Extremely fussy while feeding

[cocoanib]

I'm not sure how to describe it, but for the past couple days my DD has been getting really fussy while feeding. This happens mostly at night.
It's like she's not getting enough or getting too much. She get's frustrated and then get's off my nipple while crying. She starts back up again, but the same thing happens.
We went back and forth like this a few times last night.
I don't get it.
Anybody else experience this?

[Bokonon]

How old is she?

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by Bokonon

How old is she?

3 weeks tomorrow. She has been feeding just fine since birth. This just started a couple days ago.

[PatioGardener]

Sounds like the 3 week growth spurt! Best to let her nurse up a storm - she may want to go every 15-30 minutes for several hours, and you'll think "you can't possibly be hungry still!!!" but that's a growth spurt for you! She's pumping up your supply too - smart baby

The fussiness is probably part of it - needing to increase your supply - it takes a couple of days for your body to respond to her needs. It's normal - as long as she is having good pees and poops you know she is getting enough.

Hang in there - this should pass soon!

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

Sounds like the 3 week growth spurt! Best to let her nurse up a storm - she may want to go every 15-30 minutes for several hours, and you'll think "you can't possibly be hungry still!!!" but that's a growth spurt for you! She's pumping up your supply too - smart baby

The fussiness is probably part of it - needing to increase your supply - it takes a couple of days for your body to respond to her needs. It's normal - as long as she is having good pees and poops you know she is getting enough.

Hang in there - this should pass soon!

Hmmm, this sounds abut right because during the day she nurses sometimes every 15 minutes. Just like you said. Then the fussy, getting mad at my brest thing starts at night. I hope this is it because I've been worried something is wrong.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by cocoanib

Hmmm, this sounds abut right because during the day she nurses sometimes every 15 minutes. Just like you said. Then the fussy, getting mad at my brest thing starts at night. I hope this is it because I've been worried something is wrong.

My midwife calls this the "witching hour'" - those fussy hour(s) in the evening.

How many pees is baby having in 24 hours? Poops? What do her poops look like?

[Deir]

Hi hon!! My girl is like this too! The weird part is she doesn't seem to want to nurse.Last night was rough. I am not exactly sure what's going on with Nora but with my ds I had serious oversupply. He wanted to nurse alot and of course I would but then it started to become the elusive "feeding too much" Which was something I thought you could never do as a bf mom. Frankie gained over a pound a week!! Poor baby had such a hurting belly! I ended up block feeding in 6 hr blocks and using a pacifier which I stopped at probably 4 months maybe sooner. With Nora- I was worried since she didn't seem to want to nurse that often and wasn't making alot of poopy diapers which when I am counseling is the key question I ask. So Nora was doing about 3 at 7 days and as a counselor, I would like to hear moms say 4 plus. Anyway- I took her to get weighed and she had gained 13 oz in a week!! So clearly- she is getting enough!!!

Anyway- in your case it could be like pp said- growth spurt combined with mysterious nighttime fussiness. Or you could look into oversupply- does she choke and sputter? What is her weightgain? Does she have green poop?- that indicates a overload of foremilk.

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

My midwife calls this the "witching hour'" - those fussy hour(s) in the evening.

How many pees is baby having in 24 hours? Poops? What do her poops look like?

I'm not sure exactly how many, but she is a peeing/pooping machine. I would say 10 for sure.
Her poop is yellow and loose. Sometimes seedy.

Originally Posted by Deir

Hi hon!! My girl is like this too! The weird part is she doesn't seem to want to nurse.Last night was rough. I am not exactly sure what's going on with Nora but with my ds I had serious oversupply. He wanted to nurse alot and of course I would but then it started to become the elusive "feeding too much" Which was something I thought you could never do as a bf mom. Frankie gained over a pound a week!! Poor baby had such a hurting belly! I ended up block feeding in 6 hr blocks and using a pacifier which I stopped at probably 4 months maybe sooner. With Nora- I was worried since she didn't seem to want to nurse that often and wasn't making alot of poopy diapers which when I am counseling is the key question I ask. So Nora was doing about 3 at 7 days and as a counselor, I would like to hear moms say 4 plus. Anyway- I took her to get weighed and she had gained 13 oz in a week!! So clearly- she is getting enough!!!

Anyway- in your case it could be like pp said- growth spurt combined with mysterious nighttime fussiness. Or you could look into oversupply- does she choke and sputter? What is her weightgain? Does she have green poop?- that indicates a overload of foremilk.

Hi Deir! Thx for responding!
Sorry to hear you and Nora are dealing with this too. Last night was a toughie for us too.
At night starting about 11pm, Miakoda wants to nurse, but everytime I start it doesn't last long. She get's "mad" starts moving all around and grabbing at my breast. We go through this over and over again. she cries and wants to try again.

She kinda chokes and sputters, but I'm not sure if that's from her starting to cry while still on my breast or what. She's feeding right now and as content as can be. Eating some, stopping with nipple still in her mouth to hum and "sing" and eating some more. Why would this happen at night?
Her poops are yellow.
She has quite a few poop dipes per day. More than 4.
She was 7lbs 10oz at birth. 1 wk later 8lbs. 1 week after that 8lbs 9oz.

