Faffy feeding doing my head in!

[thenameiwantedwastaken]

Hi all, looking for some advice about breastfeeding my 5m/o. She used to be a real milk guzzler - would drink solidly for 20mins and be satisfied - but has recently started jumping off the boob during feeding, sometimes to just look at me and poke my mouth/nose (which is quite cute!) and sometimes to squeal like something's wrong for a couple of minutes before jumping back onto the boob. Feeds are taking forever! Mornings we get up at 8 and I'm frequently feeding her on and off until 10/10:30. We used to have a great thing going where she would feed then play then nap at 9:30. It was the only part of day when we had anything resembling a routine and I miss it!

Any ideas MN? Anyone been through this? I don't think it's wind and although she does get distracted easily, even when it's quiet she's jumping on and off. She seems to feed batter once she's done a poo - could she be a constipated bf baby? Or maybe she's hungry for solids rather than milk?

I feel your pain! My baby was like this at the same age and has reverted to this behaviour again recently. It's really annoying but I have no clue what to do. I think it's all part of becoming more alert (and nosey in DS's case). I try to minimise anything that might distract him, i.e. turn off tv, remove anything of interest in his line of vision, and sometimes that helps. Othertimes, I just have to put up with it! I have read that switching from one boob to the other can help when they are latching on and off. It does occasionally work for me.

Hey sorry to hear your going through it too, but nice to have some solidarity! Good idea re moving stuff from los eyeline. I tidied up the table next to my usual feeding spot and that seemed to help a bit - we'll see for sure in the morning! Good luck with your DS!

Not unusual IME for this to happen when they need to build the supply up - like those 'growth spurts'/frequency days early on. Or when things change a bit and they want to 'connect' more with you. I seem to remember around the 6 mo mark and around 9-12 months being particularly fussy...

Good luck and sure it will change again soon