After seven weeks of succesful nursing of my second child, all of a sudden she won't nurse much. She nursed very lightly night before last and in the am. While I was putting my oldest down for her nap, my mother fed her some expressed milk that I had because one side became engorged a few days ago. After that she didn't really want to nurse. I had to feed her formula last night because I didn't have any other milk. Over night she woke as usual to eat but ate for five minute before just playing and flirting with me. I expressed some milk and she drank it. WHAT DO I DO? I would much prefer to nurse her than pump milk.
I contacted LLL and found them very helpful. I am not using a bottle and trying to encourage her to eat more, even when it doesn't seem she is hungry. Thanks for everyone's kind and encouraging advice!
like they all said. No bottle! No formula!! Skin to skin. Pump so supply stays up. And I know its hard but try to relax. Baby will eat....call LaLeche
Get rid of the formula! You and your baby have everything you need. Get back to nursing. Nurse whenever she wants to. If she has an off today, dont worry about it. As long as her has wet and poopy diapers she is fine.
Good for you, that you want to do what is best for your baby. Way to go!!
I agree with the other mamas. Stop giving her a bottle right now! You may have a rough day or two with a fussy baby but I guarantee that is the route of your problem and it CAN be fixed. If you can take a little nursing vacation with the baby. Curl up in your bed with just your nursing bra and with a diaper only baby and spend the whole day (or two) skin to skin. Offer the breast as much as possible. Do not offer any artificial nipples as this time which means no pacifier if she is normally given one. If you have to supplement make sure you pump and offer the milk by cup, spoon or eye dropper. This is just a tiny little road bump in your nursing relationship and if you just stop all bottles right now and stay determined you can get past this. Then in a few weeks you can try to reintroduce the bottle but make sure you are using the slow flow nipples and do a little research into a breastfeeding friendly bottle. I personally used the playtex drop-ins system when I worked one day a week when my daughter was small but I know there are other systems out there as well. Also, try and find your local la leche league or contact a lactation consultant (or both!). They are both GREAT resources to have at your disposal. www.kellymom.com is also an amazing resource for breastfeeding moms. Good luck mama! You are doing a great thing for your little girl and pushing past this will be worth it in the end!
She may be annoyed with working to get your milk down. With a bottle it's all right there and flowing fast. Try pumping a little for a few mins till your milk lets down and then nurse her. You'll get her back don't worry.
STOP giving her a bottle! If you continue to offer the breast, she will most likely start to latch again. IF you feel you must give her milk another way, do it out of a cup. (Yes, a little messy but not the easy drink that a bottle would give.)
I'm so sorry for you. This happened to me when my baby was 4 months old and it was awful. Contact your local la leche league leaders as people have said -- they really are great. And as hard as it is, don't give your baby a bottle but instead feed her when she is hungry with a spoon or medicine dropper. Take warm baths with your baby and offer the breast in the bath. Try nursing her at night when she is still asleep -- with my baby, even though she wouldn't nurse when she was awake, I could pick her up asleep and she would latch right on. Hang in there.
She may have just finished a growth spurt. My now one year old started crying when I tried bf him around that age. I just kept offering it to him. Sometimes I'd wait a little longer between feedings. I'd freeze the milk I pumped and offer him the breast when I thought he would eat. It wasn't long before he was back to wanting to bf as usual. Good luck!
Get in contact with La Leche League! They are free and they can advise the best way to preserve your nursing relationship with your daughter. Google LLL or La Leche League. You can get your daughter back to nursing from you.
I would contact your local LaLeche League and speak with them about this situation. How often do you feed her? On demand, or regularly scheduled feedings? I breastfed each of my 5 children with an on demand schedule and it seemed to work well. This suggestion might sound odd, but have you tried
skin to skin contact, i.e. taking her clothes off and leaving the diaper on, and you take off your top? This has worked for me when a wee one would have trouble nursing. I am wondering if there is a sensitivity or allergy to your laundry detergent, or soap you use, or deodorant? Just throwing these out as possibilities. Please post back and let us know if anything works out for you.
Blessings, K. in NY
She's confused with the change of nipples. You can either use a nursing shield when you nurse or let her cry a while. Once she takes the breast again, you'll have to stick to that or you start all over again.
Stop Pumping and only offer the breast. Offer it every hour if you have to. Have someone watch your other child and spend the entire day working on re-establishing that nursing relationship, if you're able. Bottles are MUCH easier for a baby to get milk from than a breast. Plus, trying to nurse all day will increase your milk supply. Best wishes!!
I agree with the others, don't give her a bottle!!! It might take a couple of days but she will want it again. My first son and now my 6 month old baby never took a bottle, and believe me I tried. My middle son was the same, but we had to go out of town and he stayed with my mom. It took her 4 days of feeding him with a medicine dropper before he took the bottle. But when I came back from my trip, he did not want me anymore. He, unfortunately, stopped nursing at that time. But your baby is so little, I think you can get her back on the breast. On the plus side, this could be a good time to get her sleeping thru the night!
I would not give her any more bottles for a while. Keep offering the breast, she will take it when she's hungry enough. Remember, their stomachs are so tiny at this point. It doesn't take much to fill her up. Most babies nurse a lot, but it's more because they need to suck, they don't get tons of milk after the first few minutes anyway. You may have an oversupply of milk as well. You should try block nursing: only feed her on one side per feeding, and continue on that side anytime she wants to nurse within a 4-hour period. Then switch to the other breast for 4 hours. This has helped me a lot.
Best wishes to you, and congratulations on your new little princess!!! Kudos to you for being set on breastfeeding--it can be difficult, but you will get through it!!!!!!
consult with a lactation consultant, but by all means keep nursing her. And keep pumping in order to keep up your supply if she's slowed down. You can freeze the milk for later.
I can't imagine she is on a nursing strike at this age. Just keep offering. Her schedule may have changed a bit....my son started going 9 hours in between feedings at that age (at night), so that's not uncommon.
Just hang in, do not give her formula. Breastmilk is best. Just keep offering and stop the bottle for now. ONce you've established nursing again, you can reintroduce the bottle if you need to for going to work or whatever.
Offer, offer, offer. It sounded like she had established nursing up until then. Some babies like the bottle because it's easier....I never had kids like that though..lol!
Good luck....she does want to breastfeed, she's just off her schedule right now. Hang in.
