Head bobbing and shaking from side to side..?

[claudib]

My 6 week old often does this, She will feed until the breast is very soft (empty?) and will do the head bobbing and shaking and frantically tries unsuccessfully to latch on and gets very upset at this.

I spoke to a breastfeeding counsellor and she said "the breasts are never empty" (..still, not very helpful to my problem!)

my boyfriend was concerned that she was hungry and suggested that we give her a formula bottle once a night which we have done (Hipps). She does seem to be very much more contented.

I'm wondering whether she is hungry or it is signs of colic..?

It is true that the breasts never empty. Young babies are often unsettled in the evening and tend to cluster feed. When DD used to do the head bobbing thing I used to swap breasts and she'd settle for a bit then I'd swap again. I would try that before giving formula personally. Here's a link on clusterfeeding.

She is trying to get more milk from the breast with the head bobbing thing. Do you offer her 2 breasts at each feed? This may help if you haven't been. If you want to top up with formula then fine, but if you want to maintain exclusive breast feeding then she needs to feed from you as much as possible as milk is produced on a supply and demand basis.

DD often does this in the evening when she is cluster feeding and a bit unsettled - it hurts doesnt it when they brush your wet nipple!

Usually its because she wants to swap sides but it can also be because she has wind or is tired. I often wind her at this time by lying her over my knees so she can doze if she needs to.

If she keeps doing it and is frantic then I often take her off and tell her to calm down (lol she is 7 weeks old) and then calmly put her back on and often this works.

6 weeks old is classic big growth spurt time so its likely she is just trying to get more milk. Often at these growth spurts the baby keeps feeding after most of the milk has gone (never truly empty but harder to get) as this tells the body it needs to make more milk. If you give formula instead as you think shes not getting enough then she may not suck enough and your supply wont go up. As frustrating as it is and tiring the best thing for your supply to do is to feed through it - go to bed with her, lots of skin to skin, put your feet up and watch bad day time tv but let her have as much as she wants.

ooh thanks that's a relief!