18 weeks and now strugling with BF...Help!

[emski1972]

I'm hoping someone might know whats going on. I have my suspicions but need a solution!
So I have been EBF and DS is now 18 weeks. All was going well until this week. He is a big hungry boy but had settled into a pretty regular routine.
Then suddenly starting last week he has been pulling off during feeding and really yelling (think car alarm..he is LOUD). He latches on fine and then sucks maybe 6 or 7 times before pulling off.
I think the let down is too fast as it only happens on one side mostly and he seems to always have milk in his mouth plus then the fire hose like spray that hits him in the eye is a bit of a give away.
I think he is sucking really hard and being flooded plus he struggles like he has wind and so I have been burping him or trying to whenever he pulls off.
Its pretty awful especially at 2am...and so today I have expressed and bottle fed him and we have both been much happier.
At 7pm when he was really sleepy he fed normally...?
So any ideas? I don't want to give up but he isnt getting what he needs now and its making me sore and fed up. I can't be arsed making up formula frankly and Im not sure expressing all the feeds will be good for my boobs?

Maybe he is just going through a new stage of development which is making him fussier than usual?

It sounds like very normal albeit annoying behaviour (my DD1 did same at that age) and will undoubtedly sort itself out soon if you can ride it out!

well if it was forceful letdown or oversupply you would have had problems from the start.

has he been I'll recently as you say it's mainly one side could be something causing him pain while feeding? have you tried feeding in a different position.

if you do still think is forceful letdown then feeding him so he's in a more upright position should help.

I have two cunning theories. Your milk supply is out of kilter with his current needs, it will settle down if you don't express too much- if you express a lot, your boobs still thinks that is the required supply..
And.. Could he be teething at all? My DS used react a bit like that, and seem to remember being told that sometimes feeding is quite painful to a teething baby.

And... Your lowest quality milk is evening time.. Hence why the flow might be more manageable for him...by 2am, if that's your next feed, your body has had a lot of time to recover and get ready with loads of milk. If you've been expressing or replacing any feeds with bottles, I bet your boobs are just v confused and trying to keep up the supply being indicated to them...

running, it's not correct that there is a difference in quality of milk in the evening - whoever told you this or wherever you have read it needs to go back to the text books :).

OP, it's very likely that this is a developmental stage your ds is experiencing and it will pass. There's not enough info in your post to speculate on over supply or anything else.