nearly 3 months..fussing during feeds?

[deemum]

my dd is 11 weeks and three days ago she started to sleep through the night but over the last day or two i've noticed an increasing fussyness at the breast, she's also really easily distracted and doesn't seem to always be hungry after three hours. last night she reverted to waking at 4.30ish tried to settle with dummy but ended up feeding and she seemed to be hungry. then i had to wake her at 7 and she wasn't hungry enough for much. tried to top up around 8.20 to get her through nap but she woke at 9.10. kept her off till almost 10, she seemed hungry this time but again the feed didn't take long and she fussed when i tried to put her back on where she used to be happy to nurse away. she then fell asleep at 10.30. i'm afraid this is going to throw her all off. Should I try leaving her a little longer before feeds? she seems to be dribbling and spitting up a bit more too.

[Samuel's mum]

Here are a few random thoughts from me:

My first thought is that coincidentally timed with the nights of sleeping through perhaps she's not quite herself at the moment or teething (She would be early for teething but it does happen - dribbling connected to that?).

One other general possibility is that she is getting a much more efficient feeder. (The 'jump' can sometimes appear quite sudden) Feeds could be taking a lot less time and perhaps you are interpreting this as her 'taking less' or not being as hungry? That could also be why she's resisting going back on. Or when you do get her back on she's then spitting up afterwards as she's overfeeding? If that's the case - she might be ready for longer intervals.


I would give it a few more days of sticking with 3 hours as she's quite young to have longer intervals and she's just lost the night feed the last few nights. Then if she still isn't seeming hungry after 3 hours consider a pop to the doctors to rule out ear infections etc and then consider extending the intervals between feeds a little and watch what happens. Some babies do naturally have longer intervals at that age but I just wouldn't try that first. I think there's something on the EASY board about signs of being ready to move beyond 3 hours but of course it's not just about feeding but also awake time etc.

Remember we all have off days or even weeks - it doesn't mean things won't be back on track really soon. Don't panic. Even if you have one day of things 'off' I'm sure things will sort themselves out. You just want to avoid a situation where she doesn't eat in the day and wants to make up for it at night. At night just try and settle in other ways first and give the minimum feed she will take.

One more thing - keep an eye on wet diapers - around 6 in 24 hours

[Scrapbooker]

wow, it must be an 11 week thing...my DD is 11 1/2 weeks and we have been doing the same thing for the past week.  She started eating for fewer minutes at a time and sleeping through the night, so I thought it might be time to change to a 3 1/2 hour EASY.  (I posted last week).  The replies I got were the same about not being old enough just yet.  What ended up happening so far is that I had her weighed at Dr and she is doing well (to rule out weight loss/no gain) so I think she is eating enough-it's just taking her shorter time to get there.  I am finding that she does need all the sleep though, so it was suggested to me to post my schedule and then to adjust my A time, etc.  Her eating seems to have picked back up this week.  I guess like the opposite of a growth spurt or something, she just wasn't as hungry-so maybe just wasn't growing as much that week.  But, this week is better and with adjusted A time, she is sleeping better.  We stuck with the 3 hour EASY and I think we will.  If she doesn't get enough sleep (cried through most of S time, etc.), I don't mind extending her a bit though every once in a while-throws off schedule a bit if I don't make it up in the next 3 hour session, but I think she does better in the end-many may not agree with this part.  Anyway, hang in there.

[Scrapbooker]

oops, I forgot to mention about the disinterest in feeding...I put my hand over her eyes or pick her up to be burped, etc. to get her eyes off whatever she''s staring at and try again and sometimes I'll get another 5 minutes out of her.  When I don't, I assume she's just not hungry.  She also bobs on and off at times (most times) and doesn't want to be "put" back on.  I try to be patient and just include the time she's "playing" into our play time and don't worry about it.  Obviously, this could become a bad habit, but once in a while and through a phase I think is o.k.

[Seans mommy]

This is my first time on this board and I'm so surprised that the first post I read was yours.  My DS will be 12 weeks tomorrow and we're going through the same exact thing.  He slept through the night for two nights in a row, became fussy while feeding, and didn't seem to be eating much.  Unfortunately, he is now back to only sleeping five hours before waking up and is absolutely ravenous when I feed him.  He is still incredibly fussy during the day though when eating and has been falling asleep while eating.  Once woken he cries and cries and doesn't want to be put back on right away but when he finally latches on he acts as if he hasn't eaten anything for hours!  There must be some sort of connection between sleeping through the night and becoming fussy on the breast.  Wonder what it is.....................

