Fidgety baby while nursing

[mandapanda18]

Well mine got better, or I would not still be nursing this child! He was bad where he wouldn't let people talk to me, no tv, no distractions for about 4-6 weeks around 6 months old. He went back to his normal nursing self and has stayed that way, with the exception that now he points to my boob for milk :/

[purplecow0206]

I am RIGHT THERE with you. A CANNOT sit still, and I've resorted to letting her sort of sit in my lap, facing me, and nursing like that if that works for her. She's an acrobat when she's eating.

She'll latch, suck suck suck...look up at her hand twirling in the air...latch, suck suck suck, oh, what's Mommy reaching for over on the table?...latch, suck suck suck, grin at Mommy...wiggle, wiggle, latch, suck suck suck, etc.

The worst is when she's pretty much done, but not ready to be done. She'll latch for 2 seconds, come off and whine, latch for another few seconds, sit up in my lap and look over at whatever, rinse and repeat.

[soozy87]

When Z started doing that I put the newborn mittens on him to prevent the face pinching and scratching. He didn't like it but he wanted to eat more. One of my husband's ideas, actually.

[hilwithonelary]

DD was the most wiggly baby ever while nursing (and while bottle feeding, too). I gave up NIP because she just couldn't focus. I nursed in the car a lot.

[purplecow0206]

Jul 25, 2014 12:37:55 GMT -5 tulips said:

Welcome to nursing an older baby. X's antics picked up around 5-6 months and he was also sticking his fingers up my nose and in my mouth when we weaned.

He went through a pinchy phase, too. I think he was doing it for comfort. He'd kind of pinch/rub the underside of my upper arm while he nursed. The really, really sensitive skin in that area. He did the same thing to my boob, too.

This is the worst! The only thing that makes this easier is that she also does it to H when he's holding her sometimes.

[Stingyshark]

P has starting pinching and scratching; this morning I had red marks all over my chest! She is terrible on the R, she is a little more calm on the L.

[purplecow0206]

Jul 25, 2014 12:36:14 GMT -5 mekiakoo said:

E is constantly moving. It's nbd except when he nurses. He kicks hard, grabs my face, tries to push himself off by his feet, pinches me.

I've tried giving him something to hold, but he will just start shaking or pounding it against me or around him.

He's easily distracted too. Sometimes we need to take multiple breaks before he will actually eat. It gets draining sometimes.

Tell me I'm not the only one!

I find what works the best is having a long scarf on. It's in her line of sight, she can pull on it and play with, but it neither hurts me nor distracts her enough to keep her from nursing.

[simpsongal]

He likes to play w/the straps on my nursing tank. Other than that he flails quite a bit and pushes off on the chair/sofa arm.

THE WORST is when he clamps on my nipple and twists his head. OUCH!

[iamgrace]

Nursing Clare is like nursing a wild jackal.

[AHappierHour]

Sometimes I turn on the white noise app on my phone and that seems to help. I have noticed when he is tired he harder to feed. He's fighting the sleep. He also has become loud and will grunt or growl. Which my girls think is funny and they will come bug him.

[Ashley&Scott]

Jul 25, 2014 12:42:37 GMT -5 mekiakoo said:

It's not going to get better?!

It will get better. M doesn't fidget anymore & hasn't for quite some time

[Jalapeñomel]

Chew beads an Mom necklaces have been a lifesaver for me.

[Deleted]

DD will hold her lovey. Maybe try that?

[gibbinator]

Yeah it just sort of gets progressively more acrobatic... It was always when nursing that I realized Ds's fingernails needed clipping.

[matildasun]

A would pull my hair and stick her toes in my ears.
M would twist my other nipple with his fingers. It made me miss the hair pulling.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 25, 2014 13:42:36 GMT -5 mekiakoo said:

Jul 25, 2014 13:34:48 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Chew beads an Mom necklaces have been a lifesaver for me.

What is this? I'll have to check them out!

These are some of the ones I have.  My SIL gave them to me, and they work great.  D can grab on to them, pull, yank, whatever, and he still can stay focused on nursing (mostly), and he doesn't beat me up! I just got this one:

[eav2c]

The only way I was able to get my oldest to nurse during the fidgety stage is by side lay nursing. It worked!

