Bf issues

[vradz83]

So for the past 2 days ds (just over 5 weeks) has been tricky in terms of feeding. He'll feed for 2-3 minutes, then stop swallowing & instead just comfort suck. I'll detach him; he cries; repeat until he's either had enough, or I try to put him down for a nap, or I give him a couple of ounces of expressed milk when he really won't settle.
He's also started almost wrestling with my boobs - pulling them about in a way that's actually painful, last night he actually screamed (twice) whilst feeding - as though in frustration.
When it gets to the evening he refuses to go to sleep. He'll just cry unless he's being fed, but then repeats the process of not actually feeding from me but instead using me as a dummy. Eventually, both nights we've got to 11pm (his usual feed time) & he's had a bottle of formula (am combination feeding) He then goes to sleep as normal.

is this a growth spurt? Is that why he wants to be on me all the time? Should I be worried that he doesn't seem to be actually breastfeeding properly?

I have been anxious about my ability to provide enough milk as it is; this is making it worse.

Bf supplies nutrition and comfort, so it's normal for babies to actively feed then rest then.feed etc. They could rest for up to about 10 mins at the breast before starting to suck and swallow again.
Also he could be trying to get your supply up. With mix feeding I'm guessing it'll be harder for him to set your supply at the right level.

tiktok correct me if I'm wrong obviously!
Another thought (from a demand feeding bf mum) - why are there feeding times? I don't keep a schedule or record of tines etc, just feed when hungry.
I don't think it sounds like a problem.

I bf on demand. This is normal. I'd say he's working to increase su

Oops
I'd say he's working to increase supply. There's a growth spurt at 6 weeks which would tie in. Try and follow his lead. Just keep him at the breast. As another poster said babies rest on the breast. Ask your HV about local breast feeding support groups- they're brilliant.

Sounds normal to me - is the comfort sucking painful? If not don't delatch him as you might find he alternates being feeding and comfort sucking - my dd does especially during a growth spurt. Delatching interrupts that process and can mean he doesn't get enough I think? (Just a mum not an expert so might be wrong) He'll fall off eventually when sleepy enough!
Does the attacking your boobs start when you've delatched then put him back on? Could be from frustration at being interrupted/interfered with.
I don't know what hold you're using but I use cross cradle at start of a feed to get positioning right, then when dd's feeding has slowed I bring up other arm up so her head is in crook of elbow, so transfer her to cradle hold. I find it more comfortable for a long feed to hold her like that and it doesn't seem to affect the latch.

The comfort sucking is getting to be painful - just because he wants to spend all his time on the boob.

The bf support worker that I saw was the one that said to de-latch when a) asleep or b) that swallowing had slowed down to the point of being non existent. I'm supposed to be going to this morning rob (if ds will let me leave sofa/get dressed etc!) so will see what they say also.

Re: 'times' - he just happens to demand a feed at roughly the same times during the evening/night, and has done since about 1 week old. I'd just assumed that was normal.

It just seems so strange that it's a supply issue - it was only earlier in the week that the issue of over supply went away!

Got exactly the same thing with DS so I though I'd pop and reassure you, at the time though I thought I was going insane.

Until the 5,5weeks marks, I got plagued with forcefull letdown. Then around the same time as yours, just before 6wo, he started being at the boob ALL THE TIME, suckling and screaming and suddenly remembering there was food in there and "attacking" the boob, swallowing like crazy for 15 seconds... and repeat. I spent hours on the sofa during the day with him just fussing. Funny, during the night it was fine, 1am and 5am feeds on the clock lying down in bed and falling asleep immediately afterwards.

IT GOT BETTER! After a week things got back to normal and I can now express 150ml on each boob rather than the 100ml before. He's very efficient and feedings now take 5-7min max.

Remember: it's very likely a growth spur, it will pass, suckling is his way of "ordering" more food for his next development phase and it's going to increase your supply. Put some lanoline on, pop him on a bf cushion to free your hands and enjoy candycrush :) Good luck!

helloelo, that sounds exactly the same - nighttime is more or less exactly the same as usual, it's just daytime/evening!
Did you give up on the prospect of daytime naps for this growth spurt? He's been getting really good at them recently, but again last couple of days he just doesn't want to be put down, he'll scream after 10 mins (then promptly fall back asleep on my chest for a little while!)

Sounds very normal to me- both of mine did this. Evenings were constant feeding and frustrated crying and generally crap. Felt like it lasted forever at the time but it was just a few weeks. I'd just go with it at the moment. It gets much easier!

This sounds exactly like what I went through with DS at the same age. Throughout that week he would get so cross that he wouldn't latch so I would give him a bottle of expressed milk then continue the feed once he had some milk in his tummy and was less frustrated. After about the 6th week it got loads easier and we are still going strong at 9mo (and he won't take a bottle now )