baby fighting the breast, at my wits end, please help

[3madboys]

hi, i need help bfeeding ds4, who is 4 weeks, he has been gaining tonnes of weight, was ten pounds thirteen ounces at birth, now about fourteen pounds, plenty of wees and poos, but the over the past two weeks his feeding has got worse and worse, he is fighting and fussing at the breast, pulling off and on, wriggling, screaming, i end up having to rock him, pat him etc, he feeds better when he is asleep, but even then he can be wriggly and unsettled.

i am ending up having to express as my breasts are getting too full and i am now worried that he is not going to be getting enough milk, plus feeding is very stressful and taking forever, not good when i have 3 older children to look after

i think part of the problem is a strong letdown and also that he needs to sleep alot and if he doesnt he gets over tired and wants to use th breast to sleep but gets cross with my milk flow, he seems to have feeding and sleeping all muddled up

any advice welcome

3madboys, you;re checking the boxes for 'over supply' or 'extra generous milk production' to put it more nicely

Check posts on my name and 'one sided feeding' or 'block feeding'.

It's very simple to make this better.

thankyou, will do a thread search and read up just got to do school run now.

thankyou, i have some new ideas to try now, i did think it was prob oversupply, i had similar issues with my elder three boys, makes me wonder why i wanted to do it again anyway i feel a less stressed now having read the links and i just fed him lying back so he was practically lying on top of me, he still fussed and came off each time my milk let down, but then went back on.

he doesnt always get into a rythm with his sucking/feeding if you see what i mean? tho despite this my breast does feel like he has fed okish off it, so he must be getting milk even tho it doesnt seem like it. his nappy is soaking wet and he has only had it on two hours.

incidentally he must still like hte breast as he uses it to go to sleep and whilst he was feeding earlier he pulled off to give me a huge big grin just getting the first few smiles the past few days, which is great, he also lets go of the breast to 'coo' and 'talk' to me annoying when it means i am spraying milk everywhere, but very cute and makes me remember the good bits about bfeeding

my other three all fed well once older and ds2 and ds3 carried on feeding till 3 and a half, i just need to focus on the good bits and try not to get too stressed by the fussing

i do already block feed, tend to swop breasts every two hours, but may try and go longer and have only expressed once a day as i dont want to build my supply, if i have to keep expressing i will reduce the amount each time.

thanks again, i have saved some links to kellymom etc and some threads so i can read them when i have more time.....

BUMP sorry another question, can you recomend a sling that is good for bfeeding in? i have a ring sling, but i have found that awkward with ds4, seems better with an older baby, not so good with a little one.

i need something simple and quick to get on and off that he can feed in whilst i am doing school run, housework etc, also that he can sleep in probably for longish periods of time as he likes to be held/have breast near by when he sleeps (typical boy)

any recomendations would be much appreciated.

3madboys, sounds like you would benefit from having longer blocks to the block feeding...2 hours won't cut it, really. Try 4 and even 5 or 6.

As for slings, sometimes the simpler the better...try posting on another thread in another folder?

I'd suggest a rebozo, which is similar to a ring sling but alot simpler (kind of like an adjustable pouch) Ellaroo and Bara Barn do them and loads of others, it's basically a 2.7 ish metre cloth which you knot together.

thanks for the further advice, i will look the sling up mrswagg

also tiktok, with the block feeding for longer periods, is this just a short term measure or something i would do for a long period? as obviously the breast i am not feeding on would get quite full, and then when i first put ds4 onto it he would find it too full to feed from? tho i could exress a bit?

i just wondered whether i just do it for a few days and then my breasts would get full and get the message to produce less milk? or do i do it longer term?

he has fed better yesterday and today, its def linked in with his sleeping as well, the more he sleeps the better he feeds, and if he is overtired and just trying to get to sleep he will fuss, pull off, wriggle around etc or else when my milk lets down he will just hold the breast in his mouth and not suck iyswim?

oh a number of times today he has been at the breast but let go to smile at me

gotta go, he is requesting a feed at mo, typical as i need to cook dinner, hence the need for a good sling...

3mad, it can be a long term or a short term thing....see what makes it better. Some women always have to damp down their supply in this way.

You're right, gentle hand expression (as little as you can get away with) may be needed at times.

wow, thanks for the speedy reply

ok i will give it a go, maybe increase gradually so i dont get too full, infact at night i go 3 or 4 hours on one side and have noticed they are not getting as full and sometimes i stay on the less full side if he is sleepy of fractios, i try and take his lead as sometimes he will have a good feed from a full breast

my breasts do seem to be most full in the morning, and up to lunchtime, early afternoon, then it eases off as the day progresses.