Baby distracted when feeding out and about with noise

[eatssleepsfeeds]

Any suggestions to help my nearly 6 month old stay focussed on feeding? If she's completely starving, she'll probably get on with it even if a bit noisy but, if not, and I'm trying to get a feed into her as and when I can when we're out and about it's a nightmare! On and off at every single noise, leaving me totally exposed! She'll often cry with it too which is even more frustrating for me. Anyone tried breastfeeding necklaces? Do they help baby stay focussed at all? Any other inventions or methods out there which could help? Thanks in advance. Oh, btw, I have the same problem at home as well when my toddler is making a load of noise when I'm trying to feed. It's not like the baby's used to pure quiet all day. She just seems particularly sensitive to it! X

I've been through distractible phases with my DC. With DS I used to carry him while out and would feed him once he had fallen asleep. Most times I could find a quiet bf room and my toddler DD was happy to stay in a childrens section where she could draw, etc (we live in switzerland, thou). At home I got her puzzles to keep her entertained or gave her a snack that she could eat without help or even let her watch tv if there was something suitable for her.

Thanks - good idea to carry baby and get her dozy first. She does feed better when sleepy. She's not a very tired baby though and doesn't really nap that much! Switzerland sounds good for BF! Lucky if I can find a place to change a nappy where I am let alone a quiet place to feed!

I had particular problems with this with my DD from age 4-5 months. She's a lot better now (7 months) but still has her moments. I found not fighting her when we were out and about, if she wasn't going to latch and feed, I'd sit her up to look around and put myself away. Sometimes this meant 15 minutes later, she'd go on for a few minutes, come off and so the cycle would repeat. I found this less stressful than trying to make her feed when she was distracted by something. Also about a month ago, I started singing gently to her, the same song each time, in a slow, monotonous voice (the same song I sing to her in the car in a slow, monotonous voice when I want her to go to sleep) and that seemed to calm her and after a few times, she just automatically opened her mouth and fed. However, a couple of weeks after that she started to sign for milk and since then, feeding has become much easier because it's a clear sign and when she wants to swap sides, she signs again so a lot of the battle has now gone. But if we're out and she wants to feed but is being very nosey and distractable, I go back to sitting her up and putting myself away until she signs again as fighting her just gets both her and me agitated.

Thanks fhdl. Nice idea with the song. I know she will get better with time. My DD1 had same sort of issues at this age and did get better. Can't really remember at what age though. I'll be giving her some solids soon too so guess that will help when we're out and about. I feel a bit guilty even complaining about this because the real problem here is that she won't feed at my convenience when out. She will feed when she's hungry and ready, of course, and doesn't really care about the distraction then. I should just leave her to it if she doesn't want milk at the time when I'm ready to feed her. Just easier said than done when you have to get in the car for a while or something knowing she hasn't had a good feed in her and will want it then when it's almost impossible to feed!