To figure out the cause it’s helpful to pay attention to when the fussy behavior happens, both during breastfeeding sessions and during the day.
During breastfeeding sessions:
✔️. If baby is fussy right when your milk is letting down (or immediately after), there’s a good chance that the fussy feeding is related to a fast let-down. Try doing laid-back-feeding or express some milk before the feed to slow down the flow.
✔️. If baby is fussy before let-down, or a few minutes into nursing (and a while after let-down), then baby may be impatient and fussing over the slow flow of the milk. Try doing breast-compression as soon as you notice baby start to get fussy.
✔️. Fussing at the end of a breastfeeding session (or what seems to be the end) may mean that baby needs to burp, or is ready to finish nursing, or just wants to suck (and doesn’t want to deal with a new let-down at this point), or wants to continue nursing on the other side.
During the day:
✔️ Try compiling a “cry-diary” where you document the fussy times and how long baby cries for – do this for at least 4-6days to see a pattern.
Written by: Sr. Madeleine de Swardt