Nearly six weeks- crying at breast

[okthen]

My son is 5w 4d old. Exclusively bf with occasional bottle of ebm. So far feeding has been great- fairly frequent but no issues. He has been super-chilled too. Sleeps most of the day. The last few evenings he's been grouchy, but having had a baby before I know that's normal.

What's quite distressing is that last night he started fussing at the breast- he was clearly hungry but then would pull away and shout. Repeat ad nauseum. Same when dp gave him bottle. He was really roaring and nothing would settle him- but he didn't seem to be in pain or windy. Eventually fed and settled at 11pm ish. Same has happened this afternoon.

It's upsetting for both of us and really difficult to manage toddler at same time.

He had his bcg jab two days ago. I've also noticed that the fussy periods come at the end of a wakeful period, so maybe it's tiredness? But if so what can I do?

Any thoughts?

I'm sure someone more helpful will come along soon but I have not long realised that when my ds fusses and cries/ pulls away he's just not hungry but really tired. He's 10 weeks btw. My dd was v v different, fed for comfort and fed to sleep. Ds has a good feed when he wakes up from a nap or wakes up hungry for night feeds and settles quickly. It's a pain not being able to use the boob for settling!

Thanks twixed- can you/do you do anything to combat it? When they're hungry it feels impossible to settle them without feeding...

Are you sure he is hungry though? Try rocking/whatever him to sleep and then try feeding when he wakes up? (and next week it might all be different again...)

It might just be a fussy phase? I read somewhere (la Leche League, I think) that fussiness like this peaks at 6-8 weeks. We've had the same, my baby is 7 weeks and she started being really grumpy in the evenings a couple of Weeks ago, generally she is really happy and calm though.

I meant to say specifically she screams, tugs, arches, pulls, eventually when I persist in relatching her she calms down.

Thanks for advice. I think tiredness is at the root of this. He sleeps up to 20 hours a day, so a couple of hours awake must be very tiring for him right now! I think it would be a good idea to try to settle rather than feed him when he's all worked up.

So far this eve he's been sleeping and feeding totally calmly. No doubt things'll change again tomorrow (or later tonight, gulp!).

Babies eh?