4 Month Old Cranky When Breastfeeding

My daughter did the EXACT same thing. It was because she was in the very early stages of teething. It passes so don't worry.

My baby used to do that when I had eaten something they didn't agree with earlier, such as spicy food or onions, peppers, etc...

Sounds like you are seeing her personality. Just be patient and get ready to help her face the world as a strong woman.

Have you checked to see if you have milk. When I hit the 4 month mark my hormone levels changed and my milk flow slowed to a crawl. Not sure why, but I had to start supplementing because I would only get a couple of ounces at a time when I pumped. Just a thought. If she was teething the sucking would feel good on her gums if anything I would think. Hope you get things figured out. : ) Oh just one more thing, my daughter got something got Herpangina a couple of months ago and I thought she was teething because she cried when she ate and she would drool, but it was because her throat hurt. If you can, check out her throat with a flashlight and see if you see anything. It causes lesions and little blisters and it is very painful for them. She was worse in the morning and at night too.

This definitely sounds like teething. I know it seems early but my daughter got her first teeth at 3 months old an we went through the same thing. It's like they are so hungry but once they really latch on it hurts them. I know that I used the teething tablets and those worked great. Good Luck!

my first thought was "i wonder what she ate for dinner the night before". if you ate something out of the ordinary that was spicy or garlic-y, your baby might not like the taste. but then i read the other posts and it sounds like it could very likely be reflux OR teething. the good news is you'll know pretty quickly if it's reflux (by implementing her suggestions about positioning) or if it's what you ate (your baby will go back to normal when the offending food leaves your system). to find out if the fussiness is a result of teething, rub a little baby anbesol on her gums.
i feel for you...a crying baby that won't eat can be soooo stressful. hang in there!!

They go through stages. At one point you can read, talk on the phone, check email as you nurse, then a few weeks later every mouse click or page turn will make them unlatch and get fussy. Sometimes you can nurse while others are in the room, other times you'll find yourself needing to be alone in a dim room. When their top teeth come in, nursing kind of hurts, the suction is uncomfortable. Just persevere, it will let up soon. GOOD JOB on doing what's BEST for your child!! Remember they know what they need, may be more or less hungry at times, go with it.

My fist thought was your milk supply is low. If you pump for five minutes after every feeding on both sides, you will increase your milk supply quickly. I went to a lactation consultant in a group setting at St. Joseph's mother-baby assessment center. They diagnosed one girl with mastitus, two with thrush, one with acid-reflux... they know what they are doing - plus they will weigh you daughter before and after to see how much milk she is taking in which clues you in to your milk supply. Good luck and congratulations on your little one.

My daughter went on a "nursing strike" when she was a little younger than your daughter is now. I finally determined that it was due to some raw garlic I had eaten earlier that day. Could there be something that you consumed that was making your milk unsavory for her?

Nursing can be a pain, but it's so worth it! If your baby is still taking a little bit, keep at it. I'm sure she'll normalize her eating schedule soon. If she's sleeping, she's obviously getting enough to eat to keep her satisfied.

Good luck!

If you're feeding on demand, I wouldn't worry. My daughter liked (and still likes) to power nurse in the mornings and evenings, and just doesn't seem that interested in nursing during the day. As long as you baby is growing and thriving, all is well.

I like this website for nursing info:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/index.asp

Congratulations on becoming a mother!

Hello M.! There can be so many reasons for this situation and I advise that you go to a lactation consultant. We went to the Pump Connection in Tarzana 818/225-9101. I was pretty boggled by my nurser. As a newborn he would only eat for 5 minutes and then would cry, which made nursing stressful...further complicating our situation. I contemplated formula because of suggestions that I may not be producing enough. After our consultation with the lactation specialist, I found out that my son drank approx. three ounces of milk in 5 minutes, which made him a super sucker!!! He was crying because he was full an I was trying to push my breasts on him for more. We found this support completely worthwhile!!!

Kiki

My guess would be that she is teething. When my daughter was working on her first two teeth, she would get fussy after nursing for a few minutes (I think it has something to do with pressure building up after sucking for a few minutes). That would also make sense with sucking the thumb more and I think another symptom is that some babies do poop more.

Hi,
Deja vu! That's exactly what my youngest child was doing (at roughly the same age) when she was diagnosed with acid reflux. The addition of a simple medicine to her diet cured the symptoms fast. (It mixes with breast milk in a bottle, easy-peasy.)

Turned out, my baby was feeding to try to soothe the pain in her throat and stomach -- to no avail! She was frustrated and upset because any number of things had occured: the pain wouldn't subside, her tummy was too full to continue feeding, she was hungry but the pain wouldn't let her continue... you get the idea. How rotten did I feel when it clicked -- it was exactly what my last baby had endured and we chalked it up to gas, teething, colic, my diet, foul mood, you name it! Poor angel! She'd cry herself into exhaustion, konk out and then wake up with the same cranky mood -- little did I know she was in pain as well as hungry.

Does your baby prefer to be held on your shoulder rather than cradled horizontally? Does she fuss when she has to lay down after a feed? These things can also tell you if acid is creeping up her throat. With reflux, gravity is not her ally unless she's vertical. Positions that cause gravity to pull stomach contents away from the throat are going to be more comfortable for her.

Do see a lactation specialist, but take her to your pediatrician first and rule out acid reflux -- it's a terrible thing to suffer with unnecessarily.

If she does have reflux, the doctor will explain sleeping positions that will help her to cope better. The medicine will help almost immediately -- truly. It's a simple thing to treat and it hasn't held any of my kids back a bit.

