Thrashing while breastfeeding

[Thanksbutno]

8 week old combi fed baby will often go onto breast and thrash around, come away, re-latch, feed for 30 seconds-1 minute, thrash around and repeat circle.

I have to combi feed as I don't supply enough milk to satisfy his appetite but he does this when I know he is getting milk (I can see it in nipple shield) so I can't understand it.

Anyone experienced similar?

Yes this is very normal. I have bf all 3 of my DC (still bf number 3) and I've often said breastfeeding is rather like wrestling a small, angry eel! My advice - swaddle or wrap baby firmly in a blanket, rock and pat their bottom while feeding and experiment with different holds. Rugby hold is a good, secure one for a thrasher. I found this settles down around 3-4 months but then once they start thinking about getting mobile it starts off again!

Wind? DS thrashes like a beast when he’s got a burp brewing or is about to poo.

It can also be frustration at slow release – the nipple shield might be affecting flow – or fast let down.

Agree that a firm hold helps: I call it “full time feeding” because you can’t mess on your phone at the same time, it’s a both hands, full concentration job. Feeding when they’re just drowsily waking up can help too.

Could be painful wind, which can happen within the first couple of gulps especially if you have fast let down - try the koala hold to keep baby upright and help avoid wind. Also could be DC trying to stimulate a let down, so what you can do is get your milk flowing before you latch on and see if that helps.

Ah just re-read and seen you're using a nipple shield what happens if you don't use it? Also at this young age it's really unlikely you have low supply and need to combi feed. What makes you think you have low supply? Poor weight gain is largely the only indicator. Can you get to a Bf group run by an IBCLC?

Thank you all, some great advice. I normally use rugby position but will try swaddle and koala too. He is a gassy baby which I had not considered might be the problem.
He won’t latch without the nipple shield. Sometimes I can get him to latch without it mid feed but always have to start with shield.
the reason I think I don’t produce enough is because he always seems hungry even if he’s fed on both breasts, and won’t settle unless he has a top up. Weight gain is no issue.

@Thanksbutno he sounds very like my baby (now 18m and still bf twice a day). Mine used a shield until he was around 20wks... Felt like a long 20wks! The thrashing was one reason I moved to almost exclusively expressing for a while. He kicked, punched, scratched and unlatched. Nightmare! In retrospect I think it was normal behaviour exacerbated by the shield.

He did settle down and eventually outgrew the shields. My supply was fine. Despite being largely bottle fed expressed milk for around 6w maybe, once he could latch without the shields we switched back to ebf.

I definitely found feeding him when he was just waking up and still sleepy was the best time for a relaxed bf. I think he was fine at night, actually? Out of interest, how does your DS do during night feeds?

Ds2 was like this - I ended up giving him a muslin to hold and it would really settle him, he's 2.5 now and still twiddles with a blanket regularly when sat