Nighttime comfort sucking

[gcgirl]

DS is seven weeks old, so I've been feeding on demand and trying to learn all his cues, etc. (BTW I'm terrible about the whole "you'll learn to distinguish his cries" business - I still feel clueless.) Anyway, at night, usually starting around 8 PM, he gets fussy and wants to suck, suck, suck. I've been letting him, but the probem is he starts comfort sucking for hours on end, and he uses a lazy latch so he's only sucking the nipple. He has a great latch otherwise, but at this time when I break the seal and relatch properly, he just pulls away until only the nipple is in his mouth. I've tried accomodating this, but my nipples have now been sore for two weeks and I worry that they'll get worse. I think it's just nighttime fussiness that makes him want to do this, although I'm equally sure he's getting some sustenance because I drip milk whenever he pulls off (or I pull him off). So I'm at a loss. Do I let him keep sucking and just relatch him constantly, or do I let him fuss and cry in my arms until he tires out? If I make him stop sucking and just hold him, he does act like he wants food: he bangs his head against my chest and makes tongue thrusts while saying "uh uh uh." But is it a food thing or a comfort thing? I don't know, and it's driving me crazy. I don't want to deprive my baby, but my nipples are paying the price. Help. Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

[EdnaMarie]

If he's rooting at seven weeks, then I think he definitely needs to nurse, for whatever reason. Comfort nursing at seven weeks is still helping you establish your supply and is biologically necessary. However he does need to latch on properly. I guess letting him keep sucking and constantly re-latch him sounds like the best solution to me, unless someone knows how to train him on a latch. Especially because of the poor latch, I wouldn't recommend a binky, but then, mine did not have that particular issue.

Have you tried giving him your finger to suck just to see what he does?

Good luck. I hope others who have more similar experiences can help.

[valkyrina]

nak
Our guys did this for a couple of months, where they just wanted to nurse for like 5 hours in the evenings. At the time, I had a yeast infection AND a staph infection (though I didn't know it), and I just couldn't do it because of the pain. It was awful. So we let them suck on fingers, and I nursed them as much as I could, but there was a lot of screaming in our house in the evenings.

But please don't put up with a bad latch! If your skin gets broken, you are opening yourself up (no pun intended) for a really nasty infection! So my advice would be to nurse as much as you can and keep relatching him properly, and let him suck on fingers when you are too sore. hth!

ps: it got sooooo much better for us at about 3 months. there is an end to the dinnertime rage!

[frickchen]

I seem to remember this happening with DD1 and what worked for us was wearing her in the sling. It helped calm her down while maintaining closeness.

Also, the milk that spills when you unlatch him could just be what's in his mouth that he hasn't swallowed, so I wouldn't necessarily say he's hungry if he isn't swallowing

Sounds like you're doing a great job--hang in there it will get easier!

[alegna]

The night time nurseathon is very normal Not fun. But normal

I would agree with pps and keep correcting his latch but keep him on the breast as long as he's interested.

good luck!

-Angela

[kristen1978]

nak

yup, normal. probably ramping up your supply. i'd relatch and treat the soreness with homeopathic arnica (orally) and even a cold pack. the arnica can take up to 2 weeks to help, but i found that then it really really helped!