6mth old DS only breastfeeds for about 5mins then too distracted - is he getting enough?

[amazonianwoman]

Please please encourage me to keep going with breastfeeding!!

DS is 6mths this week and will only feed for a few minutes, then just keeps pulling away to have a nose around. I can't believe that he is getting enough milk?? He is finished after literally 3mins!

His weight gain has slowed right down, altho' he did start off as a whopper 10lbs 9oz and gained loads for the first 4mths - is it usual for bf babies to drop centiles? The last time he was weighed around 5wks ago he'd only gained 8oz in 4wks and the HV suggested "he might be ready for something more" - whatever that meant (I just ignored her)

DD was exactly the same and I ended up stopping bf at 5.5mths

I started weaning 10days ago and he will eat loads already, but this surely isn't as nutritious as breastmilk?

He has one bottle a day from DH (was expressed but can't find the time to express enough so now it's formula) - he drinks all this - could he prefer a bottle? I hope not

Am I just being paranoid?

I really sympathise as mine (who is nearly 6 months) has started doing this. Have you tried going into a quiet room with no distractions? I find going into the bedroom (where we have morning and evening feeds) can calm him down. And singing and talking quietly to him. I haven't had him weighed for ages though so he might be losing for all I know.

Also I think some people recommend feeding necklaces - basically brightly coloured beads to keep them focussed. Not sure they'd work with DS tbh - he'd only want to put them in his mouth.

i don't know sweetheart. i hope someone can answer you, i didn't want you to go unanswered (((((((((((((((aw)))))))))))

fm x

They do get efficient very quickly as they grow older. I was amazed at how little ds was at the breast at this stage.
HV talking shit.Nowt more calorific that your milk. This or some watery mush? Tis a no brainer.
Keep on offering.

sorry,i dont have any advice for you,but i rememeber you from the march07 ante-natal threads.there is a post natal thread now and alot on there are still bf and having similar problems with distraction.

latest thread is here

nice to see you again

AW - it is normal for them to feed slightly less once they are eating solids too. Your bm is still really important too though so carry on offering. Some babies are very efficient and get plenty out in 3 mins - and 3 mins is much better than none.
My dd did cut down quite a bit once on solids but she certainly didn't want to stop - still has her 5 mins morning and night now (17 mo!)

My dd2 is 7 months and she is exactly as you describe your dd. Feeds only for a few minutes at a time. She has always been a really quick feeder and acording to my very good health visitor this is normal as they get older they become more efficient and feeds take less time. Apparently they get all they need in the first few minutes of a feed anyway so it could be that your dd has now become more efficient and has just simply had enough. Though i do find feeding in public becoming increasingly difficult as she likes to pull off and have a good old nosey around. going away to a quiet room usually helps slightly!

Stick at it!!

Hi Amazonian, just a little note to say that I looked into this about a month ago. My dd is 6 months too and I was having this problem big time, it is called distractible baby and you can look some stuff up on Google etc. Apparently it is a developmental stage and they can't help it. Everything they can see, hear etc is so goddamn exciting! (not for us poor mummies tho' with out milk spraying everywhere !

My dd will jump and come off the breast if she hears her noisy brother anywhere in the house, and that is most of the time. I have found that feeding her in the bedroom where we are both laying down and I can sort of cuddle her into the crook of my arm helps. Ultimately, even though it is annoying, I find that at some point she will catch up when the feeding conditions are to her liking! (fussy girl)

The good news is that is going to (apparently) settle down after about 6-8 weeks from when they enter the stage. Hang in there. In the article I read it noted that they may start night-waking again during this stage, and take up to 25% of their needed calories at night.

HTH.

Thanks all, I just knew I'd get some supportive replies

Will try a feeding necklace (any excuse to buy some new beads) - he is a fiddler

I do try to sit in his room to feed (seeing as he will happily feed forever during the night ) but DD is usually prancing around which doesn't help... Have tried talking/singing - he just stares/laughs at me.

