Thrashing around at the breast, crying and fussing -why does she do this?

[Enid]

She does it in the evening mainly (there is definitely milk there). If I take her off she goes mad - she wants to suck but seems so cross almost immediately. I wind her but it makes no difference. dd3 is 6 weeks btw.

I really shouldn't be here, but this rang a bell with my DS, I found he just got fed up of laying in the same position, have you tried lying down, or turning some music on, just something to distract her a bit? Other than that, I will leave you to the experts :)

Although it is only one feed it could be reflux, the opening title describes classic symptoms. Is baby otherwise unsettled at all? Does baby prefer constant rocking and movement? Does she do it ever for other feeds?

oh please not reflux

I hate these 'conditions'

yes she loves rocking nd movement

doesnt do it for other feeds (well briefly very very occassionally)

Hi Enid

My DD is now 17 wks but I remember posting the same here or on another forum when my DD was about 8wks old.

Interesting that YM says it's classic symptoms of reflux? I didn't know that.

What worked for my DD was to sing Twinkle Tinkle in a really deep toned gentle voice, seemed to distract her enough. Also like NatalieJane says,when she did this I took her upstairs and laid her down on the bed to feed her. With my DD is wasn't just at nighttime so it put me off going out for a while :-(

Thankfully she just seemed to stop behaving like it, although it was also at the same time as I started a baby massage class and when I tried her with colycinthis granules.

Sorry I couldn't help more

Lucy

I currently let her feed until she starts thrashing, then change her position and let dh hold her for about half and hour, then feed her again, when she starts thrashing I walk her around patting her bottom and she goes into a deep sleep

der, maybe she is just overtired

6 weeks is young but ds always did this if I tried to feed him when he was tired. He just wasn't really interested in the breast. He took it but he would fuss and come off. He didn't fall asleep easily on the breast but that may have been because my milk flow was too fast/too much etc. He did settle down eventually a bit but has always been an acrobatic feeder. Dh always laughs at descriptions of peaceful breastfeeding as ds has always pushed/pulled/scratched/kicked - He still does at 18 months

My DS did this (and still does) when he's tired or my milk is not coming fast enough. But I've heard that it can be that your milks coming too fast.

The only thing I can suggest is calming her down and then trying again.

Is it only when feeding on one side? And does she always look to one side if lying in her cot/floor/bouncy chair etc? dd did this and it occurred to me (though probably read it somewhere) that she had a really sore neck from always looking the one way.

DD always looked left and loved feeding form the right as thats the way she would turn her head to feed. She fretted like mad if I ever started her on the left boob forcing her to turn her head the other way. I would put her in her cot the other way round to sleep, and on the opposite to normal side and as she loved looking out of the window I'd alter the position of her bouncy chair so she'd have to turn the other way. And I also did a few stretches during the day, nothing drastic, just gently turning her head from side to side. Then at feeding time I'd make sure I had a plethera of pillows to support her head when she was on the left boob. HTH.

It could be just the 6week turn. I remember mums at the school gate offering up that gem and sure enough dd went from total placidity to screaming hysteria at 6weeks.... it lasted til about 9weeks, peaked dramatically then settled back to placid again. Joyous! Lets hope she proves the theory wrong on that one!

yes the devil possesses them at 6 weeks I think

give it a couple of weeks

Enid i have found it happens with mine when let-down is not quick enough- sadly then it makes me stressed and slows let-down still further

( bit unsure about all this reflux malarky myself!)

enid, if its mainly in the evening she is probably hungry but just so tired mine do the same thing

Bumping this Enid as ds2 does this exact thing at the same time... Is pretty content rest of the time and a very efficent feeder the rest of the day. Pretty sure it isn't reflux, as ds1 had this, and they are nothing alike as babies. Ds2 is 5 weeks today.

It is fairly common for women's milk supply to be a litle lower/slower in the evenings. Your baby may be fussing or this reason. Also, the extended period of feeding in the evenings is very common and called cluster feeding. It usually does settle down after about 3 months old.

Cheers. Know I've just got to go with him in the early days. Bloody knackering though.......