4 week old 'fussing'/refusing breast and making faces..what can I do?

[dan39]

My dd is nearly 4 weeks and bf going well overall - gaining weight, good/regular poo etc, nipples ok (now!) and feeds fine all day except early evening. I have read about 'fussy' times, I know its normal, but I find it so hard when she seems to want milk, drinks for 30 secs or a minute, then makes faces like I am poisoning her and cries/cackles and pulls away. What can I do? It is really upsetting me and making me feel really rejected - and I worry about this affecting my relationship with her.

Man this drove me nuts when dd was this age. Keep offering the breast and try not to go mad,

We found that some Daddy time on his back in the sling helped us both chill out a bit.

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wind maybe or thrush... check her tongue.

lie down in bed with her from just before the fussy period normally starts. feed feed feed, swapping sides as often as you need to, even if after just 30 secs. just ride it out.

Hello dan!! Fancy seeing you here! Have been having endless bf problems myself so have not been on mn much. Ds does exactly what you describe, but can be a bit of a reluctant bf-er anyway. I find if I keep reattaching him when he pulls off, eventually he will give in and feed. occasionally he doesn't and so I switch to the other side and switch back after if he doesn't seem full. Keep up the good work!

My 2 week old DS does this too, I do breast compressions to get him to start swallowing, then he usually feeds ok.

I found that if I hand expressed a bit first (so the milk was already 'flowing' if you see what I mean then it helped - as the let down reflex had already started and dd didn't have to work so hard.

Just keep going with what you are doing. bf is hard work but you will find after the first 6 - 8 weeks it generally gets a lot easier.