ETA- Feeding her now with some fussiness. I guess it's not just at night.

[Deir]

her weight gain isn't crazy- sounds good. (iht)- we tend to have more milk at night-prolactin levels are higher- so sometimes this can lead to an overactive letdown at night. i leak at night despite the fact that she is nursing more often

finally with my 3rd i have realized that i can't feed her evertime she fusses or i will have a miserable baby. Right now- I just fed her and she is starting to fus, so I swaddled her and I put her in the mei ta and I am trting to gt her t asleep thatway-hence the typing!!lol

[mauinokaoi]

Could it be oversupply?

[mntnmom]

(nak) with ds1 I had overactive letdown. My milk would shoot the poor little guy in the back of the mouth, causing him to gasp, pull of and fuss. He would swallow air and be gassy and fussy. At night, I would express just a little into a cloth diaper, so he didn't get that first blast. I was also a little more conscious of burping him, and we were fine. Good Luck finding your solution. A fussy babe is NO fun.

[MamaMorgana]

Cocoanib, I'm so glad you posted this question! I was just getting ready to ask the same thing today!!! My DS is 6 weeks old, and has been doing the same thing 1-2 times per day for the past week to 2 weeks. I was starting to think it had to do with sometimes too much milk coming (when it leaked all over as he pulled off), sometimes not enough milk coming, and sometimes him being over-tired or over-stimulated. The only thing that works for now is to just stop nursing completely and distract him with something else. Sometimes he'll take the pacifier. He either falls asleep contentedly, or is ready to nurse again in a little while, and if he nurses again we usually have more success the second time.

I have noticed it never happens at the beginning of a feeding, only at the end and on the second breast. Is it also possible he has a bit of reflux towards the end of the feeding, and that's why he's trying to nurse more but crying (in pain)? That would also be helped by sitting him up, pacifier, ending the feeding, burping.

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by MamaMorgana

Cocoanib, I'm so glad you posted this question! I was just getting ready to ask the same thing today!!! My DS is 6 weeks old, and has been doing the same thing 1-2 times per day for the past week to 2 weeks. I was starting to think it had to do with sometimes too much milk coming (when it leaked all over as he pulled off), sometimes not enough milk coming, and sometimes him being over-tired or over-stimulated. The only thing that works for now is to just stop nursing completely and distract him with something else. Sometimes he'll take the pacifier. He either falls asleep contentedly, or is ready to nurse again in a little while, and if he nurses again we usually have more success the second time.

I have noticed it never happens at the beginning of a feeding, only at the end and on the second breast. Is it also possible he has a bit of reflux towards the end of the feeding, and that's why he's trying to nurse more but crying (in pain)? That would also be helped by sitting him up, pacifier, ending the feeding, burping.

Thank you for posting! I was coming back to ask what evberyone does for over supply. I've read some different things to try, but nothing has seemed to halt it. Plus some of the things suggested to halt it can also make it worse. Like pumping before feeding.
I did some distracting last night and then coming back to the breast, but it was the same thing everytime. She was so frustrated and it was driving me crazy. This breast feeding thing is thoroughly exausting.

[MamaMorgana]

Cocaonib, today I had to swaddle him and it seemed to help a lot!

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by MamaMorgana

Cocaonib, today I had to swaddle him and it seemed to help a lot!

Thanx, we may try this tonight.

[sahmmie]

How are things going? Two of my babies began fussing and fighting the breast during feedings and it turned out to be infant reflux. If the problem continues you might want to look into that as a possibility. www.infantreflux.org helped me a lot with figuring it all out.

[Mishta]

I am dealing with this with my 3 week old as well, only mine happens periodically throughout the day and night and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to when it happens. I think it has to do with overactive letdown and she just doesn't know how to handle it. Some things that I try are letting her get the milk going and then I let most of the crazy fast let down drain off into a breastpad. This works only if I catch it before she gets too fussy. I also try lying down with her to nurse and this seems to work. I've been advised to lean back when nursing to help slow the flow but I find this doesn't work as well as lying down does. Mine is also starting to nurse constantly throughout the day which can be very frustrating at times. It's comforting to know that others are seeing this too and that it may just be a growth spurt that will pass eventually. I'll let you know if I figure out anything else that works!

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by sahmmie

How are things going? Two of my babies began fussing and fighting the breast during feedings and it turned out to be infant reflux. If the problem continues you might want to look into that as a possibility. www.infantreflux.org helped me a lot with figuring it all out.

my DS had bad reflux and did this, starting around 3 weeks and escalating to EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. he nursed being a scream-fest. He wasn't spitting up so I didn't know it was reflux, and we didn't have a ped we liked/trusted at the time. Luckily I had an LLL leader I talked with who goes to my church and she suggested reflux. We tried Zantac to no avail, but 2 weeks on Prevacid and he was a new baby. No more screaming/fussing at the breast. hope you get it figured out soon!