5 mo old with "spastic" arm while nursing

[lkmiscnet]

When my son is nursing, his free arm on top will just pump up and down and he will hit me, himself in the head, etc.

Just wondering how common that is? I try to hold his hand to prevent him from doing that, as he will randomly hit his own head with his fist.

Also, he loses focus while nursing and pops on and off frequently.

Linda

[leaves]

lol...this sounds like my ds. he is the wiggliest nurser! he pumps his arms, jerks his head, and kicks his fat little legs. i don't know what to tell you other than, i know what you mean! mine is 3mo and is clenching his fist on whatever i put in his hand, so usually i let him hold my thumb while i hold his wrist and that keeps him still. well, kind of.

as far as getting distracted, usually mine does this when he's not really hungry, just wants to be held and suckle.

[rivkah]

Absolutely common! My 5 month old does that also. My two previous nurslings did too!

[sunshynbaby]

My three month old likes to punch my other boob when we are side-lying nursing in bed and he isn't ready to go to sleep, lol!

[Shanelovr]

we're there too. this is common practice for ds. except the only time i try to get him to quit is when he needs to sleep. so i usually rock him firmly or rub his back firmly enough that it distracts him from whats going on around us.

with popping off, i just take it as, this is a very active time for him developmentally and that's why he gets distracted so easily and pops off to look around and play.

[_betsy_]

Totally normal.

DD2 used to have spastic arm, hit herself in the head, and then try to make her head (and my nipple) turn 180 degrees to see "who" hit her. She was always so surprised that there was no one there!

[bean-e]

My four-month old does that too. I was also wondering about whether it's "normal". She scratches her nails all over my shirt, pulls on her hair and punches me.

[Sk8ermaiden]

My four month old does that too. The only way I can keep her arm from grabbing/scratching everything is to let her grab my bottom lip. But for her it's more legs. Once she starts on the second side, she rides an invisible bicycle - quickly. It's hilarious.

[haydn'smommy]

Oh yeah. We call it the "evil hand." It's especially bad with the left hand. It's constantly at his face and trying to dig out his eye balls. But in general he just flails it around wildly and smacks at me and him. Then the evil hand lands on his face and goes for an eyeball. Good times.

[slgt]

The areas of the brain that physically control the mouth and hands are very close to one another - have you ever watched a musician's mouth while they are playing guitar/piano/violin? So yes, totally normal.

If I remember, it gets more pronounced when your LO is going through various physical developmental stages that make it hard to keep still.

[nicoolmama]

Originally Posted by _betsy_

Totally normal.

DD2 used to have spastic arm, hit herself in the head, and then try to make her head (and my nipple) turn 180 degrees to see "who" hit her. She was always so surprised that there was no one there!

Oh my goodness betsy! So cute and so hilarious! Love it!


As for wiggly nursing babies, I have never known them any other way. Are there actually babies that stay still and focus on eating?? My 3 1/2 month old son claws me while eating(I call him my cat, bc he kneads me, like a cat would on a clawing post)
I have scratches all over my breasts...looks like I have been in a fight.

[Red Pajama]

My daughter did this for the longest time. Most of the time I nursed her swaddled, but if she had an arm free, it flopped around like a pump handle.
I can't remember when she outgrew it.

[BirthKathy]

My son lays nice and still unless he has to go to the bathroom. Then he kicks, hits, scratches, or pops on and off. Now he just started biting when he has to poop.

[pastrygirl]

This thread cracked me up! I have one of those babies, too. He's not at the point where he can look around to see "who" hit him, but I'm sure it will happen someday. He also tries to gouge his eyes out with his dagger fingers.

[seafox]

my son still does this at 6 months - I call it the 'breaststroke' since he basically does a full circle with the other arm, and at a pretty fast cadence. He'll grab my glasses, lips, nose, other breast, bra strap, etc on the way around. I thought it was pretty weird! I haven't seen that many other babies nurse (maybe 3-4) and they didn't do it so I thought he was kind of spastic

that being said, he's super mobile (already pulling up to standing now) so maybe its related. He just really likes to move, even when nursing.

I usually grab the hand that's doing it and let him grab my finger, play with his hand, while he's nursing. It helps him nurse better I think, less distracted.

[luvmybaby333]

ZOMG. I had one of those. She beat me up at every nursing session from about 5 months on. It got so bad that we could hardly nurse anywhere but the bed. She was sooo squirmy. She got to the point that it really hurt too. I thought I was going to go crazy.

She eventually stopped abusing me during nursies. Now she's 18 months old and has the VERY irritation habit of twiddling the nipple opposite from the one she's nursing. If I try to stop her (like when I would try to calm her flailing/ abusive arm) she flips out. I think some kids just have to have that movement with their free arm or something. IDK. I feel your pain, though.

[kriket]

I have a spastic nurser also. He's trying to learn to sign (at least I think that's what he's doing) will smack me in the face and then frantically sign "milk" then stroke a boob, pull the tube out of the pump that I am pumping the other breast with, yank off a sock and stick it in my mouth, grab my breast and shake it. You name it! Boys....

[hezasan]

my 5 mo is a flailer and a kicker, and lately he's started trying to put his finger in his mouth along with my nipple! He then realizes it's not going to work that way -- no suction!

[curious&eager]

seafox- "I call it the 'breaststroke'" too funny. My ds just does a back and forth motion, hit me, hit him, hit me, hit him, like an upside pendulum. I usually just nibble on the fingers as they pass by until he works them lose from my lips. I have to be a lot more aware and on guard of his right hand because he can hit hard.

[Rainabow]

I have read or heard that the pumping, pulling, hitting and nippletwidling stuff babies do has a purpose...to get the milk flowing! kind of like they are doing compression.
Totally makes sense to me! My five year old who nursed till she was 3 still drops her hand to twidle the nipple of anyone who occasionally picks her up...me, her Dad, Grama!!! we swat her away but it's funny how it's so ingrained in her little being!