Frantic crying just before latching

[lucy_v]

Frequently when I nurse DD (5 months), she does this frantic, impatient (or that's how I interpret it) crying just as she's about to latch. It seems as if she's afraid I'm going to NOT feed her, even though that's clearly what's about to happen! She's been like this pretty much all along. Early on, and even still, I haven't really been able to read her early cues (if there are any), so she sometimes goes from perfectly calm to crying hysterically when she's hungry. But even if I feed her before she starts crying (which I do most of the time now), she still, just a few seconds before latching, starts the "Ah-ah-ah!" crying and anxious rooting. I wonder if this is a learned behavior from when I was not good about reading her cues and if so, how can it be unlearned? Or, could it be something else?

[boobs4milk]

amelia does this. even when she asks for ninny (she says "nin-nin" or "nin-mom"), right before she latches, she has a mini-panic attack. she can be smiling going in, but as soon as i lift my shirt, she freaks. she settles quickly after we start, so i don't know why she does it. i noticed it did help once she learned words for breastfeeding, but she still does it. s!

[lucy_v]

Thanks for your reply! Hmm.. you got me thinking, maybe it's not fear or anxiety, but excitement that she's expressing? Since she does it as she gets close to my nipple, maybe she's just so excited to nurse, she can't contain herself? Or is that just wishful thinking? I'll have to watch her with that in mind now.

[boobs4milk]

you're welcome! i think that is it, mostly for millie. sometimes she's just a tired mess, but i think usually she's just beside herself excited.

[SilverFish]

my baby does this too (almost 6 months)... not all the time, but especially at night and in the early morning, and also if we're out and she's maybe a bit tired. i think it's over-excitement, and definitely impatience. if you think about it, by the time she's showing signs of hunger, she IS hungry, and then she has to wait for you to lift your shirt, and then she has to wait for let-down... maybe all that waiting (what, like 45 seconds?) is too much for a little thing?