6 week old wriggling and pulling off whilst feeding

[frekkles]

Hello,

My six week old wriggles alot whilst feeding, arms and legs thrashing about and pulling himself off alot. Sometimes it seems like he's just really enjoying it and is getting excited, sometimes it's seems out of frustration. It usually happens at the end of a feed. He's been doing it for a few weeks now.

I'm worried that it means he isn't getting enough milk from me or the latch isn't right. Although this may be paranoia from me as he's gaining weight (following 25th centile) and pooing and peeing loads and my nipples aren't sore

It's right annoying aswell as worrying though, means it's really difficult to feed him in public too.

Any ideas as to what's going on. Is it normal? Any ideas on things I can do to help?

Hey Frekkles - any chance it is wind? DD pulls on and off if she has wind. Also, when she is tired and trying to settle herself through feeding, she tends to fling her arms around. If it is wind, you could try taking him off, winding him and offering more (sometimes DD wants more, sometimes not). If it is tiredness, DD usually settles down as she starts to fall asleep (although this doesn't help the actual thrashing while it's happening!)
Sorry to not have more to offer, but this will at least keep your thread active longer!

I had this and was advised that he either wants to stop or try the other boob, so try putting him to the other and see how that works, if winding and stopping doesn't help.

thank you both, excellent suggestions. He is a bit of a windy character, gripe water is helping with that! i'll try more burping and switching and report back x

HI - never done this before ! My 3 month old still does the same but am clued into it now - 99% its wind and I have to put him to my shoulder and keep patting, rubbing until it comes. A gentle squeeze on the right side of the body helps bring the wind (or bit of re-gurg up. (I also put him down on this side to sleep if its a dream feed at night as that helps too). Sometimes he does it towards the end of the breast and its time to switch to other. 'tis annoying though isnt it ! Espec in public. No such prob with my first. Hoping it will end soon...

he's still doing it despite a concrted effort in winding, switching and all. I feel awful saying this, but i'm not sure how long i can feed him for if he carries on like this as he gets strnger and bigger, feel like i get beaten up each time i feed him, and tis so stressful each time he pulls off and ouch!

Has he got thrush? sounds like classic symptoms to me. You need to watch out as he could pass it in to your milk ducts. Dactarin gel on his gums will do the job, and treat your nipples with dactarin cream at the same time.

One of my twins does this - usually she has wind or is filling her nappy. Wind can take a really long time to bring up so persevere - over shoulder better than sitting up IMHO.

Sometimes she has trouble latching back on and moves her head rapidly from side to side. A friend suggested thoroughly drying her mouth and my boob before trying again and it seems to work.

thanks, have tried everything you suggest and he's still at it. i'm going to go to the breast feeding clinic tommorow and get some help. feeding him in public is becoming impossible and i'm off on holiday for 2 weeks on saturday!

Hi, my 5 week old does a similar thing once or twice a day, getting into a total state at times, flailing arms, smacking lips, crying and grunting like the world is ending. Only he does it at the beginning of a feed when he cannot latch on quickly enough. I will try the tip about drying the bbob and mouth. the only thing I have tried so far that seems to work is giving him the bottle (expressed breast milk, which he gets once a day from his daddy anyway), for a couple of minutes, so he calms down a bit, and then trying again.