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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Crying when put to the breast

14 replies

ClaireGJB · 26/01/2010 21:23

Am a little confused! DS is 9 weeks old and exclusively BF. For the past couple of weeks he has begun crying when I try to feed him, but not at every feed, mostly in the evenings. When I put him to the breast he does not open his mouth, just begins crying, and then tends to continue this for a whie until we manage to calm him down. I wondered if he wasn't hungry and was irritated by me trying to feed him (?!) but once he is settled again he has a good feed. What is confusing is that he cries before he has tried feeding. Any ideas?

(Also did see Dr re: nipple thrush about 3 weeks ago, so did wonder if it could be related to this, however I would have thought this would affect his other feeds throughout the day.)

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 26/01/2010 21:31

hmm are you feeding him because he normally feeds at that time? or because he cries? or because you're spotting other feeding cues?

i did wonder if it's because he just doesn't want to feed, but that's not the case if he cries for it or shows other cues.
he maybe doesn't want it, then cries cos h doesn''t want it, then accepts it to help himself calm down after crying??

thisisyesterday · 26/01/2010 21:31

oh and yes, i did think thrush on reading the first few lines too, but i think you're right that it would affect all feeds

were you both treated for the thrush?

Original poster

ClaireGJB · 26/01/2010 21:44

It's kind of a mixture, i.e. I'm aware it is a while since he fed, and am noticing feeding cues, maybe I should wait until he is definitely hungry, I just didn't want to leave him too long incase it makes him worse.

With the thrush I only treated myself as he has no symptoms, and mine seemed to clear up, I did discuss this with HV and she felt this was fine as the treatment for him is mainly to prevent reinfection to me.

It's just hard 'cause I feel anxious trying to get him to feed on an evening as I know he will go from being happy to crying A LOT just with me putting him to the breast.

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 26/01/2010 21:47

no, i agree, if it's been a while and he's showing cues I would do it too.

thrush doesn't always show symptoms, so it's possible he has still got it and it's now making him uncomfortable,
you should always treat mum and baby because otherwise you'll just keep re-infecting each other

i wonder if something is making him uncomfortable when you start to feed him (though again you'd expect it to be all the time, not just in the evneing).
actually 8 weeks-ish is prime time for colic, so maybe it's just that??

Original poster

ClaireGJB · 26/01/2010 21:58

Maybe! I think we are just going to have to ride it out and see if it improves. I guess it could just be a mixture of things e.g. wind/colic, tiredness, hunger, that make him tetchy in the evenings.

With regards to the thrush it may seem silly but I would rather not give him the treatment unnecessarily, as it has preservatives that are banned in other EU countries (sorry I'm neurotic I know), although of course if he had symptoms I would use it. It seems to have cleared up (hopefully) on me.

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 26/01/2010 22:11

ahh ok, is that all of the thrush treatments? I didn't know that but have used nystatin with ds1 and then daktarin gel with ds2 which was much more successful.

but yes, no harm in just waiting and seeing if it improves

Poppet45 · 26/01/2010 22:15

Could it be earache? That's making my son cry during his last feed of the day at the moment, as it seems to be when he's least able to fight it off despite his meds. But you'd notice head shaking as well I think.

Poppet45 · 26/01/2010 22:15

Ditto ear pulling.

mrswee · 27/01/2010 22:10

It's highly possible he is tired/sleepy.
I went through this with my little one a lot and only recently worked out that she was actually tired not hungry.
My little one isn't very good as sleeping when she needs sleep IE just falling asleep in my arms, so I was missing her cues for sleep, getting them a bit confused with feeding cues and making her angry/cry by putting her on the boob! She would often calm and feed but it would take and upsetting while for that to happen. She would ear pull too.
By 10 weeks old she would have a complete melt down when I tried to feed her at these times.... that's when I read a few baby books and worked it out, things have improved some what now!

jaggythistle · 28/01/2010 08:21

I second mrswee, this is about the exact age that my S started crying when he was tired instead of just falling asleep. I was totally confused for about a week and wondered what was up with him!

Original poster

ClaireGJB · 28/01/2010 17:03

Thisisyesterday - do you know what cream they gave you for thrush? I have been given clomitrazolefor me and am beginning to wonder if that was the best thing for it. also dr told me i didn't need to remove it before BF but I wondered if that was causing a bad taste (have stopped using it now). I don't really have symptoms now but my nipples are sitll a bit red - is this normal with BF or thrush?

It could be tiredness, although he has sometimes cried at a feed straight after waking up, also how long should a baby sleep at this age (9 weeks)?

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 29/01/2010 13:13

the first couple of times I had thrush I was prescribed fluconazole tablets rather than cream and nystatin for baby.

when i had it with ds2 though we had canesten cream for me, and the daktarin oral gel for him, this also seemed to work well

a lot of people don't seem to get on too well with the canesten cream though, and I'm pretty sure it ought to be wiped off before a feed too (that's what I was told anyway).
to really nip it in the bud if it's being persistent then the fluconazole tablets are the thing to get.

many GP's are reluctant to prescribe it because it isn't licensed for breastfeeding mothers, in my case they rang the maternity ward and spoke to a midwife who said it was fine before they prescribed

mrswee · 29/01/2010 21:45

Hi Claire

I was thinking about this again today and as Jaggythistle also says, I think my babay started doing this at 8 or 9 weeks too.

I think they just start to need more regular sleep as they are sand taking in a lot everyday.

I have pretty much solved this by looking out for sleep signs... rubbing eyes, pulling ears, getting bored/turning away from things, then putting her down (quite a bit of crying but she will go to sleep!)
But as a rule it tends to be around 2- 2 1/2 hours after she last woke up that she gets tired. She generally has a sleep in the morning for between 20 and 45 mins (ideally 45) a bigger sleep in the middle of the day - couple of hours if possible and an other 45 mins in the afternoon.
It's been hard work teaching her to sleep when she is tired but we are getting there and she is getting a lot happier and having less meltdowns.
It came as a big surprise to me when she suddenly needed to nap regularly but niether me nore her knew what to do!

Original poster

ClaireGJB · 31/01/2010 17:47

Thanks mrswee, I agree actually after seeing how he has been the past few days I think tiredness is a big factor, just he seems to sleep loads these days! Just incase anyone else has the same problem, I find I can 'trick' him into feeding when he's stressed by giving him his dummy until he is at the breast, then latching him on quickly before he has a chance to cry!

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