The experience of breastfeeding agitation often brings significant distress. Pregnancy appears to be a period of heightened vulnerability, with approximately one-third of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers reporting such symptoms. Some can even pinpoint the exact week when symptoms began, though individual variations exist. Mid-pregnancy emerges as a frequent onset phase, while symptoms may subside for some in late pregnancy. For others, this later stage intensifies the agitation.
Notably, agitation can develop in mothers nursing older children, even without a new pregnancy. In tandem nursing scenarios, symptoms often arise specifically during the older child’s feeds or when both siblings nurse together. Mothers practicing tandem nursing who later become pregnant face an elevated likelihood of experiencing this condition. Intriguingly, triggers may extend beyond pregnancy or tandem nursing, suggesting multifaceted contributing factors.
