tugging while feeding

655 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by coolfiremom, Apr 4, 2006

shambhala

Discussion Starter · Mar 28, 2006

i have encountered a new (& painful) situation with my almost 7 week ds. he is a very efficient eater & about a week ago he started after letdown to bob his head all over the place taking my nipple along with him. (my dh says he his doing his stevie wonder impression) i have tried breast compressions, taking him off & burbing & then relatching, but he will just do the same thing, making my healing cracked nipples very sore. the only thing that seems to work is to put him to the other breast.

i am concerned he is only getting foremilk & not enough hindmilk which my midwife said is contributing to his occasional green poops & slower weight gain. it has been very frustrating as feedings were going very well. he has also been crankier during his awake time - not sure which came first.

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Quirky

· #2 · Mar 29, 2006

Hmmm. Do you maybe have overactive letdown and he is clamping down to try to control the flow? If he latches off, does milk squirt out?

If you think that might be the problem, you could pump/hand express a little just to trigger a letdown and let it spray into a burp cloth and let the flow slow down before latching him on. That way the firehose effect won't overwhelm him and he'll also get more hindmilk.

If that's not the problem, then maybe try a position change like the football hold where he can't bop around so much?

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KatWrangler

· #3 · Mar 29, 2006

I have the same problem! My daughter is also 7 weeks old. She will latch on and then pull off. But as she pulls off she scrapes her gums over my nipple. Tugs at it. It hurts!

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ellacy

· #4 · Mar 29, 2006

My dd did this for a few days & I think it was a way for her to increase my milk production. She's had 2 spurts of this behavior and it only lasted a few days each.

ellacy

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Drummer's Wife

· #5 · Mar 29, 2006

If he was doing it right before your milk letdown then I'd think it was because he was trying to hurry it up cause he's hungry but since he'd doing it after/during I would guess the heavy rush of milk makes it hard for him to adapt to swallowing it so quickly. I would try to hand express or pump a litte bit if possible until letdown and relieve some of the pressure then offer the breast. Maybe if he starts out getting a good amount he'll keep going and be able to finish one side completely. Good luck with it, he's still little and learning how to nurse

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anonymous4_20

· #6 · Mar 29, 2006

My DS does that when he's gassy or colicky. It's SO annoying--I know what you're going through.

I haven't figured out how to stop it or what causes it yet. A postition change like the PP said does help a bit. He goes in stages with it. I've found that sometimes he doesn't really need to nurse at that time. Sometimes I hand him off to daddy to distract him. He's usually very happy after about 20 seconds. I leave him with daddy long enough to get his mind off it (about 15 minutes or so) and when I try again he's usually much better.

It does hurt really bad, though. Use lots of Lansinoh!

DS favorite thing to do is to push off the arm of the recliner with his feet and take my nipple with him in his mouth. I call it the rocket ship.

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aimcar

· #7 · Mar 29, 2006

My ds is 8 weeks old and does the same thing. I do have an overactive letdown, so I have been taking him off right after letdown and catching the milk in a cloth diaper. Then I relatch him, and so far that seems to be helping with the head bopping nipple tugging.

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shambhala

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 1, 2006

i have tried taking him off as soon as he starts to tug & i do not think it is due to overactive letdown as he has slowed down on his swallowing & i have to do a few compressions to get milk flowing. could it be the opposite, in that he is frustrated that the milk is not flowing fast enough &/or he is 'emptying' the breast. if i switch him to the other breast he seems happy for another 5 minutes & then starts to tug again.

my concern is that he is not getting enough hindmilk & after i take him off the second breast he is still rooting around for more. any thoughts appreciated.
claudia

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anonymous4_20

· #9 · Apr 1, 2006

I wonder if he could be getting more efficient at getting out the milk. How long did he nurse for in the beginning? My DS used to take almost 60 minutes to nurse. When he started to be able to get done in 15 min., he got upset because he was used to a nice long snooze and cuddle with mama! He would tug because there was milk coming out when he just wanted to suck. It only took about a week or two for him to learn how to suck less vigorously so he could have his nap.

I hope somebody is able to help you more.

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coolfiremom

· #10 · Apr 4, 2006

I'm glad to see that other moms have this issue, too! My ds is 9 weeks old and does the nipple-tug thing, but he squirms all over the place while he is doing it. It drives me crazy because I feel like he's doing it because something hurts him. I thought maybe it was gas.

He doesn't do it all the time. Mostly in the evening and at night, which makes it difficult to get to sleep.

My first son, who is ten years old now, breezed through nursing.

Mom to Ren

: and big brother AJ

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