2 month old pulling off - ouch!

[~pi]

My 2 month old has developed a habit of pulling off the breast and wanting to latch back on right away. He does this over and over. He's loves fast flow and doesn't do this when my breasts are very full, so I'm guessing he's looking for another let-down? He's having plenty of wet and dirty dipes and gaining weight like crazy, so I know he's getting enough. I do not have OALD.

I wouldn't mind except that (a) it hurts! and (b) I'm a grad student and am planning to take him to a few seminars soon and while I don't think any of them would give me a hard time about it, I really don't feel like flashing my colleagues and supervisors.

How can I encourage him to stay on the breast?

[Quirky]

Have you tried breast compressions to trigger another letdown to give him the faster flow he wants? Have you tried switching sides to give him a fuller breast to try?

Also, have you tried nursing him in a sling or a wrap so that if he pulls off, it's a little more contained and discreet? That might help with the flashing issue if he keeps this habit up.

[Attached Mama]

anytime my dd did something that hurt i would tell her and she would have to wait about 30 seconds or so b4 going back on. you could try that. he is prob a little young to understand and if it just resulted in crying i wouldn't do it. but for example, dd would bite now and then around maybe 4 mos. I would say "ouch" firmly and "that hurts mama" "mama milk is going bye bye now" and even put her down for a minute. less than a minute later i would nurse her again, but she got the message before too long due to the interruption.

DD is pretty persistent so this didn't bother her too much. I'm sure it might not work with some baby's. You do'nt want to make nursing a negative experience for baby of course, but then again, I think it's important to teach a baby to be gentle too.

Listen to your baby's cues, but try to set some sort of limitations so that he can't hurt you.

[~pi]

Thanks for the suggestions! I tried switching breasts and compressions and both helped. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to manage those in a seminar, but I suppose I'll get used to it and the sling will help keep me from flashing everyone.

I have tried ending the nursing session, but I don't think he gets it and it just upsets him, but I'll keep that in mind for when he's older.

[mezzaluna]

i'm not sure if this is the case for your baby, but around 3 weeks old my DS started pulling off the breast and squirming, and worst of all he would bite down with his gums first before trying to pull off. turns out he was gassy.

try taking him off and burping him and then offering again. he may want to continue nursing but feel uncomfortable because of gas. this can also happen if they need to pee or poop - they don't quite know what to do with themselves when they want to nurse but don't want to soil the nest either.