DD nurses only when sleepy

[Ldogg]

DD (8 months old) is an *incredibly* distractible baby. I started noticing her distractedness during nursing at the usual 4-5 months, but not only has it not gone away, it's gotten worse! Now I have to nurse her in her nursery, it has to be quiet, it has to be dark, and she has to be sleepy. This means I feed her - or at least offer - every time she gets up or goes down for a nap or nighttime sleep. I think she's made a firm association with sleep and feeding at this point (though she's mostly nightweaned... we do one dream feed around 10 or 11).

There is no way I can ever nurse her when we're not home (sometimes I can do it if we're at someone else's house and I can go into a dark room away from everyone else), and it sucks! And if we're home, it's really only in her room under the above-mentioned conditions. Under any other circumstances, she gets so totally distracted - she would much rather look around or flail about when I try to nurse her.

I feel so tethered to my house.  :(  All outings are either short or I have to bring a bottle. She is doing a minimal amount of solids, but nothing substantial. She's just not that interested in eating! She's super active and I know is really interested in the world around her, but all that activity (I'm sure) makes her hungry....

Anyone else experience this? Am I doomed to this utter distraction for the remainder of our nursing relationship? Should I try to break the 'nursing-when-sleepy' association somehow? I guess I thought things would have eased up in the distractibility department by now....

[somegirl99]

Giving you a bump and subbing for any answers...this is my 4-month old and it is very frustrating at times.   I either nurse him when he first wakes up (which doesn't even work if he wakes with a burp or having to poop), or when he is ready to sleep, but then he has to be swaddled, has to be in a certain part of the bed, DH can't be around.  I occasionally can get him to nurse in the back of the car but it's challenging.  What I've been trying to do is to put him in a really loose ring sling on top of my lap for nursing when he first wakes up to get him used to that, and sometimes he will nurse in the same position in the sling in the back of the car, and I've been working on gradually tightening the sling and trying to move around a little bit.  He is nearly as fussy about taking a bottle from DH.

[sarahr]

Yep, that's my DS too. Also, he loves solid food and nurses every 2 hours at night, so he doesn't care if he nurses during the day. Me, I'd rather he nurse during the day than at night, but with an older child, going into a dark quiet room any more often than needed for sleep just isn't going to happen.

The only other time (other than going to sleep) that he nurses well is if I'm gone for a number of hours. Then, as soon as he sees me, he must nurse right away.

[JudiAU]

People often think I am a modest nurser be use I never nurse in public. Both kids were totally distractable do e do it always in the car or sometimes even a toliet stall. My sister thinks that is hilarious because my family is really pro breast feeding and I could nurse at the table during thanksgiving and no one would blink an eye.

I just wanted to tell you that I found thus age to be difficult and things can change. At 16m my dd us actually much more easygoing and eager to nurse then she was. I dot wait for nursing cues. Just take her in back when it is time. And persist.