Trouble with breastfeeding

[Clasik VH]

I have a 5 month old and breastfeeding has been fine up until the last week or so. Every time she feeds she latches fine and starts great and then the whole time I am feeding her she keeps pulling herself off and crying and then latching back on again.
I try not to get frustrated as I know that she will pick up on that and make it worse.
Please any advice would be great as I dont want to give up just yet I am not ready.

[~clover~]

Does she seem sick at all? Any fevers?
My DS was doing this when he had an ear infection at about the same age as swallowing hurt his ears

[Clasik VH]

Well I am unwell at the moment and am trying my hardest not to pass it to her. Should i take her to the doctors? She can be a little warm sometimes. Its so hard to figure things out when they cant tell you a thing.

[~clover~]

Might be a good idea. It can be a bit hard for you to tell. He can look in & see if she's got a sore throat too.
I had no idea with DS. I felt horrible when they told me after 3 days wondering what on earth was wrong!
Then they can give you some antibiotics if they are needed.

[Clasik VH]

Thanks so much for that yeah I will probably feel the same if thats the case poor love but I can definately tell that she hasnt been herself! SHes soooo smiley all the time but she hasnt been like that as much. You have helped alot thanks again.

[~clover~]

Good luck

[onthefly]

Yeah, she could just be sick or uncomfortable. Or sometimes at that age they go through a fussy stage/growth spurt too.
Hope you're feeling better soon - and remember that you're passing along your lovely antibodies to her

[mbear]

Just wanted to say...ive had the shocker of all shocker nights the past two nights (H waking every 1.5-2 hrs......). This morning i noticed he had a blocked nose. Poor little fella has a cold....and does the same your bub is doing - pulls off and on again. Im just surviving...knowing it will soon pass. Hope it does for you too.

[tenar]

My DD is 5 months, and she is also having "problems" with the breastfeeding. That is, she's so distracted by the rest of the world that she doesn't really want to feed, especially during the day. So she sucks for about 10 seconds, then pulls off to peer around. Sometimes she doesn't even want to suck at all, and just cries when I hold her across my lap in her feeding position.

Now I am fairly sure that there is nothing wrong. Almost all of the babies in my parents' group are doing similar things. It seems to go with the age, and their new level of interest in the world around.

Maybe there's nothing wrong with your baby either, just a developmental stage.

Whatever it is, I hope it passes soon.

[Clasik VH]

Thanks everyone for the advice I took her to the doctors and she is not sick thank goodness for that and there is nothing wrong with her. So Im gussing it is a fussy stage and yes she is a bit of a curious one haha! But it also could be a bit to do with the pill am on it and have been for a couple of weeks so the taste could be a bit different for her!

[onthefly]

Ah yes - lots of possible reasons!
Hope it passes soon and very glad to hear she's not sick also.

[MantaRay]

Yes, the pill can change the taste of your milk. That's most likely it.

Is it the mini-pill or combined pill? The combined pill is not recommended during bfing as it can really affect your milk supply - which would also explain the behaviour. The mini pill can also affect supply but not as much - you might just need to feed more frequently for a few days to build it up again.

If after a few days of frequent feeding she is still not drinking well, you might need to consider stopping the pill and talking to a HP about other contraception options.