Hi all!

My baby is just over 16 weeks and I have managed to breast feed her even after a troubled start of Mastitis, thrush and really really sore cracked nipples. It feels like for the first 6 weeks i did nothing but feed. at one point i nearly lost the supply in one breast due to her not liking it when I had Mastistis in it. However, the last 10 weeks have been great, she sleeps 10+ hours at night without waking. the trouble is I only ever feel really full in the morning and on first feed she empties both breasts. Over the last couple of days on subsequent feeds she really pulls her head back whilst sucking...to the point that it feels like she will pull my nipple off lets go then latches back on, and doesn't seem to settle into feeding on either breast. to be honest I am wondering if my milk supply is failing?
She generally feeds every 3 hours - 5 feeds a day, no night feeds
Today her nappies have not been as wet as usual. In addition she is a thumb sucker and she doesn't seem to cry when she gets hungry.
3 hours her last feed yesterday, I expressed about 3 fl ozs - all I could get and gave that to her after her last feed tonight and she took all of it and settled off to sleep as normal.

I put on 3 stone during pregnancy and although i haven't dieted I am about 5lbs away from my pre pregnancy weight...i have made an extra effort to eat more the past 2 days as over last couple of weeks I have lost nearly 4lb a week.

I would really appreciate peoples ideas as to why she is 'messing around' on the nipple and any solutions, plus ways of increasing milk supply, thank you in advance! x

Sounds like you had a tough start but well done, you're doing a fantastic job!

Breasts feeling less full isn't a sign of low milk supply. It happens to everyone after a few weeks or months once the milk supply has regulated. Expressing isn't a good measure of milk supply either. I've never been able to express more than 2 oz in one go but my milk supply is fine.

The pulling back thing sounds normal to me too. Tabitha started doing it at about the same age. Now she often looks right around the room whilst pulling my nipple with her, ouch! It can also be a bit embarrassing out and about when she lets go! She just likes to be curious while she waits for the letdown. Sometimes she also gets a bit frustrated waiting. As long as baby is reasonably contented I don't think you need to worry.

Thank you For your response! Does she only do it before the let down? In the last couple of weeks I only feel the let down on the first feed of the day (before that I felt it every feed and really strong)...and she pulls from beginning to end of feed, more so on the breast that has a lesser supply!

She does it most before the letdown, but she does do it at other times too if something is interesting her. On a few occasions I have ended up spraying milk everywhere whilst squealing for her to pay attention and feed!

Something for me to look forward to then!! I don't mind her moving around but it's making me quite sore now and if i take her off before she's ready she lets out a really high pitched squeal...

My DS did this for about 4 weeks and I was sooo worried that he I was losing my supply, then last week he fed constantly and started feeding though the night again, and yesterday and today back to his normal routine but I he's stopped fussing persevere, feed more regularly, that definately did the trick for us!

Thank you! I am going to express again tonight to hopefully fool my body into thinking she is waking again for a night feed and start producing more. After the first 6 weeks where all she wanted to do was suckle, she found her thumb and is a very happy content baby, she spends most of the day awake having short naps of about twenty minutes every 3 hours or so and sleeps so well at night, lately i have had to wake her in the morning for her feed so i can continue with the normal routine for the rest of the family.

Definitely a development thing. Around 4 months they are so interested in everything that is going on around them - my LO would latch on and off for 2-3 mins and then just stop feeding. It does get better, but my LO is still so distractible. All you can do is try and feed in a quiet, dark room to minimise stimulation x

My 10 week old does this at the end of a feed and she is generally half asleep, boy it hurts. But if I take her off she goes nuts!

sounds like you are doing a great job hon! and she sounds very content so i wouldnt worry that she isnt getting enough, they definately start to get more fidgety while feeding the older they get! i try and put a muslin across Kittys face when she feeds when we are out just so she cant see whats going on around her! a chap in Starbucks sitting next to us almost had my milk in his latte when she suddenly pulled off the other day

xxx