How to BF wriggly PITA 10 mth baby?

[lydialemon]

OK, I've made it this far - a lot longer than I managed with DSs and DD is driving me mad!

After 10 mths of feeding her wherever and whenever I now feel I can't feed her outside the house as she just keeps playing around. Yesterday I ended up just sitting on the sofa with my boob hanging out so she could sit on my lap, feed a bit, bounce up and down laughing and chatting, feed a bit more etc etc. When I 'put it away' thinking she'd finished, she got very upset and frantic until I let her feed again. I am not doing this in public!!!!

If she messes about do I just refuse the feed? How much does she need to feed now anyway? I want to keep going until she's at least a year as she hates formula, I find it impossible to express and she refuses a bottle (no point giving her one at this late stage anyway)

Is there a better position than lying across my lap? She wants to get up all the time. I tried the rugby hold with her sitting on the sofa but she can't see what's going on, and keeps bending backwards to have a good nose! Its not very discreet either.......

Help!!!!!

hi

my DD was like this at about this age and i told it as a sign of self weening. Can you express the feed and give it to her in a cup?

found that DD slwoly drop each feed which made weaning so much easier

By the time my dd was 10 months I was feeding 3 times a day - first thing in the morning, last thing at night and once in the afternoon. It got a lot harder to feed her in public as she was so curious about the world about her and was constantly popping off the boob to see what was happening! In the end I found I couldn't feed her in company as it was too distracting for her. So from being a mum who was happy to breastfeed anywhere, I found myself retreating to private feeding rooms in shops (where available) or hiding upstairs in bedrooms at friends' houses! To be honest if she was so fidgety she wouldn't stay latched on I figured she really didn't need the milk that much and didn't worry about it.

good luck!

...I decided similarly to you Pidge - after a couple of months of wrestling with dd and then one bad boob-biting incident, I took dd's lead and reduced bfeeding.

It might be worth checking if your baby is really hungry / thirsty by trying to bfeed in a more calm (ideally dark) environment for a couple of days if possible. This might help her concentrate. If it doesn't, then let her lead the way - perhaps she really needs less milk. Perhaps during the daytime you could feed her only when she asks you to (I've had strangers laugh at me and dd when she's been headbutting my boobs and scrabbling to get under my top).

Retrospectively I believe I should have followed dd's clues and reduced the no. of bfeeds a bit sooner. She has always been basically healthy, followed her growth centile chart, been a good eater, who has a healthy diet with plenty of dairy foods so she's not short on calcium. I'm down to approx 1.5 feeds a day at the moment (dd=12 months old next week). She's a lively and sociable child who's become more interested in the world beyond my boobs - and that's fine with me!

When she starts messing about and you put the boobs away, you might be able to distract her from getting upset making sure you have a book / toy nearby. Hide it behind you when you're trying to feed her, and when she starts messing about, help her play with it so she doesn't get frustrated.

The bonus of reducing daytime bfeeds has been that dd is sleeping much much better at nights. Has anyone else found that reduced / ending bfeeds helped their bb to sleep better?

I should add to this that my dd, and my milk-supply system, proved very adaptable. If we were at home and all was nice and quiet she continued having a very good afternoon feed until she was well over a year. And I continued with evening, and morning feeds for many months, only dropping the morning feed when she was 2, when she naturally stopped feeding herself.

So although she was distracted when out and about, she was by no means keen to give up feeding completely! Which I was very happy about.

Thanks everyone, its nice to see I'm not alone!

DD only has 2/3 feeds a day ATM, and I only feed her when she asks for it ie rubs her face over my chest. Sometimes I ask her (DD, milk?) when she's asked to go on my lap, and she'll act like she wants some. I'll try and stop doing that, and wait for her to 'ask' first!

Regarding the sleeping thing, DD had a really bad patch a couple of weeks ago, waking up every 1.5 hrs during the night so I've started to refuse feeds at night (which tears me up, but I was in real trouble ) So far it seems to be working. She's still not sleeping through, but it's better than before.

Thinking about it, she never messes about with her evening feed, it's only the day ones. I'll make sure she always has a drink about, and just take her cues for the day feeds then.