Baby upset mid-feed

[Snowsquonk]

Posting on behalf of a friend - baby about a week old, being breastfed but the baby gets upset halfway through a feed and then won't latch on again - the baby is coming off crying not drunk/full.

My instinct is that the baby finds working for the hind milk harder - but I can't think of potential solutions.

Mum has tried national BF helpline who suggested a different hold. I have not seen attachment nor can I - any suggestions for a fix?

At one week, I wouldn't be too worried, they are both getting the hang of it. We took about 2 weeks to get the hang of it (much of which I spent stressing that it wasn't working) and then DD successfully breastfed for more than a year.

Did your friend do an NCT course? If so she may have had a breastfeeding teacher, I contacted mine by email for advice and made an appointment to visit her which I didn't need to keep in the end. Also a lot of hospitals have drop in sessions where you can see lactation experts who will watch you feed and advise on positioning etc.

Also at one week, your friends milk supply is not yet established, it will take a few weeks to settle at the right amount of milk for their baby, maybe the baby wants more foremilk and is upset at not getting it? If she were to give up or mix feed now it would affect this natural process, so it's really best to stick with it. Good luck to your friend.

I've been having the same problem with my 9 week old DD. After about 10 minutes she'll suddenly start jumping off and crying. I asked a lactation consultant about it, and she said it's because at that point my flow becomes slower, and she gets annoyed that it's not coming out fast enough. She said to change her to the other breast when this happens, and that it's fine to just keep swapping backwards and forwards until the baby's had enough.