4 Month Old Pulling Off & Crying

[mkyerby16]

Hello, hoping someone can give me some advice here. This is my 1st baby and my mom only breastfed me for a few weeks so I've been kind of lost in the breastfeeding world. We've had it figured out pretty well until about the past week or so. My LO just turned 4 months yesterday. Normal for him was to eat for about 10 mins on each side. No crying or issues except if I took to long getting to the other side. Lately though every single time we feed he latches on just fine and eats like normal for about 5 mins then pulls off and cries and won't latch back on. He does arch his back some during this time too, but I'm not sure if he's just arching away from my breast as I try to get him to latch back on or what. I'll then offer him the other side and he'll latch right back on and repeat the same process (eat for 5 mins on the new side then pulls off crying). Usually I can get him back on the original side and then he nurses for up to 15 more minutes (which is long for him) and seems fine after that... sometimes the crying continues.

I have no idea, but my thought is that maybe after the letdown my flow slows and he gets angry with the slower flow? Does that sound right?

Ever since he was 8 weeks when I went back to work he gets a few bottles of pumped breastmilk a week and has always taken them just fine and still is. Maybe he likes the bottle more now as he doesn't have to work as hard and it's a consistent flow? I wonder why the sudden change now though. It actually started with just the right breast every now and then a week or so ago, but for the past few days it's been both at every single feeding. I should mention that I believe he's already getting a tooth so I know not wanting to suck as hard with sore gums could be the issue too.

Sorry for writing so much, but I'm just not sure what I should do. I read about breast compression and tried that just today and it did seem to help maybe a tiny bit, but not much. My mom just keeps saying that she thinks he's "just done with breastfeeding." My DH thinks I need to start exclusively pumping and bottle feeding but that just seems like such a pain and I don't seem to be able to pump as much as he likes to eat. My goal was to BF for at least 6 months and then switch to formula if needed as I just don't think I could keep up the pumping, but DH doesn't want LO to have formula yet... he claims it's for his health but let's face it he just doesn't want to have to spend money on it yet!! Lol Advice? Thanks so much ladies!

 

[redneckhippy]

Has he had any trouble with latch before? Mine used to do that when his latch was bad. You can also try different positions. Now mine (5 months) does the off/on thing because he gets distracted. I make little clicking noises to try and get his attention but sometimes it takes a while. A 4 month old def isn't "done" with nursing. Could you see an LC or attend a LLL meeting?

 

[Wnt2beAMom]

I experience the same thing time to time with my son. I found this article really helpful.
https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/fussy-while-nursing/

 

[kajastarlight]

My little guy does this sometimes too. I think he gets impatient. I usually try to nurse him as long add he will but sometimes eventually supplement with expressed breast milk and then i cluster pump 10 min on 10 min off for at least an hour and sometimes an hour and a half

 

[noon_child]

With going back to work and feeding from one side only, it is possible your supply has slowly been dropping a little and he's getting frustrated at having to work to get it back up - especially if he is having a growth spurt too.

If he has just had a growth spurt and is longer than he used to be, it is worth checking whether you are holding him in a position which used to work for a newborn but, now he's bigger, doesn't put him nose to nipple so he's struggling to get a correct latch.