Breastfeeding suddenly gone backwards 5 weeks!

[Armo24]

Just wondering if anyone has experienced similar - my now 5 week old fed well from birth and breastfeeding had been fairly straightforward (aside from a sore nipple for a bit and preference for one boob). Now from evening time she’s so fussy - pulling off, banging my boob with her hands, writhing, going red in the face and yelling, only feeding for shorter bursts than I’m used to (5-10 minutes). This seems only to happen at evening and night/early hours - in the daytime she’ll do fairly placid feeds that are the time length I’m used to (about 20 mins). She started having a bottle (one feed of expressed milk in the evening every couple of days or so) over two weeks ago so assuming it’s not sudden nipple confusion (though have ordered some bottles that are supposed to be better for breastfed babies just in case!). Could it be cluster feeding (but would that last from say 8pm at night to 6am, when the fussiness period is?) or could it be that I’m causing it as I’m more tired and stressed in the evening/night time? And has anyone else had this? Really disappointed as I thought I’d cracked breastfeeding but clearly not!

Sounds like a growth spurt! The pulling and latching on and off is telling your body to make more milk. It's incredibly frustrating but should only last a few days until your supply catches up with what she needs 🙂

I think there is a chance it could be bottle related. Is it around the same time that she usually would have a bottle? I know with pacifiers they are not recommended for the first 6 weeks as it is a different mouth motion to breastfeeding.
Saying that if she is ok the rest of the day, maybe she is just tired and yes maybe cluster feeing as well. She is still in her fourth trimester

This sounds pretty normal. Could be a growth spurt, or frustration at low supply in the evenings (everyone has low supply in the evening so please don't think this is a problem!), or simply developmental. I'd just ride it out!

Thank you, I really hope this is it! I can’t see how she can possibly be growing though as she drinks so little each session because most of it’s spent fussing and then eventually she falls asleep after the exhaustion of all the wrestling and will not finish the feed! Nappies still normal so maybe she is getting enough but it really doesn’t feel like it when she’ll feed nicely for all of 5 minutes!

My partner gives her the bottle at about 11.30/12/whenever she’s hungry around that time (to give me a break) but not every night, every 2-3 or so on the advice she may not take a bottle if we’d waited too long. But have ordered more breastfeeding friendly bottles and no we haven’t used a dummy so far. Hope it’s not that but will keep an eye on it - perhaps pause for a week and see if it helps. Thank you!

Thank you! I really want to ride it out but am beginning to feel paranoid she can’t possibly be getting enough (but if her nappies are normal I guess she somehow is?). I definitely feel like I have less milk in the evening but in the early hours my boobs will be quite full and leaky and still she seems so frustrated with them!

Sounds like colic

Growth spurt and cluster feeding to increase your supply. It'll be better in a couple of weeks! Or sooner.

Or I guess CMPA is a possibility but it is likely just a growth spurt leading to increased fussiness.

Google wonder weeks and mental leap 1 - at roughly 5 weeks old. Was incredibly accurate for all 3 of mine.

Possibly a growth spurt but I would strongly recommend going to a BF drop in/seeing an IBCLC to get your latch checked. Sometimes milk flow driven by hormones in the early days means babies are getting plenty with a less-than-optimal latch but as they grow they want more and can't get it as easily as they could if latch was deeper. Best to get this looked at now when your baby is still tiny and it's easier to help correct.

@Nibletmum Wow I’d never heard of wonder weeks but it does say week 5 is particularly fussy which is definitely what we’ve found after an ok time (or as ok as a newborn can be!). Also she didn’t cry that much until now (still not loads but definitely needs more comfort). Thanks for the tip!

@whyhavetheygotsomany @BurbageBrook thanks, I will research colic and CMPA and if the problem is persisting by my 6-8 week appointment will ask for those possibilities to be looked into further then.

@CocoPlum Having had my local feeding service do a postnatal ward and follow up home visit say it looked good that was ages ago so great idea to have the latch looked at again - I’m going to a breastfeeding drop in on Monday and will explain the issue and ask the expert there to take a look.

As I type (daytime) she’s feeding serenely like butter wouldn’t melt 🙄. Thank you everyone, you’ve all been so helpful and reassuring, as a first timer I really appreciate your advice ❤

It's quite normal. You will experience a few phases like this. It will pass.

I'm a BF supporter of many many years (plus have BF 2 babies) so I know it's v easy to let something slip, or just forget maybe one aspect of positioning because it can be a lot to remember, then add in new baby exhaustion/overwhelm! Fingers crossed it's an easy tweak!

