4 month old DD will not stay focused

[MommaSeed]

Over the past several weeks, my DD seems to have really discovered the world around her and wants to look around while BF. I understand babies do this because they feel secure but my problem is when she comes off to explore something she is not opening her mouth, she sucks her way off. At what point do I need to try to keep her focus on BF? Is it possible to teach her to open her mouth when she comes off?

Thanks a bunch!

[DaryLLL]

What you might want to do is keep your finger near the corner of her mouth while nursing most of the time. Esp if you are out or in a less than boring place. When you feel her start to slide off, break suction, quick. this can hurt even worse if there are teeth involved. So, good to be pro-active.

[mom3]

I have found that with all three of my boys there are times that the only way to get them to nurse is to be in a quiet, darkened room they are familiar with. If they want to nurse when we are out, I find the quietest spot possible, usually in the car, and let them nurse at least enough to keep them satisfied until I can finish my errands and we can get home. Occasionally, nursing in a sling where they are all covered up will work. HTH

[sugarmoon]

yep. I'm a pretty brazen breast-feeder, but ironically, I end up going out to the car to nurse, since it is the only place boring enough (and sometimes it isn't!)

[sadie_sabot]

My 4 month dd is also getting into this, although it's not super bad. But if we're out and about she often won't even focus enough to latch on until she's really hungry and upset. i finally figured out how to nurse in the sling and that totally fixes it. i pull it up over her hed so she can't see anything, and she settles right in.:bf

[homebirthmama]

Yes, my experience is similar, we either find a dark quiet corner where it is pretty boring, or if it is a place where my ds would get distracted I keep my pinky nearby to break his latch before he sucks off my nipple. DaryLLL is right it gets really painful once teeth are involved.

[kerc]

my dd (4 mos) does this too!
saturday we were eating out and I finally had to take her into the bathroom, get her all situated and then use my sling to cover her up. sure enough she stopped peering around and nursed herself to sleep.