Help! 8 month old v distracted when breast feeding

[supermum44]

Any advice?

Over the last week or so my 8 month old ds has been very reluctant to bf. He seems to be losing interest in the breast and is very distracted. He seems only to feed for a few gulps at once. I am now worried that he's not getting enough milk and I feel as if I don't have much milk for him now.

I've tried to give him some drinks of formula milk but he screws his face up and refuses the cup. He's did used to take the occasional bottle of ebm but now he's refusing the bottle too.

Help, I don't think he's getting enough milk. Any tips to help re-establich my supply?

Your supply will be fine - it doesn't disappear with a few days of 'distracted' feeding. By now, it is pretty robust.

Give one of the helpines a call. This is not a terribly unusual situation, and with a bit more shared information, I think you'll prob conculude there is no need to worry about supply or the baby's behaviour :)

thanks tiktok. Which helpline do you suggest?

Just had a thought that maybe I've been overdoing it with the solids. The lack of interest in feeding has been going on maybe a couple of weeks.

If he's weaning, his desire for BM will slow. By a year many babies only have one/two feeds a day - in the morning and at night.

As someone said, don't fret too much about supply. It will adjust to meet his needs. Babies who are on two/three meals a day don't need as much milk as they once did.

It might be worth visiting Claire's (the shop) and investing in a big bead necklace, that may hold his attention whilst feeding. Don't get anything that may break/has small parts.

Good luck xxx

hi supermum, my 7 mo dd is similar - she is far too interested in who is talking, what made that noise, where are we etc etc. I find she feeds more when we are at home rather than out - what about you?

Have you tried feeding him when sleepy and just before a nap - I find if I spend 10 mins getting dd a bit calmer in a quiet place with cuddles and stories and rocking and then feed her to sleep she takes more. Just something to try.

Is your ds still feeding in the night? I read recently that at this age they can start waking more at night to feed because they are not getting as much during the day due to distraction.