BF DS2 pulling off breast during some feeds - WHY? SHOULD I BE CONCERNED?

[Misspaella]

Hi there
Not sure if I should be worrying but DS2 (13 weeks on Sat) has been pulling off the breast since Monday after just a few minutes feeding.

I put him upright, burp him and put him back on again (sometimes switch between breasts) and sometimes he continues to feed or just pulls off and frets. He has also started spitting up milk (which he never really did).

I am feeding on demand and used to him feeding every 2 hours (and cluster in the evenings) and now it seems to be every 3-3.5 hours. He has also dropped his night feeds n the last week.

I feed him if he cries or put his hand in his mouth and he doesn't always want to feed like he used to.

He is also poo'ng less (a couple times a week as opposed to several times a day). His nappies are wet though.

He has been putting on weight very well so that is not a concern (yet anyway).

I guess my questions are:
What is causing the pulling off the breast during some feeds?

Is pooing less a bad indication?

Is this going to mess up my supply or am I established at this stage to adapt easily to what he needs? If he rejects me during a feed should I express instead?

Thanks

I would try not to worry, and continue feeding him/offering the breast as normal. My DS had a big issue with being fed between about 3 and 14 weeks - just after starting a feed, he'd suddenly get really cross and cry at the nipple, or pull off and shake his head while seeming to try and latch on again. I saw a BF counsellor but she was flummoxed. He continued to thrive and gain weight, poo/pee, etc, and it stopped again quite soon.

I wonder now if it was a supply issue - the milk was certainly there, he was getting nourishment, but perhaps it wasn't coming fast enough for him at the start of a feed (he's always been impatient!)? At the time, I thought it was wind and dosed him with Infacol, which had absolutely no effect!

If you're concerned, please call the NCT and see if someone could come out to watch you feed, as it's just possible there's a latch issue, but sounds to me like you're doing fine and that your DS is thriving as he should be. Not sure the poo signifies, as breastfed babies can go for a while without pooing - or poo all the time! (Mine did.)

My DD did this at about 12 weeks too. Had been feeding every 2 hours and suddenly went up to 5 hours. She was also puting on weight fine. HV said perhaps she was getting all she needed in a shorter time because she'd got better at it. I also thought it was a sudden awareness that there were more interesting things in her world than feeding. I offered her every hour or so until she decided she wanted a feed and that seemed to work. If she had a screaming get-that-thing-out-my-face fit then I stopped and we did something else for a while.

She was probably 5 months before she stopped doing it as much but she's still very deffinate if she doesn't want a feed!

Good luck, it is stressful but try not to worry.

Hi MissP - the fretting here has settled down a bit in the last couple of weeks.
When she did fret, sometimes some things worked - I try taking her off and winding her and then just waiting a little while to see how she is - if I don't get her normal hunger signs then I don't put her back on. Daft as it sounds I'm actually wondering if sometimes she's just not hungry any more at the fussy point in the feed. It doesn't always work out that way, but it has worked a few times. Another partial success is rubbing her feet funnily enough. I only found this when I grabbed one of them to stop her kicking me when she got fussy and I held onto it and rubbed it and she seemed to immediately calm down - again it doesn't always work but it's something I can try when she starts getting agitated. I've also had partial success when switching sides - I tend to do this as a last resort having tried taking her off for a bit and rubbing her feet! I tend to be much more observant when I'm latching her on and feeding her now and she does almost always calm down for a short time when I feel a letdown sensation (if I concentrate rather than watching TV or talking on the phone I can usually feel the multiple letdowns in each feed), so I think it isn't coming fast enough for her sometimes but I'm honestly not sure what I can do about that - when I'd seen this happen a few times, I hand expressed on the breast she'd just fed from and got a good little jet of milk to come out so I don't feel like the flow is exactly "slow", but maybe DD is just very impatient for it.
When she is weighed, she's gaining perfectly so that gave me some reassurance, and we always have plenty of wet and dirty nappies. So I have a few things to try and I'm trying to stop thinking there should be 1 cure-all thing that will make the problem go away once and for all. I'm taking the view now that she's doing her best to tell me something but not always necessarily the same thing every time!!
But things are much better so I think the fussy stage is passing - hoping it does the same for you too.

My baby gets fussy on the boob and pulls off after 5 minutes. I have a fast letdown and oversupply I now only feed him when I'm lying down which helps. Thing is he has got so used to a fast let down he fusses when the milk slows (that is my theory anyway!) When he frets I panicked and tried to put him back on until my nipples were sore and he was puking. Eventually I decided this was stupid, I let feed for as long as he wants. If he starts fretting I stop burp him try him again. If he does it again I stop feeding him. I then let him feed again whenever he is hungry even if it is only an hour later. He is 15 weeks and my feeling is that he will calm down given time...........I hope so anyway or else he might just pull my nipple off!