns def change, just go with it and try not to stress. Ds is now one and I still bf morning and night so hopefully you should be able to do the same

Both my twins were exactly the same at 4 months. It was them only needing 5 mins to take a full feed :)

It took me by complete surprise - one day feeds took 40+ mins, the next only 5 mins. They both did it within a day or two of each other too!

Enjoy the freedom that comes with really short feeding - you've only got a few months before solids take over your every waking moment The period between 4 months and solids at 6 months was definately my honeymoon period of the early months - you know what you're doing so can get out and about, feeding takes minimal time, and you don't have to carry lunch, snacks, drink, bowl, spoon, cup, bib .....

To me this sounds incredibly normal. My dd1 never (bar a couple of nights in her first few weeks that I prefer to forget) fed for more than 10 mins, and as we got better at it it was even faster. And she fed 2 hourly in the day until she weaned (hardly at night which was a bonus). If he's gaining weight, why worry?

I'm so glad I found this thread. I was just coming to start a similar thread about my 5 month old DD who has just switched from feeding for 30-40 mins every 2-3 hours to suddenly taking 10 mins.
I've been so worried! She has a history of poor weight gain so I'm paranoid anyway!

It's good to hear its normal.

My dd has is coming up to 4 months and just decided that the whole of the rest of the world is far more interesting then feeding. She tends to fling herself backwards at the slightest sound to see what's going on, fine if I'm on the sofa but a bit more terrifying if I am on a precarious coffee shop chair.

My main problem though is that she has also started getting green poo so I am guessing that all the fussing and short feeds is meaning she is getting too much foremilk.

Sorry to highjack the thread a bit but anyone got any ideas on how I can solve this short of tieing her to my breast until she has had a decent amount of the hind milk?

Literally came on to ask the same question so it must be quite common! Ds was feeding 45 min to 60 mins up until Friday and now fusses and bobs on and off after about 5! He like to lie there with my nipple on his lips and chat! It hasn't had an effect on his sleeping so I guess I'll just roll with it!

Thanks for the comments everyone, it's good to know that it appears to be a normal thing for his age.

As he has been sleeping through the night more or less (around 12 hours) from about 11 weeks and then recently started waking for a feed I suspected that perhaps my supply is a bit low so I've also started expressing after every feed to empty out and encourage more supply and things seem a bit easier in the past two days since I posted!

HearMyRoar - thanks for the note about the green poo, I had forgotten about that so will look out to make sure that this isn't happening with us too :-) Will your LO take a bottle? If so then you could try and express after she has finished fussing and then you know you've got good hind milk there to feed her next time she asks?