Crying at the Breast

I'm just looking for some ideas as to what could be going on with my 11 week old. The ladies I've asked IRL said this never happened with their Bubs.

Over the past two or so weeks my baby has become increasingly fussy. That's okay, out of character, but okay. But what doesn't seem normal is that he is fussy at the breast. Well, more than fussy. He asks to be fed, and we start to nurse. After a few minutes he starts to get restless and kick his legs, then he gets intense. He cries out, he bites down on the nipple, thrashes his little head from side to side, arches his back, pushes with his legs. He goes all red and looks like he's in pain. I take him off and sit him up, and his cry turns from a 'pain' cry to a 'hungry' cry so I put him back again - only to repeat the process.

If he was a spitty baby I would suspect reflux, but he isn't. It's rare that anything comes up, and when it does it isn't all that much.

We were sick two weeks ago, so at first I just thought that he was fussy because he was a bit unwell and that perhaps my supply was not up to scratch because I was unwell. But we are both fit and healthy now and after a feed I can still express milk - so my supply is good.

I called Nursing Mothers today to ask for advice and I got a really nice lady. She has given me some great advice, judging by the questions she asked me I think she has is sussed. She hypothesised that I had a really abundant supply for the first few weeks (and I did) and that now that my supply has levelled out, coupled with being sick, Matt gets a bit frustrated because the milk doesn't just fall into his mouth. Matt is learning to nurse like an older baby now. Granted, the milk still falls into his mouth during the initial let down.

jgonz said:

I'm so glad you talked to someone today!

When I read your first post I thought of a few other things:
I was going to ask you if you'd eaten anything different lately, that might be giving him gas? Or if he's drooling more and could be starting to teeth? A couple of my babies' necks were out and it hurt to be in a nursing position until they got a chiropractic adjustment, so I usually bring that up too... There is also the possibility of "silent" reflux, where the baby has the acidy stuff irritating the esophagus/opening to the stomach without the spitting up/puking all the time. Abel had some silent reflux for the first 3 months, but it seemed to disappear overnight when he hit his 3 month growth spurt.

Click to expand...

Thanks jgonz


The mother I spoke to also asked those questions and made those suggestions. I don't think he is teething because he has been like this for more than a fortnight and no teeth are beginning to erupt.

My mother thinks it's reflux as many babies in our family have had reflux. If the tips I received from the mother I spoke to today don't help I'm going to ask my GP for a referral to have him checked for it.

But the more I think about it the more I think that her suggestions will work. Angels girl, she suggested that I move him from breast to breast each time he cries and make sure I keep up my frequent nursing. But the main thing I think is perseverance. She was so encouraging. I asked her about your suggestion of breast refusal and she said it's definitely not breast refusal. Thank God! We would have worked through it, but that would have been awful.