[deemum]

it is so strange that we are all having such similar experiences, and kind of reassuring! scrapbooker, i started doing like you and giving my lo a minute up burping etc to distract her, they really lock on to something. wonder if its some kind of transition for them, she's in much better form the days she sleeps the night then it cycles around again to a hungry night. hope she adjusts soon! ps: im 'sean's mommy' too, he's 8 now

[Scrapbooker]

For my DD, I think I have found that the "ravenous" eating part is more NNS (non-nutritive sucking) and bahavioral than anything else.  I don't hear too much swallowing past maybe once each time she relatches.  I'll let her do it a few times, but once I see too much of a pattern, I pick her up and try to relax her a bit, then try again.  I think she is usually about done eating when this is happening but not always.  I just try to relax hera bit as she seems quite frantic and doesn't know what to do.

[heartforall260]

   I'm having the same problem too... my LO is 11 1/2 weeks.  This is so frustrating... You'd think that if it's a growth spurt she'd want to eat more not less. 

[sarah w]

my little girl is now 17 weeks, and she started being fussy during feeds about the same time, although not accompanied by sleeping through the night !  I thought it might help if I shared some of my thoughts about this issue .....

I think around this age she became far more opinionated, and decided she did not like my slow-feed side when she was hungry (I think many women have a side which is faster and one that is slower).  We now do that side second, except her dreamfeed and 4am feed, when she does not seem to mind.

She also became more aware of what was going on around her and very distractable, so we now feed somewhere quiet and peaceful - even her Dad's voice is enough to distract her and she will pull off the nipple (sometimes flinging her head in the direction of the sound while still latched on - ouch!). 

She also started feeding so much more efficiently at the same time and that really confused me - I kept trying to put her back on, worried she was not reaching the "hind milk" and that just frustrated her.  30 minute feed sessions seemed to go to 10 minutes overnight.  But I have had her weight checked and also tried expressing after these short feeds and she really does seem to be finishing in a very short time.

I also moved her to 3.5 or even 4 hours between feeds, which improved things: I don't think she was always hungry when I was feeding her and was then very frustrated that she was being expected to feed when she did not want too.  However, I also found feeding her when she was really hungry was not ideal becuase then she was really tense.  I have started being very vigilant for the little poking out of her tongue which signals she is hungry and feeding her then.  despite moving to 3.5 or 4 hours between feeds, I kept her sleep times almost the same at first, because she still needs to sleep after 90 mins or so of being awake, although this is continuing to gradually lengthen and we are now at 4 months moving onto 4 hour easy.

She does still bob on and off, but I have learnt to go with the flow and not fight it too much.  I try to put her back on a few times and then stop if she seems frustrated.  Sometimes I try her again after half an hour, and occasionally she will take a bit more then.  I find she is most relaxed if she feeds immediately after a nap when still a bit sleepy, or just before a nap for the same reason.  Its most difficult in a noisy cafe or when there is lots of noise around or in a strange place.  Dream feed and night feed are fine.

hope this helps

Sarah

[deemum]

thanks, Sarah, this helps alot, i will try waiting for her hunger signals, i think my dd has also started to feed more efficently and it is a combination of these factors.
Dee

[heartforall260]

My dd (12 weeks) has always been an efficient eater but crying at the breast after the initial let down (sometimes before) was really confusing... then I realized that this is around the time for a growth spurt.  Yesterday I tried feeding her every 2 1/2 hours (even if she wasn't acting super hungry), and shock of all shocks, she didn't cry once during a single feeding.  I think it helped boost my milk supply too.  anyway, she still slept great during the night.  I think I might do this for one more day and then get her back onto the 3hr. easy and see how she does.

Please let us know how your dd does... good luck!

~ Joy

[deemum]

hi joy,
I did this today too! great minds eh? My dd still grumbled a little towards the end of some feeds but seemed happier overall. she had a growth spurt sopt on 6 weeks too so thats probably part of it. hope she is just more effiecent, these 10 min feeds are freaking me out!
Dee

[heartforall260]

Dee,
from everything I've read, 10 min is really all they need if they're seriously eating and not just playing.  My Lc said that they get to the hind milk within about 4-5 minutes. Every now and then Eva does a 5 min feed, but the doctor said that her weight gain is even a little above norm.  She was born 8lb 4oz and at 9 weeks was 11lb 5oz.  So I try not to worry about the clock to much.  It is hard for me to tell some times if she's hungry or tired, which can be frustrating.      Hang in there! 

~ Joy

[deemum]

thanks joy!
Dee

[binxyboo]

The best advice really is "Watch your baby and not the clock". They can become more efficient and go longer between feeds so suddenly that it may appear as though there is a problem, but the problems will only arise if you try to make a child feed when they are not ready and keep going if they are full. From my experience anyway