[sporklemotion]

You are not alone. Fingers up the nose and hair pulling are popular here. I have tried stuffing a lovey in her hand, to mixed effect. I will try a necklace-- maybe that will help.
I joke that she is like a stoner-- munch, munch, munch-- ooh, look at the pretty cushion! Munch, munch, munch--- ooh, look at the cushion! Etc.
The worst is when I nurse her on the bed and a cat comes to visit. Then, all bets are off in terms of what she will want to do.

[sh10]

I don't have any advice, just commiseration. I tell DH we will just have to talk after DS is done eating. He now takes breaks and reaches for my face. I dread when he gets more coordination.

[disappointedkittens]

C is awful too! I have found this necklace immensely helpful. It worked much better than giving him something to hold for some reason
www.amazon.com/dp/B007N3KNHM/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1406322244&sr=1&keywords=jellystone+necklace

[timorousbeastie]

DD is exactly the same. Her latest favorite trick is tickling my armpit while nursing. I'm the world's most ticklish person ever, so this is not good!

[nonsenseabound]

I used necklaces for the few weeks my DS was doing this. However, he was more likly to just rest his hand on the top of my breast and randomly pinch.

[humpforfree]

This is after he moved his hand down from my nose.

[magpie]

I think that I posted something very similar when A was the same age. It was soooooo frustrating. I found that nursing in a dark/dim room without distractions helped (sadly, this meant that I had to stop playing around with my phone while nursing) to some extent. I also gave her a burp cloth to play with while nursing, which helped with the pinching and pulling because she had something to grab. I also had to make sure that she was actually hungry when we nursed. It got better, although we next went through a stage of biting/testing out her new teeth for a week or two. Now, she is pretty good and nurses efficiently and without too much messing around (as long as she is actually hungry...if I try to nurse her when she isn't super hungry, we go back to the annoying squirmy antics).

[mae141]

Jul 25, 2014 12:47:26 GMT -5 purplecow0206 said:

I am RIGHT THERE with you. A CANNOT sit still, and I've resorted to letting her sort of sit in my lap, facing me, and nursing like that if that works for her. She's an acrobat when she's eating.

She'll latch, suck suck suck...look up at her hand twirling in the air...latch, suck suck suck, oh, what's Mommy reaching for over on the table?...latch, suck suck suck, grin at Mommy...wiggle, wiggle, latch, suck suck suck, etc.

The worst is when she's pretty much done, but not ready to be done. She'll latch for 2 seconds, come off and whine, latch for another few seconds, sit up in my lap and look over at whatever, rinse and repeat.

Yes. All of this. Omg. 

Sometimes she'll cooperate with the sitting up facing me, but then she wants to rest her head on my chest, but my boob doesn't quite reach, so she lets go and gets mad. Usually I end up cradling her. 

She also stops every few seconds and wants to sit up straight. Then latches again for two seconds. Then sits up again. Then latches again. Over and over. I don't know how she's getting any milk. 

She also grunts and growls when she's on my boob. 

[MadamePresident]

Its hard nursing in that stage, but it does usually get better. Although my daughter is still obsessed with my hair. She loves to reach for it and even if I have it in a pony tail will grab at the back of my neck until she pulls some out.

Now though, I can tell her to stop doing things that annoy me or tell her when we are all done with milk.

[marshmallowhands]

My youngest has always been super distracted when eating. She'll suck enough to start a let-down then pull off and look around while my milk sprays everywhere.

When she was younger she had to be grabbing, flicking, pulling on my opposite nipple as she nursed. It hurt sooo ba but every time I tried to move her hand, cover my nipple or give her something else she'd unlatch and refuse to eat. So frustrating!

She grew out of that but now she bops from side to side every 2 minutes, puts her fingers in my nose, then mouth. We're close to weaning time.

[amaristella]

I feel like I'm still there. My boobs have bruises and scratches. I get pinched in that underarm area. I have to loop my elbow under his upper knee and hold his wrist with my hand. Then with the other arm I pin his bottom arm against my side and use that elbow to support his head between my boob and knee. Otherwise he may jerk his head back without unlatching. And the bottom leg is always free to wreak havoc. I tried experimenting with letting him have one arm free and I had fingers in my mouth and nose and he start punching himself in the head repeatedly.