Breastfeeding
arcook0307
member
Baby acts hungry but pulls away from breast
arcook0307
member
Baby cries and roots toward breast but AS SOON as I put it in her mouth she pushes me with her fists, stiffens her body and yanks her head back. I finally got so frustrated I gave her expressed milk in a bottle which she happily took. It's a slow flow nipple designed for breastfeeding babies so I don't know if it's the flow, nipple confusion or what?? Help...we are getting frustrated here. 
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Re: Baby acts hungry but pulls away from breast
My LO does this in the evenings when the letdown isn't as fast as he'd like. I continue to put him on the breast. After a couple of times, I take it away and he quickly realizes so after waiting a few seconds...he latches on.
He will also do this though when he is having trouble pooping. He latches on, sucks, pushes off trying to take my nipple with him but its like he's using it to help strain!
All of this! I know it's hard but try not to get frustrated & just keep offering the breast. If he's having an exceptionally hard time I squeeze the breast until a little comes out so he realizes the milk is there. That usually helps.
If it's instantaneous, it could be the opposite problem - your flow may be too fast. The idea of "nipple confusion" is that babies are picky about the speed of their milk. Too fast makes this just as frustrated as too little!
So if you put her on and she instantly flips out, it's probably coming out too fast for her - in which case express a little first (I use this to moisturize his skin and mine) and then offer the breast again.
If you put her on and she sucks a couple of times and then goes crazy, then it might be too slow. And then again you want to offer the breast and do some breast compressions to help speed it up for her.
Like pps have said, you want to keep offering the breast or you're just reinforcing the preference for the bottle's flow.
My DS does this as well. He is 2.5 weeks old and so far I've come to the conclusion that he has a gassy stomach. I usually try to burp him and then try again. Sometimes he'll nurse after and sometimes not. Wish I was more help! I'm ready for the newborn stage to be over!