Crying when put to the breast

[BellEden]

My 6 week old has been exclusively breast fed from birth, no tongue tie or problems latching and has always fed so well, gaining weight and having wet and dirty nappies.
She had an episode last week where she cried immediately when I put her to my breast and it lasted for hours, I tried different positions and even took her to the dr who said there was no medical reason.
She started feeding normally again with no issues but now the last 2 days she has started again.
Her feeding pattern has slowed down and she is feeding 3 hourly and sometimes longer at night but she will do her feeding queues so I put her to my breast and she just starts screaming. The more I try to keep her there the more she cries.
I can eventually soothe her with music and get her to latch on and feed but this is happening at every feed which is really stressful trying to calm her down enough to eventually latch on.
It’s so frustrating because she’s always fed so well so it’s upsetting to see her so stressed especially when I’m repsonding to her queues so she must be hungry??

How is your let-down? Is it fast?

Have you changed perfume or deodorant or moisturiser?

Did you eat anything particularly strong tasting or possibly allergenic before the first time?

Sounds horrendous when previously there have been no issues. Hope it settles down soon.

Yes my let down is quite fast but she’s always coped quite well with this, I’ve tried showering to make sure no perfume or shower gel is on my skin because I thought it might be something like that but nothing seems to help other than eventually calming her enough to slowly latch on, is just taking so long now because she seems so upset even tho she’s showing me she’s hungry

Even if she's been coping, it might be a fast let-down /overproduction issue.
Check out this link and see whether it sounds familiar:
kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

I am having a very similar issue and came on this board to start a thread about it. I’ve tried googling but can’t find anything ! My DS is 9 weeks old, exclusively breastfed, all going well no problems etc, implemented a routine a few weeks ago. Enjoys his bath, keep the room quiet etc - but I put him near the breast for his last feed and he goes crazy. Inconsolable for ages. Eventually he goes on for a really long feed off each breast but the whole thing is incredibly stressful and the whole process including crying, feeding takes a good hour to an hour and a half. So you’re not alone! Any tips or suggestions appreciated!

I know, I feel so bad because I feel my whole body getting tense which I’m sure doesn’t help the situation! My health visitor said that she just mustn’t be hungry and that I just need to leave it longer. In some cases this has worked but over all she’s getting like it at most feeds.
They just repeat the same ‘if they are gaining weight and doing wet and dirty nappies then there’s nothing to worry about’.
The only thing I have found that helps is playing music or white noise to initially calm her down while holding her next to my breast, eventually she starts sucking. I’m just hoping it’s a fussy thing that she quickly gets out of because it’s hard enough feeding in public without having to do that as well

I empathise I really do ! I’m not convinced it’s that that he’s not hungry because when he goes on he has a massive feed. I also tried music and white noise without much success. Fortunately it’s not every feed for me but just the last feed of the day. I also considered whether it could be low milk supply, over stimulation or sheer exhaustion but for various reasons I’m not convinced it’s those either. Argh !

I experienced this with my little one around the same age and I never figured out the cause he just eventually stopped after a few weeks of it. Was really tough to keep going so I sympathise but all I can say is it was worth the perseverance in my case.

My DD (12 weeks) is the same, she's having 7/8 feeds a day but she's currently only having short feeds and is sleeping 7 hours overnight. I'm not sure what to do now as she cries and refuses to feed when she's not hungry but she's dropped a couple of centiles. She's otherwise thriving - very lively and smiley but I'm worried about her slower weight gain.

You could look into cranial osteopathy? It might be a load of woo but I know a few people who swear it made a massive difference to their babies. The theory is that babies can get some tightness or tension from the process of birth which can cause them pain e.g. when lying in certain positions, and it helps them to relax and release that tension.

Could it be an ear infection? It's very common in small babies. That's what my LOs crying at the breast/refusal to feed turned out to be.

My DS does this sometimes too, it can be really frustrating. I just walk about with him for a bit until he calms down and then slowly bring him to the boob. Sometimes takes a few attempts though.

My DC2 was always dreadful if i tried to feed him and he didn’t want it. He was not a baby who found comfort at the breast and for him it was solely a food source. he would go quite long between feeds but feed well and efficiently. I also had letdown issues and had to take my babies off the breast to wait for the forceful letdown to pass. They were usually quite happy with that

Is it an ear infection? Does she cry if somebody else holds her sideways in a feeding position? My DS also did this when I had mastitis - I think the blocked duct made it too hard to get milk out or the milk tasted funny or something. Any redness or tenderness in your breasts?

My baby does this too. I have a fast letdown so he's never really been comfortable on the boob. But it's definitely exacerbated when he's tired. Then he just cries and refuses the boob for hours

It will pass...

Oh thanks everyone, if nothing else it helps to know it does sometimes just happen?
I have been through lots of these possibility’s like ear infection which dr ruled out, potential pressure when held to the side but she’s always fine in this position when not feeding.
She fed fine through the night 3 times with no crying just took a while to latch but I put this down to sleepy ness.
I’m thinking maybe it is just a really fussy thing? And that’s why Day time is probably worse because of so much more distraction.

Try letting her stay at the breast so she doesn't have to get as far as reminding you. She'll probably suckle a little every twenty minutes or so. Let it be easy for her, don't make getting a feed a thing she has to get upset about.

Any better BelEden? My feed was a bit better this evening.

Oh that’s good to hear! I hope it continues to improve for you x
day time was definitely better today. She went as long as 3 1/2 hours between one feed but then was much more settled when she did feed.
I think it must just be that she is finally just taking what she needs rather than how she was before which was feeding nearly every hour!
Bed time feed was still a bit stressful with crying a lot initially but we got there eventually!