Advice needed.

[annamarie61]

My almost 3 month old baby has suddenly started having a little trouble breastfeeding. He has done fine until this point other than wanting to feed all the time. He is now more regular with his schedule and he seems more satisfied. About a week ago, he started this thing where after about 15 min he lets go and sort of plays at the breast. He will move his head back and forth and kind of keep grabbing back on without really sucking much. If I assume he is done and lay him down, he starts screaming and gets very upset. If I just wait a few minutes he will sometimes grab back on and suck for another 10 minutes. Once in a while, instead of grabbing back on he will start fussing a little and then spit up. My second thought about this is that he was just getting gas. I try to move him and burp him but this just seems to upset him more. Lately I have been just waiting it out and he will generally end up alright after done. The only other theory I have come up with is that he may be teething, does this sometimes cause babies to do this? I'm just looking for ideas of what may be causing him to stop in the middle before he is actually done and then have to latch back on. Thanks in advance for any tips.

[eniese]

He might also be comfort sucking. Usually most of the milk is gone after 15 min of sucking, so he might be using you as a human pacifier. The teething theory may also be correct. At this age, his awareness is increasing, so it could even be that he just gets distracted and decides to play around. If you use (or are open to using) a pacifier, you might offer that after he starts playing around. You also can train him not to play like that if he's still hungry by removing him and setting him down for a minute or two and then letting him finish. Usually a couple days of that and they settle back in.

[lismom2]

He may also just simply have a case of what I call the "looky-loos". Basically, it's what happens when your child starts to realize that there is a world going on around them and they gotta check it out, even when they're still hungry. My son stops what he's doing, pops off, looks around, sometimes fusses, and then goes back to business. My daughter used to try to take the nipple with her too (youch!!). Both kids have seemed to just grow out of it, and like many of the phases your baby will have, this too will pass...