Distracted Nurser
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| Wed, 10-11-2006 - 10:12am |
Hi!
I am getting a little worried and frustrated that my 6 month old (will be 7 months on 10/19) isn't getting enough milk. He nurses for about 5 mins on one side.. and than he can go 2 to 3 hours without wanting to nurse again, and when he does its another short session. He's in the 25% for weight for his age, the doc said he's fine but he's up a few times a night wanting to nurse also. I've tried taking him to a darkened room and keeping distractions to a minimum but that doesn't seem to work during the day? Is there anything else I should do?
Yesterday he nursed for 5 mins on one side and than downed a 6 oz bottle?? so he's obviously still hungry? I'm not sure if I need to pump exclusively? or just go to formula? or will this stage pass? He's been doing this since he turned 4 months old.
Any advice?
Thanks!
Nansen

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Hi there-
Oh, that distractible stage is so frustrating! ((HUGS)) Here's an article that might offer a few other things you could try: http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/distractible-baby.html
nurses for about 5 mins on one side.. and than he can go 2 to 3 hours without wanting to nurse again, and when he does its another short session. If he does this and has good diaper output (4 or more wets a day), he's getting plenty of milk, even with the short sessions.
Yesterday he nursed for 5 mins on one side and than downed a 6 oz bottle?? so he's obviously still hungry? Baby taking a bottle after nursing should NEVER be used to determine he was hungry. A bottle works much differently than a breast: When the bottle goes in the baby's mouth the mouth fills with milk, the baby is obligated to swallow and the action of swallowing initiates another suck. The suck again fills the mouth and the cycle repeats, giving an appearance of the baby "gulping the bottle down hungrily". Baby can't NOT drink the entire thing. Also, was it 6 ounces of breastmilk? If so, that is too much. A bottle of bm should be an ounce for each hour past the last feeding...if it had been 2 hours, 2 ounces would have been enough. 6 ounces would perhaps be right if it was formula, but I'm not actually familiar with that. Just want to point that out.
he's up a few times a night wanting to nurse also. This is totally normal at this stage...with all of the different developmental things happening, many babies wake multiple times
Just wanted to let you know that my DD will be 6 months tomorrow and she nurses a total of 5-7 minutes and only one side each feeding and she's in the 50% for weight for her age and seems perfectly happy.
As a matter of fact, if I try to feed her more, she just gets so mad at me. I think she's just an efficient/fast eater. Granted until my letdown, she gets so distracted and it drives me bonkers, but she never nurses for longer than 7 minutes unless she's really sleepy and feeling lazy....
Sounds like your little one is doing just fine! Hugs!
Hi
It's a stage and it will pass. I'd hold off on the bottle, tho. He's at the stage where he cld get very attached to the bottle cos it won't require that much of him to guzzle bottle as opposed to having to lie down on mummy's lap to nurse. It's not so much nipple confusion as possibly developing a preference for the bottle. And of course, if he downs a 6oz bottle he won't be asking to nurse again soon which won't do much for your supply and if supply does go down and slows down the flow he may not be patient enough to work for the milk as compared to the bottle which he only has to tip into his mouth. I hope you see what i'm getting at.
If he's wetting his diapers, pooping well, gaining and growing well, he's getting enough milk. As hard as it is, don't worry, he knows when he's hungry and will nurse when he wants to. I know it's hard, I've always been a little (ok, a lot) obssessive abt my babies' nursing/eating.
Yes, he's distractible now but there's no need to panic or stop nursing or to reach for the formula. With my dd, i too shoved the bottle at her cos i was worried abt her nursing. Turned out she loved the bottle more than nursing after a while and she day weaned (only left night nursing cos i refused to get a bottle in the middle of the night and she wanted the comfort of mama) before 1yo. With my ds, i knew better and we nursed right thru a very distractible time and we're still nursing now at 2yo.
Just keep nursing however you can, darkened room, nursing necklace, dream feeds ie nursing when half asleep - i did this a lot, dh wld rock him almost to sleep, then bring him to me to nurse. Also try nursing in a sling, wrap him up really tight next to you so he won't have anything to look at. This is especially good if you have to nurse outside. And keep offering to nurse. Don't give up on him just becos he doesn't want to nurse. It will pass. One day you'll realise he's nursing properly again or even asking to nurse. But it won't be exactly like before. He's definitely going to be nursing faster than before, they get more efficient and there may well be "drive by" nursings, ie 2-3mins, especially when they start crawling/toddling.
HTH!
Ee Lin
I'll let the other posters help out on some of the things you mention, but I wanted to share the *best* nursing position we found when dd hit the distractible stage. If I sat her on my lap straddled & let her nurse she would always nurse better b/c (I think) she had a much better time of being able to see the world around, so she didn't pull off as much.
That noted- she also became a very fast nurser by that age as well.
Kimberly with 4 y/o ds & 3 y/o dd
Thank you!!! That information was so helpful!
His diapers are fine.. he has lots of very wet diapers and regular bowel movements.
This is my first child, so I was just getting nervous about the weight issue.. my friends and sister formula feed and there babies are twice the size of my son.. I just want to make sure I'm giving him enough to eat..
My son is eating fruits mixed with oatmeal in the mornings and veggies mixed with rice cereal for dinner. Is it necessary to give any solids for lunch? I know breastmilk is the most important nutrition right now.
Hi there-
Definitely not...he's getting plenty of solids already. In fact, a bit much, but that's jmho. I wouldn't worry about offering a third 'meal' until closer to a year.
Here are a few solid 'schedules' put together by two Lactation Consultants.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html
http://www.mother-2-mother.com/samplemenus.htm
Both of these show 2 'meals' around 9 months or later. So, I would definitely hold steady where you're at, or even decrease the solids a bit. HTH :)
I've expressed concern to my doctor about my sons weight because he started out very high in the percentiles in weight and has slowly gone down through the months.. at the end of 3 months he started the short sessions and I'm thinking he just evened out? The doc is not concerned.. I being a first time parent get concerned about everything.
Thanks so much for the information!
Hi there-
It's very normal for a bf baby to slow down their weight gain. Dropping in percentile (while still gaining weight) is totally normal.
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