Suddenly really struggling feeding 4.5 month old and want to stop

[katiecubs]

Hello,

Wondering if I can get some advice? I had problems BF at first and finally got to a really good point but for the last few weeks I've been finding it all really frustrating!

DS suddenly seems unsatisfied with feeds, only liking the letdown and then fussing and pulling off etc. This is particularly bad at bed time where it now takes up for an hour for him to get his fill. He is also waking more in the night.

Is this a weaning thing or is it just my milk is slowing down? All in all he is getting more difficult to feed, especially in public as it can be quite stressful.

I want to know what is the best way to go about stopping? I am thinking of introducing formula at bedtime as this is when he seems most frustrated and eager to feed. Do I then drop feeds every few days? How long should it take?

Thanks!

I'm afraid it's just a phase that they go through at this age. Are you changing sides when he comes off?

I found that things got back to normal after a little while if you would like to continue. From what others have said, this kind of happens regardless if you are BF or formula feeding.

Hi Katie, I don't know if it's for the same reason as my LO is much younger but recently he has been similar to what you describe. In his case it seems to be due to bad wind. He will suddenly pop off the tit after a short time and despite seeming to want to go back on he can't and then gets agitated. If I get him upright straight away I can eventually get him to do a giant burp and then stick him on the other side. Unfortunately this is not so successful during the night as he's all flopsy and sleepy so I can't get him upright enough to burp as well which means he feeds for shorter times than he was before and wakes up more frequently .

So sorry for the very slow reply! Yep I'm changing sides loads which helps until he has finished both and still seems hungry. He then fusses and fusses until I finally get another letdown. Argh.

Kittens hi!! How are things going? I don't think it's wind as I can usually get a decent burp out quite easily now (although like you say it's a pain in the night when they are all sleepy).

Anyway he's nearly 5 months now so I may just hold on till we are weaning and it all changes anyway. I am sometimes tempted to start some formula so I can share the load a bit but its the sterilising and making up feeds that puts me off!

Both my boys were pretty fussy feeders (and fussy in general) around 4.5 months and then it calmed down a lot - I think it's part of the big developmental spurt/wonder week around then. Hang on in there! FF babies go through the same spurt, so there's not much you can do to avoid it.

kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/4mo-sleep/ Read this. It will explain everything.

Just to say I went through this with my dd and I found it really hard. She was very distractible, the slightest thing would make her come off, she would only feed properly in the middle of the night. It was the first time I'd encountered real problems, she'd be a nightmare to feed out and about, she'd pull off and my milk would spray everywhere, just so so hard and worrying as well that she wasn't getting enough but weight gain remained steady and I can only assume she became a more efficient feeder at the same time and got more out when she did feed. Best of luck, it did pass but it took a lot of adjustment on my part, looking back I think I worried she wasn't at the breast for as long but with the benefit of hindsight, I think she was there as long as she needed to be and I just hadn't realised she'd become more efficient but it happened so quickly.

4.5 months is a difficult time for a lot of things with DS. The developmental leap is massive. Hang in there!

Aah thanks everybody for the reassurance! Glad it seems normal and makes sense that it coincides with a developmental spurt as he is suddenly uber chatty, rolling about and into everything! I'll try and ride it out then :)

Doing great, thanks Katie. Little one is an absolute delight. I can still hardly believe he's here!