Help! Baby to excited to feed

[Akua]

My 5 month old son won't concentrate on his feed in the day if we are in a new or even vaguely interesting place. He will eat for a few seconds then break off crying and craning his neck to see what else is going on. He cries and cries until I sit him up, then he's perfectly happy. Sometimes I can force the nipple into his mouth and he will stay on for a little bit longer. It's getting so that he will only take a proper feed when we are alone in the bedroom in silence. I have to get him on to the bottle in the daytimes soon anyway because he's starting nursery. Has anybody got any ideas about what I should do in the meantime?

[kgmf123]

Hello,

My 5 month dd is just the same but she keeps stopping to smile at me. Are you demand feeding? Perhaps your ds isn't that hungry.

I'm digressing here but does demand feeding fit in with BW - I am demand feeding BTW but still seem to be following EASY schedule.

Sorry no real advice but you are not the only one with a baby that won't concentrate!

Kat x

[Akua]

Thanks, it's good to know I'm not alone. I'm not supposed to be demand feeding, but it's getting so hard to get him to take a feed that I end up just feeding him whenever he will concentrate long enough. I really need to get him back on track ready for nursery. I don't think that demand feeding is very consistent with BW but I'm no expert....

[NKmommy]

Hi!  I have no good advice, but just wanted to say that I've been there!  DS would pull off the breast at EVERY noise.  Dad walking in the room, air conditioner turning on, even bird flying by.     (I must say that he also had reflux and eating aversion, so that probably played a role in his distraction.)  But after a while, I did feed him in a quiet room.  As the months progressed, he seemed to be able to tolerate noise or movement during feedings.  hang in there!

[daisymelan]

I have to agree with Nathan's mommy.

I think almost every lo goes through it.  I knwo my ds was going through it pretty bad and I too had to go to a quiet room with out any kind of stimulation for him to get distracted.  I know it's a big pain, but it will pass.  The main thing is to ensure you're doing everything in your power to get him to nurse.

One lady just posted the other day about how she sings to her lo and the singing distracts the lo enough that she just is happy to sit and nurse.  Have you maybe tried a nursing necklace? 

But truly, I think time is the one thing that helps them move past this stage.

HTH

[jbepko]

We've all been there...they will eventually grow out of the stage. My LO was terrible in that respect about a month ago and he is slightly better now. I usually stop the nursing session and try again later.

[magicbelly]

This is a stage that hit me and every bf mum i know at exactly 5ths. i was at my wits end too. my lo is 7.5mths now and it is slightly better. they are becoming my intereted in their environment, touching, looking, sounds and much more engaging. the things i do to get through a feed:

1. sit them up to feed, sometimes try facing the toward you straddled.
2. feed as long as possible, put them down to play and feed again at intervals. get down on the floor with them in your lap to feed.
3. the quiet room didnt really work for me becasue there was still something she wanted to touch etc, i have found lying on my bed with her beside me keeps her attention a little longer.

it is a very time consuming to feed at this age, you need to be extra patient and know it does pass (somewhat). If all fails or you finally run out of patience i found in the end she still lasted to the next feed and usually fed that little bit better because she was hungrier. Finally, they do become more efficient suckers so you may be surprised how much your lo actually is getting.