7 wk old starting to be fussy during BF

All, I've been breast feeding DS/DD pretty much since home from the hospital with no issues. I am still using nipple shields as they had a painful latch in the hospital and have been occasionally trying to wean them from using them. I tandem feed them almost all the time during the day, and they get EBM bottles sometimes at night so I can sleep. They are almost 8 weeks old. DD usually takes 20 min to BF, DS 30 min, and I have to stop him.

Starting a week or so ago, DD will latch on fine at the beginning of a session but would pull off around 5-10 minutes. I would try to put her back on and she would get really fussy. Sometimes she would continue to suck and but seem super frustrated while sucking and stay very fussy. I would then burp her, usually get a good couple burps, and as soon as I put her back down to feed (I do double football hold) she would get fussy as soon as the nipple came to her. I wondered if she was done eating but she usually would be sticking her tongue out like she's still hungry so I continued to try to feed her. Usually I would have to force her on the nipple and eventually she would relatch and continue eating. she is actually a pretty easy going baby and is rarely fussy, the only time seems to be in the middle of BF session.

what could be going on? Is it my letdown? Or is it she prefers the bottle? DS does not get fussy at all while feeding - he will eat anything that comes his way so no issues at all with him, just DD. Or is there something else wrong with her? Both twins had some congestion for a week, but that has been gone for several days and she shows no signs of being sick otherwise.

 

Actually, she could be silent refluxing. Pulling away is a classic sign and fussiness. 3 of mine had reflux and they all did what you are describing. YOu might want to take her to a lactation consultant and see what they think. They can watch while it's happening.

 

I should mention DD and DS have been on zantac for about a month. DS is a big spitter upper, DD is not. However we have a hard time getting DD to take her zantac. She doesn't like the taste so we put it in a small bottle with 15 ml EBM but she still won't take it that much. We also just upped their dose yesterday to catch up with their weight, so maybe that will help her.

She doesn't get fussy with bottles, but could that be because she is much more upright during bottle feeding? With the tandem feeding she is in football hold so she is lying almost flat, just a small incline so could the acid being coming back up easier?

 

You could try a different hold and see if she does better. But since she has been diagnosed with reflux already then you probably already have your answer. Have you ever tried blowing in her face to get her to swallow the meds? That would do it for my guys. You have to be fast so they don't have time to spit it out.

 

Zantac is the most vile smelling/tasting medicine on earth. I don't know why they don't give it a more pleasant flavor. I too think it's the reflux, especially if they just adjusted her dosage. By the way, it doesn't work very well either, so you might be changing to a different medicine if it continues to not work.

 

Have you tried stopping the feed when she gets fussy & see how she does? She could very well be done. Once my milk came in, Emmett never nursed for more than 5-10 minutes, even as a newborn. If she's getting more efficient & your supply is regulating (all things that start to happen around 6 weeks), she could easily be finishing that quickly. :good:

 

I agree completely with this. I suspect very strongly that she's telling you that she is done. I struggled for weeks with my LO. He would fuss terribly during his feeds, after his feeds, etc. I didn't know what was wrong... was I making too much milk, not enough milk, did he not like nursing, did he like the shield/not like the shield? Whatever I did, he fussed during feeds. FINALLY, I realized that he was done. It only took him 5-10 minutes, but he was done. I was forcing him to nurse when he was done and tired. I just didn't think he could possibly finish so quickly, but he did/does. He has never nursed for more than 10, maybe 15 minutes max. Give it a test. She may very well be telling you that she's done.