Thanks for the link diva - have been meaning to hunt out the March 07 crowd for ages

Vengeful - that makes sense, he's started waking more at night and definitely takes in more milk btw 7pm & 7am than in daytime. Oh well!

Will try to stick at it. Not having any more babies so know I'll be distraught if I stop - cried for 2wks solid when I stopped with DD

It sounds like you and ds are doing great.

Once I started weaning ds he didn't gain as much weight as quickly as he previously did, but I think that is to be expected as weaning food isn't as calorific and at this time they start to become more active.

Your ds is probably becoming really efficient at bf'ing as well, so is probably getting a good amount of milk still.

As long as you are happy he is filling himself up on milk instead of food then carry on with what you're doing. However if you think he's filling himself up with lots of non-calorific food, limit the food intake and he will take more at the breast.

You can then change the food to milk ratio when he starts to eat more calorific food.

Hope this makes sense! In a nutshell, don't give up you're doing fab!

Hi, keep going with the feeding, it sounds as if you're doing all the right things. I had the same problem although dd was a little younger and I started to panic and introduce more bottles (already had a bottle of ebm every night), couldn't keep up with expressing so now dd is mostly having formula feeds. Wished I'd kept up bf at least until weaning and still think about it all the time!! Good luck

thank god I found this

Ds2 is 5mths old and going through the exact same thing.

Vengeful - he is exactly the same, and has begun waking again in the nights for several feeds too

(someone please tell me this is a phase...not coping well without sleep, and a toddler)

Would second the feeding while lying down advice - DS finds it much easier as he can roll back and forth if he wants

hi amazonian, my ds has been exactly the same. no real advice except it will get better. I was trying to 'force' ds to feed when he didn't want to a lot when he was that age and it was just stressful for both of us. what i ended up doing was just feeding him before naps and going to bed and when he woke up in the night and he was happy with that, and it was suddenly much less stressful for me.
it's a bit better now. i still feed him mainly before naps and sleep, but sometimes if he is absolutely ravenous he'll eat in another situation. but he's always been an efficient eater, so 3 mins would not be at all uncommon!
go with it, do what you can, darkened rooms, feeding necklace etc, but whatever happens, your LO will not starve himself, he'll make sure he gets what he needs.
(and ignore HVs for what it's worth)

AW-Babies are very efficient feeding machines so yours will get what he needs and he may well be very slick by now-I am envious in fact as mine were all slow feeders. His job is to feed and grow so let him get on with it. Babies don't normally cross centiles downwards but if you look at the centile charts their rate of weight gain slows down in the second 6 months of life.
I don't think the HV was suggesting you wean him-there would be no need to do that as long as he is still gaining satisfactorily. But he may need to get onto solids as well.
Good luck and enjoy him-mine all weaned themselves by 8 months!

Mine has started to do this. Just get the letdown and she jerks her head off. Owowow...

Thanks all again, glad to know he's not the only distracted baby

Anyway, got him weighed this morning and he's gained just over 1.5lbs in 5wks and has crept back towards his original centile line, so I'm obviously just paranoid and he's just a superfast guzzler

i'm glad his weight is good, it makes it so much easier to relax and go with the flow once you know that. xx

I could have written the op. Ds weaned since four months as was a big very hungry boy now feeds four times during the day and once at night most feeds last five minutes ten occasionally and about fifteen at night. He eats loads of food and I just make sure that he has a yogurt and cheese and lots of variety, I stressed about it for ages but have got used to it. I try to bf him instead of food but if he hasn't eaten for a while he just comes off and cries until I give him real food!

dd2 is the same age and does the same thing. I'm happy she's getting enough, she'd let me know if she wasn't. If poss I take her somewhere quiet to feed (eg bedroom upstairs if dd1 is capering around downstairs) but I find she does have a few occasions during the day when she concentrates enough to have a good feed, I assume this is when she's hungry enough not to give a stuff what's going on around her!