8 Month Old VERY Distracted While Breastfeeding, Please Help!

Hi A.,
Congrats on breastfeeding so long!
At this age my son did the same thing. Its a phase, and can be very annoying for the mom when there is a never ending list of things to get done!
Don't worry though, it will pass. She's just learning and loving and LOVES to communicate and see whats going on. Just a little more patients will get you through it.
Remember, she's still SO brand new to this world and everything is amazing! :)
Good luck, you two will get through this for the better. :)

this is so common1 get a funky necklace that is long enoug hfor her to reach while nursing, or introduce a lovey for her to hold while nursing. My sons both got a blanket around this time to hold while nursing, and it was what they needed to rub whle nursing ot keep them from getting so distracted.

Its a phase, it will pass. She's not weaning, she's obviously not starving, just keep at it and she will be fine.

While you are ready to continue to breast feed for the first full year it sounds like your daugter is ready to graduate to the next step of sippy cups or bottles where she is more in control of situation. At this age she should already be eating some solid foods such as fruit and vegetables because it is very common for this situation to happen. Every child is different and while what we want is not necessarily what is the best for your child. I would feel lucky that you might be able to wean her without much difficulty.
Good Luck!

Don't give up. I had the same problem with my third child. The distraction technique by having things to play with, worked wonders. I talked extensively with La Lache league leaders and they told me that babies don't self wean before the age of 1. There is the exception for all of you moms that might have had one that did....but the general rule is that they don't. I persevered through it and now my 16 month old is a champ with nursing and loves it. I would call a La Lache league leader in your area if you need some support. I would not have gotten through it without them.

I understand what you are going through, I thought most of my breast feeding problems would disappear after my milk came in and they latched alright. But I was wrong.

I have twins that are 14 months old and they were majorly breastfed. At 6 months, one of them stopped latching because the bottle was easier for her and she was lazy. So at that point, their father and I, devoted ourselves and took the bottles away all together. She definitely went back to the breast when she was hungry. Make sure to try slow flow nipples.

Side note: (Which is weird and talk to your ped.s about it!!!) Try doing formula at her bottle feed. It tastes worse, but she gets what she needs, and then, in theory, she might really treasure that mommie milk.

At about 8 months, the girls would get so distracted while feeding. They would start poking each other in the face and ignore me all together. I would have to sit there for an hour. They would be on and off. I felt like a cow at the pasteurizing plant.

Anyway, good luck!!! You are doing a great job!!! Eight months of milk, that is awesome.

My 8 mo old daughter is the same way right now... I was at work earlier and she just kept unlatching... I was getting so frustrated because she's so distracted whenever she eats. I'm ready to throw the towel in... are you still sticking with it or have you stopped nursing? I don't remember my son going through this... it's miserable!

It is very typical for babies at this age to be distracted while nursing. My son was the same way and I nursed everywhere so had to be ready to cover up in a hurry :) They go through this phase and then stay quite focused. Keep it up. My goal was one year too (now at 3 1/2 years of steady nursing).

I agree with Kathy... and do this exact thing. My son is 7 1/2 months and is the exact same way! It is so so so frustrating and I too want to nurse to a year. I work part time so he does get bottles more often but LOVES to nurse when I come home, but if there is anything else going on it's on and off on and off with him... so just yesterday I started wearing a necklace that he could play with and not break. It isn't bright colored but it has different textures to it, some circle beads that are smooth some that are rough, some long beads and then just the chain links too, it's just metal, but it works AMAZING! yesterday he did so much better with nursing and staying latched longer and just stares and holds the necklace. It was so nice! If you google mommy necklace or facebook them they make some GREAT necklaces that don't look like they are just for nursing mama's! Good luck!

I understand that as moms we want to do whats best for our little ones and we have in our heads what that is and how it will go. But sometimes forcing the issue isn't the right thing for the child. It sounds like your child may be self weaning. I would certainly try some of the suggestions (fun necklaces, a toy to play with while nursing, cutting out a feeding, etc). But if those don't resolve the issue, don't be afraid to let your child dictate her own pace of development! Best of luck! :)

2 suggestions
1st: Put her down when she unlatches or fusses around. Not in a harsh way or anything, just say, "Oh I guess you don't want to eat." She will figure out that if she wants to stay at the breast, she better eat. She will not starve.
2nd: Try wearing a bright bead necklace that she can play with while she nurses. It might keep her attention focused on something she can do while she feeds rather than looking all around.

I had one of those! It is frustrating. You are on the right path by going somewhere quite to feed her (although probably boring for you!). The only suggestion I have is to lengthen the time between her nursings and nurse her before giving her any other foods. If she is really hungry, she may be less likely to mess around. Good luck!

Sounds to me as if your 8 month old is slowly weaning herself from breastfeeding. I know you want to continue to do this until she is 1, but the more stressed you get, the less likely you will be able to produce more milk and your child can sense your frustration! Kudos to you for making it this long! There are a lot of moms who want to BF as long as you have, but can't.
You might have to result to formula for the next four months.
Good luck!

this happened with one of my twins. I nursed them both exclusively but also at around 8 months one of them became much too interested in just about everything around him and wouldn't nurse. I ended up continuing to nurse the one boy and pump milk for the other. We gave it to him in a cup (sometimes with a straw). It was heartbreaking for me because I was not ready to give up nursing but it was more important he get the nutrition from the breast milk. Pumping was no picnic, but it might be easier with only one baby. We continued this system until they were 15 months old. My husband actually benefited from this because he was given more opportunity to feed the baby.

If you're getting frustrated, a cup or sippy might be the way to go. That way you both can still enjoy your time together. *sigh* they grow up too fast.

My daughter did the same thing at that age and has just recently weaned at 11 months because she just didn't have the patience for breastfeeding anymore (and I didn't want to fight with her any longer). At 8 months, I dropped down from 4 feedings to 3, cutting out the late afternoon feeding which was the biggest fight. She was eating solids 3x daily, 4-5 oz. each feeding with 2 cereal feedings and starting to really drink water from a sippy cup, so I just added an after-nap snack and she was fine. At her 9 month appointment, we talked to the doctor about supplementing her diet with whole milk/soy milk/rice milk and dropping another feeding because she was totally not interested and barely drinking anything after lunch/before nap. Her Ped gave us the go-ahead to start giving her whole milk in her sippy cups and to keep trying to nurse 2x daily. Well, she loved the whole milk, has upped her food intake to 5-6 oz 3x daily plus table foods and a snack and was barely drinking anything from me in the morning and before bed. I stopped bringing a bottle of breastmilk on the evenings we were out of the house and just brought her whole milk cup and she never missed my milk. Finally, last weekend, I just stopped offering her the breast and she was totally fine. I had wanted to breastfeed for a full year, but I read all her signals and she was just bored with it. I don't feel guilty or sad about it, just glad that she was so easy about it and proud of her for being such a big girl. Listen to the signals your daughter is giving you and talk to your Ped about what your options are. 8 months of Mommy's milk is a great job!Good luck!

I like the suggestions that Katy gave; I would try to approach it that way first. But I also agree completely with Cindy. Let this be the first of many lessons where as a parent, you cannot control every situation and that things don't always turn out the way you want. I had a hard time nursing my first -- he just wasn't "good at it". Broke my heart, but my daughter was a champ, although I had the same experience you are having at around 8 months. Keep pumping and she'll get the nutrients she needs. Good luck.