When my baby Clarisse was 3 months old, her breastfeeding antics started to annoy me. Baby Clarisse would latch on, suck for a moment, turn around and look the other way. She would repeat this annoying action - nurse for a few seconds, pull away and either smile at me or check out whoever is talking in the room. Or get distracted by the slightest hint of sound or stray of lights from the TV. I warned my husband or whoever is in the room not to talk whenever I nurse baby Clarisse.

It is most frustrating when she fool arounds when my breast milk starts to let-down. My breast milk would drop onto her shirt and face. Her shirt would end up drenched in milk and I’d have to wipe her face afterwards.

Sometimes she would forget to let go before she turns around and it makes my nipple so painful when that happens. I have to keep telling my baby to drink her milk and gently push her head toward my breast until she wants no more.

When I’m out shopping, trying to feed baby Clarisse in the baby room is a hassle. You know, the usual baby room decor - colourful and bright wallpapers filled with cute images of flowers, animals and the lot. Baby room decorations are usually very attractive and distracting to a baby, Clarisse would keep staring at the wallpaper around her. I have never successfully breastfeed baby Clarisse in those fancy baby rooms. Not even once now that I think about it. I’d avoid baby rooms altogether if possible. I would not go for a baby room to nurse baby Clarisse. Instead, I just use a baby sling to nurse her whenever we’re in a shopping complex.

Babies aged two to six months are notorious to have this bad habit of pulling off the breast when distracted ever so slightly. It has something to do with their eyesight I read. When babies reaches their second month, their vision improves by quite a huge margin. They start to see things around them much more clearly. And with this sudden ability to see all the interesting things around them, it sends their curiosity working overtime. At the expense of their concentration come nursing time.

I’m also anticipating the next round of distractibility common in babies around eight to ten months. Which can lead mothers to think that her baby is trying to wean. But if your baby is younger than 12 months, its very unlikely she’s trying to self-wean.

If a baby is not nursing as much because of distractibility, you should offer your breast even when she doesn’t demand it. Bear with the inevitable longer nursing sessions. You could try to nurse more often during the night when there are less distractions around.

Another option would be holding your baby in different positions that makes it easier for them to look at things around them. If your baby is old enough, you may try having your baby sitting on your lap facing you, or standing up etc … but in my case, baby Clarisse just couldn’t get used to varying feeding positions.

I’ve known about these facts beforehand, but still, it gets on my nerves sometimes. Thank god it is just a passing developmental stage. But that doesn’t make it sound less of a nuisance. Once your baby gets a little older, she’ll find it easier to handle the distractions around her while breastfeeding at the same time.