baby constantly coming off and on

[mayaknew]

About every 3-4 seconds for the whole feed. It's driving me mad. It's also excruciatingly painful at the beginning of feeds but it settles once she's fed for a bit.

What would cause her to constantly come off and on like that?

Should probably add she also brings some of her feeds back up . Sometimes a little but sometimes big projectile spews.

How old is she?

My dd went through a very fussy phase about 4/5 months when she was on and off lots. Was very annoying. Although it was never as frequently as 3-4 seconds. I found feeding in a dark room helped- nothing for her to look at so she got on with the job!

Hi! Mine did this too. Well at least at the start of feeds and after awhile she would calm down, as she got older though she added dramatic somersaults off my lap to the mix which was pretty embarrassing in public until I lost all shame.
I saw a bunch of lactation consultants and called LLL several times.
Theories offered ranged impatience waiting for let down to thrush (which I was treated for for about three weeks with no change). Personally I believe it is an over supply issue with possibly very heavy letdown. For a time it was incredibly painful and I worked with a lactation consultant to change LO's latch which had become very narrow. The pain went away immediately when I followed her advice to make sure LO's mouth was wide open but that was hard graft because she wanted to narrow it although she knew perfectly well how to latch. I think she was trying to control the heavy flow. Several times I was hit by a jet myself and it stung so I can completely see why. So anyway the pain went away but it didn't stop her coming off violently and then struggling to get back on immediately. Over and over.
Try having a google about heavy let down and over supply and see if it sounds like it fits for you. This link was good:

kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

It's very difficult to get advice about. Finally I spoke to a lactation consultant who agreed with me but previously none I spoke to seemed to have even heard of it.
The solution that is working for me currently is to block feed, that is a feed from one breast at a time until it feels empty and then switch to the other side. This is designed to reduce supply.
Hope thats helpful...

She is 4 weeks.

Over supply has been mentioned to me by my HV so that could be a possibility.

I also think her latch is too narrow I've tried to get her to open wider but I've not managed to.

What is let down ?

She will only ever feed from one side anyway if I over the second breast she would. Never take it so I stopped offering it.

Sympathies!!! We had this. It was reflux, look it up and we if it fits. We were told over supply initially too. You can get some great medicine for reflux from GP. Hope you get to the bottom of it

Anna I did think maybe reflux. Would reflux have an effect on her latch ?

Tbh I think it could be a combination of over supply and reflux now that I've read these replies.

Have a look at the thread 'breastfeeding turning into a westing match' - this is a similar issue to the one I was having and I got some good advice.

Let down is when the milk is released and starts flowing, you might feel it a few seconds into the feed. Mine feels like an electric shock in my boobs! I have a fast let down, so my milk tends to spray, but (as I only found out on the other thread, I am no expert but there are a few on here) that's not necessarily the same as oversupply. You might be making just the right amount of milk, but just shooting it out at high speed!

DS does this when I have over supply, and when he pulls off my Boob showers him with milk! However when I block fed and reduced my supply (though still had loads), he didn't like it and cluster fed until I was back to spraying his face.

OK I'm now convinced it's an oversupply/fast let down issue.

Thank you so much everyone this has been very helpful.

The reflux could be related to oversupply, if the baby is for the most part only getting the fore milk because she isn't draining your breast then she won't have as much of the heavy fatty hindmilk that settles the stomach and might have a harder time digesting (I think although different experts I have spoken to say different things about this). Have you noticed any greenish poo (mine only had this when things were quite bad).
I am struggling to remember but I think four weeks is still really early days - maybe your supply will balance out anyway eventually.
What are you doing about the breast she won't feed on? Are you expressing it? Its important to make sure you don't get too engorged on that side (or at all) because that could lead to mastitis that really isn't any fun. At the same time I am really cautious about expressing because it can increase your supply but maybe that isn't an issue if its just the one side - it might be worth getting some advice about anyway. Good luck!!