I seem to recall both of my babies getting fussier like this until they reached a peak at about week 8, then it started to gradually calm down a bit. You're doing great, don't panic. If you're worried definitely do get the latch checked, but if you're getting plenty of wet and dirty nappies and she's putting weight on you're doing great. Do you have a sling? I sometimes used to pass mine over to their dad to put in the sling in the evenings when they were fussy as they were often calmer with him.

Yes it’s quite likely I’ve let something slip somewhere along the line - it’s been ages since anyone’s checked my latch as she was gaining weight well at all the standard appointments (she hasn’t been weighed in a while). I hadn’t heard that they can feed well at the start even with a bad latch so will definitely get it looked at - thanks for the advice!

Yes we just hired a sling! And very true, I’ve found my partner manages to calm her far better than I do - a sling will make it easier to do this handsfree! And thank you for your kind message!

This was how my daughter started with reflux and allergies.
At 1 week it was just the 2 am feed at 6 weeks evening feeds by 10 weeks she only fed for 5-10 seconds at a time during the day totally no more than 2 minutes but fed better at night.
She had a mix of mild actual reflux, severe silent reflux and multiple food allergies. The GP was only treating the mild reflux and it was 17 weeks before the food allergies and silent reflux were treated and diagnosed. Once they were better managed the feeding aversions and pulling on an off were an early warning signs that her reflux meds needs adjusting or that I had eaten something she was allergic to.

Definitely a growth spurt - don't worry, keep feeding as much as she wants. Although it's frustrating it's all good to help keep your supply up. Don't be tempted to give a bottle to cover her "extra" demand as she will be able to get it from you, but if you start offering bottles in that situation then your body doesn't get the message to up the milk supply which can then lead to confidence/supply issues.

BTW I am fairly certain it is a myth that you can "cause" bottle refusal by not introducing one early enough. So don't stress - it's fine to give a bottle, if you want to/your partner enjoys it/you find it helpful, but don't feel like you have to if it's causing extra stress.

Also the feeding behaviour is normal and not caused by giving the bottle :) They just naturally fluctuate how much they want to feed at any given time. I found learning the co-sleeping safety guidelines very helpful, even if you don't want to actively co-sleep normally, it's useful if you worry you're going to fall asleep feeding.

My advise, as a mum of four breastfed babies and an ABM breastfeeding supporter, is to return to basics and go to bed with your baby.

By being in bed and feeding on demand, you remove a load of external distractions and get some much needed rest for yourself. It is really easy at this point to think you and your baby have feeding nailed and should be able to X, Y and Z. But I'll bet you would both benefit from at week in bed to rest and reconnect.

Thank you, I really hope so!

Thanks for this - that sounds like something really important to look out for and useful to know this could be a sign of it. I will keep a close eye as today she was fussy with some of the day time feeds too - hopefully it won’t follow the pattern you experienced but I now know to keep a look out

This is all so reassuring thank you! I think a growth spurt/cluster feeding may be what’s going on as even after the usual bottle (we were going to pause to see if not doing it made a difference but I was so exhausted by the evening and we already had the expressed milk for tonight to use) at 11pm this evening she just wants more from the boob an hour later but it is almost like she’s not really doing it to drink but to kind of yank at it on and off for ages maybe to try and stimulate more milk! I’m scared of co-sleeping but it may be necessary if nights are going to be consistently like this - I’ll look into it if it persists. Thanks again!

This sounds like a gamechanger, thank you - I’ve never tried feeding lying down before, I had an emergency c section and had no idea what to expect from the recovery so was anxious about the weird aches and pains I felt lying on my sides, but now it feels normal. I think I’ll choose a relaxed day feed to practise the position then see if we can replicate it at night. I don’t know if there’d be room in our bed but maybe my partner will just have to go on the sofa at least for a bit! Thanks again for the tip ❤️

I ebf both of mine with no bottles whatsoever, nothing expressed, just 24 hours a day boob on demand.
The early weeks are really really really hard and I nearly lost the plot with sleep deprivation.
You sound like you are doing amazing.
Between 5-8 weeks is a nightmare but it does get better after 8 weeks.
I haven't got much constructive advice as I've got severe memory loss from that time but I did have a fast let down, that can cause problems for baby. Make sure you are thoroughly winding baby after feeds. Try and keep them upright a little bit to let the milk go down Between feeds if you can.
Agree with pp just take to your bed and basically boob on demand and rest between feeds.