Pinching and hitting breast when feeding

Hi

Has anyone else had an issue with their little one pinching and hitting the breast when they are feeding?

Over the last few days my 4 1/2 month old has has taken to pinching the breast that he is feeding from and then towards the end of the feed leaving go and hitting it. He is also kicking out with his feet into the other arm which is supporting him. He seems to keep sucking away so I am not sure if it is frustration or not at the supply or just a phase they go through? Before this he used just to lay his hand on the breast. It can be quite painful as his little fingers are quite strong and he really digs his nails in.

Any thoughts on what is happening and anything I can do to stop him would be great.

Cheers

My DD does this, not as bad anymore but she tries! I hold her hand or let her play with my necklace to try and stop her.

DD2 does this mainly when she's really tired, its so annoying!!! getting woken up in the middle of the night with a little fist punching me in the chest. its a bit funny though she swings her arm right back and gets DF and then swings through and gets me!
sorry no advice, will keep an eye on this thread though

i did get the hitting a little, now if he's tired he more waves his arm backwards & forwards but doesn't get me - i often give him one of those little snuggle blanket thingies to hold & he just waves that around. he still does the kicking though, not sure why. he also recently went through a phase of pulling the boob out of his mouth a bit, almost like he wants to control the flow. ouchies - thankfully he seems to be over that one.

sorry - no help really, just wanted to let you know that it's happened here too...and seemed to be a phase & dependent on things like tiredness, as skybie said

The thread title caught my attention, this happens to me with my 8 week old. Not too sure why it happens, it does look like tiredness could be the cause

Ah will have to watch out to see if tiredness is factor though shouldn't be really as he normally feeds after waking ???? Might try the snuggle blanket and see it that works when he tries it on.
I've tried holding his hand but he get bored with that ! Pinching seems to be much more fun - maybe its just a boy thing .............. though he better learn that the grown up girls won't like their boobies being pinched!! :lol:

Sadly, not a boy thing. Phoebe has advanced from pinching and hitting to yanking it out of my top whenever she wants it, with all those fingernails I am certain I trimmed... I think its more a case of something to do while feeding and not sleepy.. But when she is overtired and fighting sleep she will flail around and thump me...

my DD likes to slap my chest with her palm - makes a great *slap* lol
but even more annoying is when she tweaks my other nipple - she usually does that with her first morning feed. I read somewhere in another thread that it may be to get a stronger letdown? clever little ones!

That can be very painful. It could be tiredness, or maybe just an increased awareness of his senses and surroundings. Some mums find that a breastfeeding necklace helps give the baby something else to focus on. Otherwise, holding his hand might help. GL!

someone explained it to me as experts working their machines. Like they're trying to get out the last drops so the extra stimulation helps IYKWIM?....dunno how true it is....we shake the sauce bottle to get the last bits out...:dunno:

My DD2 did the pinching, punching, slapping thing too so it's not just a boy thing. However, she seems to have grown out of it now - thankfully - but it nearly ended her BF journey at 8 or 9 months as it was soooo painful.

The BF necklace is a good idea. I also found with DD2 that she did it when she wasn't actually that hungry so I stretched her feeds out a bit longer and she started to feed much better with less pinching, but she was a bit older than your DS.

I also have a mole in the centre of my chest and its right where she can see it... so when she is not twisting the boob in funny directions then she is trying to pull that off and it really hurts! They have all done it but Mr S gave it the best go and half ripped it off. I have been wanting to get it removed but never go the time.. Maybe the necklace will be a good alternative. Thanks again Ladies!

I'm not sure if you want to hear this, but my 16 month is STILL doing this - it's been over a year since he started it! I also hold his hand and encourage him to wrap his fingers around my thumb instead and this often works. I actually have limited feeling in my breasts now - the pinching doesn't bother me so much until he hits a spot he hasn't pinched before and then it hurts!! He used to grab handfuls of my breast skin and use it to pull me closer to him like my skin was fabric!!
Try the distraction with the hand holding and see if that makes a difference :) Good Luck!