Intermittent Fussing At Feeding Time...

[borderlinehippie]

Hi all, I'm new here.

I'm a proud mummy to a 9 week old boy. I'm breastfeeding and on the whole we are doing well... I say "on the whole" because he is gaining weight, he's generally a happy lil boy and he sleeps relatively well during the night (wakes up once or twice for feeds depending on what time I've put him to bed).

The problem we have is that every now and then he fusses during his feeds.

It can happen anywhere with feeds between 1-3 times a day. On the rare occasion we will get through the day with 0 fussing. It never happens overnight though. He feeds happily and goes back to sleep. (He wakes me--I don't dream feed.)

Currently, I am feeding every 3 hours. I haven't weighed him in a couple weeks but he'd be a little over the 5kg mark now. (Sorry, I'm Aussie--not sure what that is in ounces)

What happens when he fusses: I bring him to the breast and he takes a couple of sucks, sometimes he'll go on for 30-secs to a minute and then he pulls off and cries. Usually, he has a massive crying bout after that... and usually a few burps will happen then (and some more over the course of an hour or so) which makes me think he has indigestion... Sometimes loosening his nappy, popping him over my shoulder (and patting his back upwards) will calm him down. In the last week, if he has been carrying on like that, I will just skip that feed. Am I doing the right thing? Like, how do I know it's indigestion, and what if it's just that he's simply not hungry?

So, if it's due to not being hungry, am I feeding him too soon? Using last night as an example, I had fed him at 4:30pm and then I went to offer him a feed at 7pm (a little too soon after the last feed I know) and he cracked it/refused it and so I gathered he wasn't hungry and I put him to bed. He then slept until 10pm! That tells me he'd had enough from the 4:30pm feed to sustain him? Or not necessarily?

I guess I'm really frustrated because he will feed quite happily other times. He fed happily at 4am this morning and then again 7am but when I tried to feed him at 10, he fussed majorly. So I just skipped the feed... there were a few burps over the next hour... I just can't tell whether he's not hungry or whether it's digestive...

Am I reading too much into things?

Thanks for listening!

[borderlinehippie]

Have been doing some reading around the boards since I joined and I don't believe my problem is due to a fast let-down.

I have narrowed it down to 2 things: he gets upset when I offer a feed and he's not really that hungry... or he has mild reflux.

I will pay closer attention to it today, but it seems that he does not carry on in the way that I have described when he is RAVENOUS. Is that an insane observation? This means that if I stretch out the feeds to 4hrly, even 4.5 hours apart, he is majorly hungry by this point and happily feeds...

[NoelleChristine]

First, congratulations and welcome to the boards!

Overall it sounds like you and your DS are doing really well. 

When he fusses at feeds it sounds like it's kind of intermittent throughout the day, not just in the late afternoon, early evening time.  Is this right?  So, when he fusses like he does and you skip the feed, I'm assuming you wait a bit and then offer again...you're not waiting another 3 hours is what I'm getting at here right?  How does he take the feed then?

So, if it's due to not being hungry, am I feeding him too soon? Using last night as an example, I had fed him at 4:30pm and then I went to offer him a feed at 7pm (a little too soon after the last feed I know) and he cracked it/refused it and so I gathered he wasn't hungry and I put him to bed. He then slept until 10pm! That tells me he'd had enough from the 4:30pm feed to sustain him? Or not necessarily?

You'd think so since he did sleep till 10pm but as his age I'd probably would have woke him at 8:30 to feed especially since you're not doing the DF.  You really would want that 5 1/2 hour block of sleep to be more in the "bedtime" hours.  KWIM?

Also, personally, I think 4 to 4.5 hours apart for a 9 week old is too long.  If he's feeding every 3 hours now I'd move him to 3.5 hours and see how he does there.

[borderlinehippie]

Yep, it's intermittent throughout the day. Yes, I do wait a bit and offer again. The only time I let it go is if he's sleeping. When I offer later, he happily takes the feed.

Thanks for your reply. I think I just have to try to work out his hunger cues and offer him at 3 hrly mark and if he's not hungry, I'll try again in another 30 minutes. And so on...

[Lex444]

Hello - I'm a fellow Australian and have, at times, had the same problem with my baby.

For him, it was wind. My bebe couldn't eat when his stomach was windy, so feeds have often taken ages.

I would feed a little, burp him, feed some more, burp some more, etcetera. I also had a fast letdown, which was contributing to the wind. I also used Infacol/Mylicon. As he was putting on weight, I knew he was getting enough and I accepted the night feeds as they were and really watched him for cues. It's getting better as he gets older.

Dunno if this helps!

[NoelleChristine]

Thanks for your reply. I think I just have to try to work out his hunger cues and offer him at 3 hrly mark and if he's not hungry, I'll try again in another 30 minutes. And so on...

I think that sounds good.  You may find that he'll go longer between some feeds and shorter between others.