DS acting ... strange.. on the breast.

[tykys]

I'm not sure quite how to describe this. My DS is a little over 2 mo old. He's been a great nurser from birth, even in the NICU. Lately, I would say the last week or two, when he's nursing at night especially, after he's been on the breast a few minutes he starts breathing really fast and his body tightens and he starts going into this...I don't know how to describe it, milk craze? It's almost like he's convulsing. He makes a lot of noise and his head starts moving back and forth. Half the time he pulls off the breast just to latch back on again. Sometimes he has trouble finding the nipple again and he starts going crazy. It usually only happens at night and/or when he's half asleep at the breast. I don't remember this behavior with my DD. At first I didn't really think anything of it, but as it's becoming more and more frequent it's starting to concern me. The last few nights I've barely slept cause it's becoming a pattern of nurse to sleep.. fall asleep for 10 minutes...then start going crazy on the breast... and start all over again. Is this normal? Has anyone experienced anything like this? I'm not sure if I've described it very well, as it's hard to explain.

[CalaRei]

Could it be reflux? My smaller babe arches and flails during feedings (moreso at bottles though, than at the breast. ) We had to get him some zantac and it's made a world of diffrernce.

Sorry, nak. That's all i can think of, though.

[Llyra]

How has his weight gain been? Do you think he's getting enough milk? I was really sick for awhile when my twins were young infants, and my supply was affected, and DD2 used to do a lot of thrashing around at the breast because she was frustrated at the slow or nonexistent flow. She would kick her legs and flap her arms and arch her back and pop on and off the breast. Sometimes she would grab the nipple with her lips and tug sideways, or even clamp down and bite. Getting my disease under control solved the problem, because my milk came back abundantly.

But she never behaved in a way that I would call convulsive. I don't know. Do you have a health care provider you trust to give you good advice, who could maybe watch him nurse and give an opinion?

[tykys]

You know, I think you may be on to something with the milk supply, because I was thinking the same things. It's as though he is frustrated, sometimes he acts almost violently, hitting the breasts and thrashing his head back and forth very hard. I really think that may be it. I know that my supply isn't as great as it was with my daughter. The thing is, he nurses around the clock, you would think I would have a great supply!! But maybe he is nursing around the clock because he's not getting enough??

His weight gain has been maybe a little slow. He was born at 5 lbs 4 oz... was in the NICU for 3 weeks and got down to 4 lbs 7 oz. When he was discharged at 3 weeks he was back to 5 lbs 4 oz. That was October 26th. I just weighed him this morning and he is 9 lbs. But he's been 9 lbs for about a week. I thought he would be more.

I wish I could tell how much he was getting. It worries me. Sometimes when he first latches on my letdown is really fast and I can see the milk in the corners of his mouth, but after a couple minutes I can't really tell one way or another.

[Sunstone]

If it is a supply thing, your milk should increase with his demand.. it may take a few days but it should increase! If it doesn't, try oatmeal or fenugreek or other good home remedies that help boost your milk.

Otherwise... I know that when my 3 week old nurses, she makes weird grunting noises and pulls back off the nipple and squirms around- and I know it's related to reflux issues.. b/c if I let it go on too long...she spits up a ton of milk and then I am back at square one!
I try to burp her frequently and nurse her as upright as possible... When she is done nursing I put her chest to chest with me and recline a little to help her digest.

[Llyra]

So that's about four pounds over birthweight, at roughly ten weeks old? With a lower than average birthweight and a NICU stay complicating the early weeks? That works out (I used the calculator at kellymom) to about 6 ounces a week gain, which is well within the average weight gain for young infants of 5 to 7 ounces. Certainly he's small, but he STARTED small. FWIW, my twins started to hit their "catch up" growth, after being born unusually small, at 3 to 4 months old. But some kids just remain small, and that's fine.

I don't think, based on a 6 ounce a week gain, that you have any major supply issues, although it can't hurt to offer to nurse as often as you can get baby interested, especially in the wee hours of the night when your hormone levels peak.

It may be that he enjoys the very fast flow, and gets mad when it slows. Switch nursing can help with that. Every time the flow slows, so that you don't hear any gulping anymore, switch him to the other side. Often switching will elicit another letdown of milk, and baby will be happy again. It doesn't matter if you use each side multiple times before he's done. A breast is never truly empty, and if baby thrashes and yanks and continues pulling hard on an "empty" breast, more milk will come down eventually. This is a supply-increasing technique.

Two months is a common time for growth spurts, so it's likely his needs have increased recently, and all this fuss is because he is trying to increase your supply to meet that need. If I were you, I'd just roll with it for a week, and see what happens. It'll likely work itself out all by itself, and baby will go back to being more content.

[DCMama01]

Originally Posted by Llyra

So that's about four pounds over birthweight, at roughly ten weeks old? With a lower than average birthweight and a NICU stay complicating the early weeks? That works out (I used the calculator at kellymom) to about 6 ounces a week gain, which is well within the average weight gain for young infants of 5 to 7 ounces. Certainly he's small, but he STARTED small. FWIW, my twins started to hit their "catch up" growth, after being born unusually small, at 3 to 4 months old. But some kids just remain small, and that's fine.

I don't think, based on a 6 ounce a week gain, that you have any major supply issues, although it can't hurt to offer to nurse as often as you can get baby interested, especially in the wee hours of the night when your hormone levels peak.

It may be that he enjoys the very fast flow, and gets mad when it slows. Switch nursing can help with that. Every time the flow slows, so that you don't hear any gulping anymore, switch him to the other side. Often switching will elicit another letdown of milk, and baby will be happy again. It doesn't matter if you use each side multiple times before he's done. A breast is never truly empty, and if baby thrashes and yanks and continues pulling hard on an "empty" breast, more milk will come down eventually. This is a supply-increasing technique.

Two months is a common time for growth spurts, so it's likely his needs have increased recently, and all this fuss is because he is trying to increase your supply to meet that need. If I were you, I'd just roll with it for a week, and see what happens. It'll likely work itself out all by itself, and baby will go back to being more content.

Hm, I'm having the same issue with my 3.5 week old. I'll try switching often, as she exhibits all of the same behavior. She's gaining quite well (8-9 oz per week) and has plenty of wet and poopy diapers, so she's definitely eating well.

Thanks!

[Ms. Cellaneous]

Oh my gosh, my 8-week-old does the EXACT same thing. It's hard to describe, but "milk craze" is the perfect term. Poor little guy gets so agitated! I posted something about this last week and one suggestion I got that helps sometimes is to burp him when he starts thrashing -- sometimes he's got gas that's causing the discomfort and sometimes I think just the motion of burping him calms him down so he can latch on properly.
I agree, it's really weird to watch. I wish I could explain to him -- dude, the milk's right there in front of you, all you have to do is settle down and suck!

[3girls1boy]

A lot of babies will poop or pee when they are nursing and I wonder if this might be a factor. I've read that human babies (just like other animals) are born with an innate sense that they don't like to soil themselves, but as modern parents who use diapers, we often ignore this.

I didn't know about elimination communication when my kids were babies, but I wonder if your baby is trying to tell you he needs to go?