Good luck and give your little one a big cuddle from all us 'reflux moms!'
:-)

My daughter is 7 months and only nurses about 6 minutes total a feeding. She's been that way since she was 3 months. Are you waking her up to feed her? If so she probably is ready to start sleeping longer stretches through the night and is none to happy about being woken from her slumber. Every baby is different, but it sounds like she needs to stretch her feedings all together. From what I've read and have been told she should go 3 to 4 hours between feedings and that at 4 months they have the capacity to sleep through the night. My daughter doesn't, but I have friends babies who've slept through the night at 4 weeks and 6 weeks.
Best of luck,
S.

Hello, M.,

Yes, I believe she could be teething. My daughter did at four months as well. Clove oil over her gums works wonderfully.

My very best,

T.

It sounds to me like she is getting enough to eat even with only sipping early in the morning.

With my secondborn,(and I have been nursing 1 for 3.5 yrs and 2 for 23 months) he would wake up like yours in the early hours and nurse for a bit and then go back to sleep. And until he turned 3 months he nursed 12 times a day, all day and night, power nurses. At 3 months he literally doubled his size. Major growth spurt!

If your daughter doesn't want to nurse, don't force her to, she'll only get mad. She is trying to tell you she needs sleep. She does not need to nurse every 2 ours. The feeding will change over time. So just try to trust in her ans yourself. As long as she is pooping and peeing and gaining weight I wouldn't worry. Keep up the good work!!!

Get her checked for acid reflux. There are a couple medicines out there that help. My son is on Prevacid and it has worked wonders. You can also try "Gripe Water" sold over the counter at most pharmacies...we got it at Walgreens...it is all natural herbal remedy that soothes the tummy...great stuff! Watch what you are eating too...caffiene, chocolate, citrus, and some tomato based foods can make reflux worse.

Sounds like classic signs of teething to me. If her mouth hurts it is hard to nurse, and if she can't get her food, of course she's going to be cranky! Try numbing her mouth either with ice, a damp washcloth that you've chilled in the freezer, or some orajel before nursing. Or if there are no teeth starting to show yet, just try rubbing her gums all over with a washcloth. My daughter went through the same thing. Good luck!

M.,

It is hard to say, but at 4 months old, I would have her doctor take a quick look to make sure there is not any type of infection....especially ears!

Good Luck

M.,

This sounds like Acid Reflux. I would speak to your Dr. and try Zantac. Both my children had refulx and it took us until my daughter was 6 monhts old to discover. If she was teething this would last all day or periods of the day. Because this is isolated to feeding should tell you something else is going on. Your milk supply would not leave her crying. They do out grow this but it is very painful.

I had a lactation (sp?) specialist from UNR come down and she said she had "never seen anything like this" with my daughter.

With my second, I cut out all Dairy in my diet and that helped him right away.

Regards,
H.

Without reading the other replies, I would say your milk supply is down. Drink lots more water.... and pump to get the flow back up to par.

Souds like the early signs of teething. Give her some teething tablets, and see if it helps.

hi-
sorry to hear your problem. my 6mo old did something similar a few months ago and he was arching his back and screaming crying when i breastfed him.
turns out it was reflux he was experiencing. it is super uncomfortable and painful for babies. so, i altered my diet (took out spicy foods, dairy and chocolate - so sad, but true) and our ped. gave us infant antacid drops.
it really helped.
good luck!

It may be something you ate. My first son refused to breast feed after I ate anything with onions in it - spaghetti sauce really set him off. It took some time to figure out what it was that he didn't like, but if you've ever tried you own breast milk, you may notice it tastes different almost every single feeding. I know it sounds gross, but my pediatrician told me to do this and that's when I realized it was the onions - they really made it taste funky. :(
Good luck, I'm sure it's just a phase.

I am not sure if you have read the Dr Sears Breastfeeding book or not however it is VERY helpful. This sounds like a typical "nursing strike". Many people think that they may not have enough milk or the child is weaning themselves when really it is a nursing strike that is very normal from time to time. My son had this a little bit and we just needed to slow down and be home a little more, and I brought him in my bed to try nursing in a frequent and relaxed way. after two weeks every thing was back to normal. I really suggest any nursing mother read the Dr Sears Breastfeeding book written by dr Sears and his wife Martha. The book has helped me tremendously. You can also go to their web site at askdoctorsears.com. I hope that this helps and hang in there nursing just gets easier and easier as they get older however there are the hard times and I hope your done with this soon.

I had this happen too and I thought it was teeth and was enlightened by another mother that it was GAS. I could always sooth my 3 month old son with the breast and he was always an eager eater. Like clockwork he would have these awful crying sessions, even after burbs. The reason is that their stomache is developing and they may need some help extracting the gas. Try knees to tummy (holding for 10 count) or the football hold. My son now loves the hold so much he goes to sleep in that position.

I had the same issue with my 4 month old. I saw a lactation consultant who observed this behavior while I nursed. She thought the issues were teething, reflux and overactive let-down. You may not have a low milk supply as others have been suggesting. It could be just the opposite - too much milk coming out too fast.

My son is now almost 5 months and he's settled down a bit. I focus on remaining calm and talking him thru it. We sometimes take breaks for 5-10 minutes and try nursing again.

I would suspect teething which can cause fussiness, loose stools and a runny nose, along with a loss of appetite sometimes. If it continues for more than a couple of days, though, I'd call her doctor.

Hey M., I'm thinking one of two things maybe whe she is nursing that you are not producing the flow of milk she is used too, or maybe something ate, is souring your milk, or giving it a flavor that she does not like. ne of my daycare parents, when ever she ate fish, the baby did not want to nuse, and when she did she would get sick, another one of my parents had the same probllem if she ate spicy food. I never breast feed so I'm just guessing by what a couple of my daycare parent experienced. J.