frantic thrashing about at the breast

[Jasper]

My baby is now nearly nine weeks old and has started to do a funny thing (not actually funny to me)
He latches on, sucks for a bit then sucks extra hard on the nipple as if getting a better grip then waves his head frantically from side to side and pulling back. He goes very red in the face and sometimes cries out, sometimes a really loud shriek.I usually stop and wind him but as soon as I put him back on he does the same.
Any ideas?

hmm, an ear infection maybe? I would try bringing him/her into the gp to be checked out as it must be extremely painful for you and not something you want to endure while waiting to see if it clears up on its own.

Hi Jasper, I remember my dd doing this too (funny how you forget about these things as the years go by!)...I think at the time I put it down to frustration on her part that my let-down wasn't fast enough for her, ie she was really hungry and the milk just wasn't coming quickly enough! If you have a good supply or fast flow this may not apply to you, of course.

Does it happen every feed (eg the first feed of the day is when you probably have the most milk) and on both sides? Some babies do seem to have a preferred "side" for some reason. Does he ultimately settle down and feed well? If it is the frustrated thing as above, you could try hand-expressing just before you feed him to get your let-down reflex happening before he gets on.

The only other thing I can think of is wind, as you suggested (although that would seem unlikely at the start of a feed), or an ear infection as SofiaAmes suggests, which would be causing ear pain when sucking, or a cold if his little nose is blocked. HTH...good luck with it, I know it's painful when they do that to you! Let us know how he goes the next day or so.

Hi Jasper, great to hear that bf is still going strong. This is familiar to me too. My ds1 did it often, and I felt like Mollipops that for some reason my milk wasn't coming through quick enough for ds's appetite and impatience. DS2 (3.5weeks old) has done the smae on a couple of occasions, but this time I know that my milk so far has been plentiful. I thought, definitely wind, then maybe poor position on my part. I've usually put him down, rearranged my seating and posture and tried again. He then goes on to feed quite happily, often accompanied by loud explosions in the nappy area, as if a "blockage" has been cleared!! And comfort obtained.

No hard and fast solutions or answers I'm afraid, but hope it helps!

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Bloss I have been thinking about this and paying attention to when he does this and I think you have worked it out. Tonight he did it again and although he kept appearing to want to feed, every time I put him to the breast he did the pulling, waving about, crying. It got so uncomfortable I swaddled him and laid him down and he dropped off to sleep immediately.
Thanks everyone for your help