distracted baby

Noah has been so distracted when eating lately!  He nurses really well for 4-5 minutes and then pops off and leans back admiring the view around him.  It is such a fight to get him to stay on for a good solid feed!  EVERYTHING is more exciting than food.  Dog!  Lamp!  Books!  Toys!  Chair!  Rug!  Blanket!  I’ve tried nursing him in a quiet and dark room.  I’ve tried putting a nursing cover over his head to block out the very exciting (not) stimuli.  Nothing works!

I can’t remember when it started which makes me think that it has been going on for a month at least.  Definitely makes nursing him feel like a chore, especially now that I am aware of his low weight I feel more pressure to make sure he gets in a good feed.  Because he hasn’t been nursing well, I now feel obligated to pump and then offer him some expressed milk/formula in a bottle – double (triple?) the work for me.  My biggest concern is that he will soon get more comfortable with the bottle and learn to wait for that since it is much easier for him to get the milk out of the bottle than out of the breast.  He nurses really well in the wee hours of the morning and then at night when he’s tired he is usually pretty good.

The good news is the lactation consultant said that she’d be worried if he wasn’t distracted at this age – guess it’s some sort of milestone in the baby’s development!  She said he’ll grow out of it eventually or will tire of the surroundings and focus back on the food – hope we don’t have to wait too long!