July 2009 Mamas- breastfeeding woes

[half-pigeon]

Anyone else 5 months in & now having some difficulties with distracted babies.

DS gets easily distracted by people, noises, lights, the cats...everything, anything. He may latch on & then pop off to talk or he will stick his thumb in his mouth. NIP is not doable & really it has always been difficult to keep him on the breast, but even more so now.

DS will only nurse laying down in bed. Not sure if this is because there are less distractions or because he now associates the bed with nursing before bed. This makes it very difficult to leave the house because he won't eat when out.

Anyone else? Any suggestions?

[fawnanddoe]

my DS is also very distractable! We mostly nurse laying in bed too because he got really used to it when I had surgery and was recovering for a while.

I have found that standing up while I am holding him and rocking him back and forth relaxes him enough for me to NIP. It's still hard though, and I am sure a lot of people have seen my breast.

I think it's just the age they are at! I am sure it will pass at some point.

[curious&eager]

Oh I know!! It's so frustrated. If it were that he was just getting distracted, I would be ok. But he seems to enjoy just turning his head to constantly pop off by reaching the end of the nipple. It can only stretch so far.

He also moves constantly. One of his arms just bangs back and forth. Now if we are side feeding, he's found that he can kept time with his feet by pushing on my leg with his feet, so now he dances up, down, up, down. He usually holds on during this move, but my poor boobs get pulled up, down, up, down. The when he wants to let go, he just kicks harder and pops off.

He loves arching his back to look at the world upside-down. So, he'll pop off and then arch away so strong that I cannot pull him back to eat. Oh, and when he's feeling especially energetic, he kicks his feet over from this position and does a flip to the floor. That's the point when I've been giving up on his meals. I figure, if he were hungry, he wouldn't be flipping.

I read somewhere, Dr. Sears?, about "Table Manners," and I figure it can begin now. I felt guilty at first, but now I don't. I hold his head in tighter with my elbow so that he cannot rip off easily and he must let go instead before looking. I've also been holding down his arm especially when it's bedtime because there's only so much face smacking I can handle. I figure he can hit me all he wants and flip all he wants during play time, but not during meal time. My breasts were hurting and now they are feeling better after a few days of mild taming.

Also, it helps him eat because I feel like he's hardly eating. It takes so much effort and patience to get him to eat for longer than 3 minutes. I've wondered if he's getting enough. But, he does eat. He eats well right before naps and during the night. Ug. I've tried the darkened room trick, but he still just wants to expend his energy while eating.

The pediatrician says he wiggles like a seven-month old. Joy. I wonder what he'll be up to at seven-months old, climbing sky scrapers?

I sound negative, but I'm really laughing. I love my boy. He's so much fun. Just meal times are interesting. In public he won't eat easily because there is so much to see, so at times I've retreated to my car or quieter places to feed him. I can't wait to see the antics that lay ahead in solid food land.

[annettemarie]

Moving to the Breastfeeding forum

[half-pigeon]

c&e - pretty much, everything you typed, i could also. i get the nipple pulling & the getting hit in the face while nursing. he arms go crazy when he is tired and/or hungry. i end holding his top hand so i don't get hit so much. and i don't think DS is eating very much. probably makes up for it with all the nighttime eating.

how much longer is this going to last?

[mags]

Yes! DS3 is SUCH a spaz now when he is nursing, he'll be 5 mo soon. Jerking around, popping on and off, pinching, hitting, pulling at me. I know DS1 and DS2 did it too, but not to this extreme. It is so bad. I cannot even nurse him on our main floor anymore, b/c he gets so distracted, even when my older kids are at school. I HAVE to go upstairs to nurse him in my room, in my nursing chair, with the lights turned off and the blinds down. Even then, he seems to have trouble focusing. It seems like we are lucky if he can get 2-3 good nursing sessions in these days. So many times, he doesn't really seem to have a, "good" nursing session anymore unless he is really sleepy, that seems to be the only time he nurses really well. It really bums me out, b/c I feel like I neglect my two older boys (they are only in 1/2 day school), b/c I always have to nurse the baby upstairs and I tell them not to come into the room, b/c it will distract the baby. Basically, nursing and attempting (unsuccessfully) to get the baby to nap suck up so much of my time now, I feel bad for DS1 and DS2, b/c I keep telling them to go play together so I can focus on the baby.

[half-pigeon]

mags- the only good nursing sessions we get in are around sleeping times. i'm only dealing with one, but i can only imagine how hard it must be too juggle 2 other kids and this nursing behavior.


i feel so neglectful if we leave the house because DS won't be eating. and last night, when i was nursing him down in bed, he was too distracted by the vents on the ceiling to eat. i had to hang over him to get him to eat & it was only for a very short time that he would even eat.

[springbride]

So glad I'm not the only one!
DD is so squirmy. She is a fantastic little nursling and very efficient, but oh so distractible. I have a very active/overactive letdown, and more than once she is nursing, mid-letdown and lets go to look at something, thus causing the milk to spray, one time it hit my friend who was sitting with us .

Our latest woe is DD 2 newly acquired teeth. She bites! Oh the joy.

[ctrygirlatheart]

Ditto to everything, including the teeth springbride! I have had some success with redirecting the swinging fist of fury to "pat momma" on the breast and then telling DD how nice it feels and thanking her. Although when the nails need to be trimmed it's more of a mauling than a patting .... DD does seem to understand no though except tonight, she bit me and laughed!

[LindsC]

Yep. DD has reached that distracted stage too. I have to make sure to be in a room where there are no distractions when we are home.