Otis is refusing to nurse lately. He acts hungry, will suck for about two seconds and then get frustrated and stop. On both sides. Not all the time, but it's been a few times in the past couple days. I finally break down and give him a bottle and he'll suck down 8oz.
He is just five months and is teething, so I don't know if that's what it is, but it is really frustrating me! I do not want to give him formula. If I pump I don't get very much. I want to nurse him for seven more months at least!! What do I do?
Please help, I am hating every bottle I feed him, knowing I have milk flowing from me. He just isn't taking it.
Monday, December 2nd
5 years ago
9 comments:
Ive never experienced this so I dont know. However if you ask on a message board like diaper swappers I'm sure you will get some good advice. If you are on facebook, the leaky boob group is great too. heres their link:http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheLeakyBoob
Hang in there, you can get through this!!
My kids do this when they are teething sometimes - I think it makes their teeth hurt. Sometimes teething tablets help, and sometimes I resort to orajel.
I've also heard of kids doing this when they don't like something you ate, but that has never happened to me.
Good luck!!!
Do you have a local La Leche League group? If not, you may find it useful to visit their website as there is sure to be information on this very subject http://www.llli.org/.
You are doing such a wonderful thing by persisting in nursing your baby.
Keep pumping every time he refuses to keep your supply up. He's probably just uncomfortable from teething and irritable, so he's refusing. What about different positions? Will he nurse if you lay down with him in bed maybe? He has to suck harder to get your milk than he does on a bottle, and the sucking can hurt when they are teething.
William started to quit at 5 months. We made it to 6 months with off and on nursing and bottles, but by 6 months, he was done with me. It wasn't teeth either, like I had suspected was the problem for him... And just as soon as he gave me the proverbial finger, I started to run out of milk and could fit back into shirts again. I would have gladly nursed him longer, but it just happened that 5-6 months was it for us.
Well rounded is a good local resource of doulas and midwives. Holistic moms network also has nursing groups. Try your best but DO NOT beat yourself up about it!! Babies are people and sometimes make choices you don't like. I just about killed myself trying to get Isabel to nurse and doing everything possible from herbs to SNS to cranial sacral therapy. She said forget it and I should have listened sooner. Call me if you need to talk.
Like others have said, getting the let down can be hard work for a teething bubba.
Try some oral paracetamol about 20 mins before he is due a feed and see if that helps.
I also found switching positions made things easier on both of us. Emily went through a phase of only nursing if she was a wrap and I was standing - it was kinda a pain but we did get through it.
You are doing a great job, and with both of mine I found that as long as I kept offering they eventually saw the light!
I had that happen with Fi. It actually ended up being an ear infection.
Could you try pumping until you let down and then seeing if he will latch? Maybe if it is teeth or ears then he wouldn't have to work so hard those times that he refuses.
Stick with it, he'll probably figure it out. You've done awesome making it so far!
There is a great blog post with some amazing tips at a blog called "happy mama, happy baby". I can't link to it from my phone, but if you google "make your boobs a happy place", it comes up as first on the list (I didn't look beyond that - I dread to think!). I think the main advice is to pump, pump, pump to keep up your supply, so that it's not hard work for him when he does want to try again. Nursing strikes aren't desperatly uncommon, and they can be overcome - best of luck - thinking of you.
Angie
Post a Comment