I am losing the battle...

So my one sweet LO, who still latches strongly when she wants to, has slowly shunned away from breastfeeding. She takes 5 oz of EBM in a bottle about 5 times a day and breastfeeds 1 feeding, usually in the middle of the night. I try other times a day but after about 5 minutes she makes it clear that she is done. A few minutes later she will down a bottle in less than 10 minutes. Do I need to keep trying if I am hoping to tandem feed or can I just turn to bottle for now and try again in a month or so? Recommendations? If we go to bottle only I am prepared for the pumping, but does anyone know if I can drop the pump session in the middle of the night? Right now I am pumping 5-6 times a day to keep up with her taking in 5 oz a feed. She was my reflux gal and that is over, but she has never breastfed with enthusiasm again. We have been battling for a few weeks and I am getting tired.

 

Have you seen a lactation consultant? If you are worried about cost, it will be a tiny fraction of the cost of formula.

 

I think you should try not giving her the bottle, and put her back at the breast after the 5 minutes passes. Right now she's probably gotten used to the fast flow of the bottle, and doesn't like the breast. However, a 5 minute feed at this age is a little short, but not terrible. You can also switch the nipple flow on the bottle--are you using stage one or preemie?

What I'd worry about going over to pumping is that it's very time consuming, involves lots of dishes etc., and there is a very good chance you supply will not keep up. I know when my boys stopped nursing my supply dropped dramatically even though I was pumping.

I know it's hard when you have a reluctant nurser. One of my boys was like that

 

I have noticed that now that my milk supply has plateaued, I can no longer pump the same amounts. A big worry I have about switching to solely EBM for my LO. Maybe I will just say, okay, I am taking three days to only breastfeed (maybe this weekend when I can stay in). Is it cruel to think she may do it once she gets hungry enough? When I breastfeed her even three times a day I can get my supply well back.

 

I do go to a weekly lactation meeting. They have given me some tips I am trying. I think getting rid of the bottle completely is probably the best shot I guess.

 

I agree with LC meeting. Supply can dip around 4 months for several reasons (IE: AF on the way, the pump gets less than the baby so more bottles isn't helping, babies become sort-of distracted, possibly eat less due to teething).

I would also suggest ditching the bottle and just nursing around the clock for a few days. Babies will not wean themselves at 4 months.

Hang in there. Let us know how you're doing.

 

In terms of the hunger, I'd just try to latch her again. Remember your breasts have a semi-infinite supply of milk; in other words they immediately start refilling after she nurses.

I never did a nursing marathon because I was way too claustrophobic for that, but I did gradually start getting my guys to the breast more once I got their latches worked out. I was nursing them like 5-6 times a day, and pumping 3 times. During that phase, which was from 3-6 months they got about one-2 bottles of EBM and 1 bottle of formula. I gradually worked up to that, so I think you could do that. What I worry about is that she's developed a bottle preference. I think mine did that around 8 months old, and unfortunately, I couldn't stop cold turkey with the bottles since I was working. Honestly, I don't think you have to totally cut the bottles, but she should nurse more than she gets a bottle.

 

Okay - I need to reply to this right now because I just spent 30 mins (which seemed like an eternity) trying to get her to latch and she got so mad and upset she had tears. Just for a test I offered the bottle and guess what, she took 5 oz! SHOOT! I am in trouble. How do I start to reintroduce? Do I let her get upset and hope to convince her? I thought I was going to get her to latch a couple of times like she was giving in but in the end she won out. This has just happened in the last couple of days - she has always went back and forth. I'm so mad at myself! I just got lazy because I could feed them at the same time if I used bottle and breast.

 

First of all, don't be too hard on yourself. :hug:

What's the exact problem when you try to latch? Is she rooting at all? Could you hand express or use EBM and put it on your nipple so she can taste it?

It isn't necessarily a bad thing if she's screaming because she may open up her mouth really wide, and you can sneak her on to the breast that way.

 

The problem is just getting her to agree to feed from the breast. She is actually a great latcher when she will agree to breastfeed. She shows no interest in nursing when I hold her - my other one is trying to get a bite 24 hours a day. I tried putting some on her lips to coax her. Just now when she was crying I put her on and I kept thinking she is going to give in and latch, but by the time she got so upset I thought I would go ahead and give her EBM and then seek some advice...from you! It is like she just decided in the past 2 days that she will not be breastfeeding at all. She started out breastfeeding flawlessly for about 3 1/2 weeks, but then had a problem feeding because my let down was so heavy and she was dealing with reflux, but that has changed. Maybe I will just have to take a breath and stick with it through a couple of crying fits hoping to force her into BFing again? So literally just keep putting it in her mouth? I don't want to label her, but she is pretty temperamental. She is also the one that went through reflux though, so I am a softy for her crying.

 

I'm so sorry you're going through this! I agree with pp's that it could be a number of things in addition to her getting used to the ease of the bottle...have you tried pushing on her gums to see if she is teething and possibly in pain? I'm not sure if it hurts any less to take a bottle, but I know teething made mine give me a hard time about nursing once in a while. You could also try one of the bottles like Breastflow that make it so they have to really suck hard to take the bottle. Maybe she'll see that the bottle isn't really that easy?

Are you trying to nurse her solo or tandem? I'm not sure which would work better, but I know when mine hit their first distracted phase, I had to nurse them individually sometimes in a dark quiet room. The weird thing is that now they hate nursing solo and will look around for the other until I get them both on the pillow for tandem. So I guess it could be a preference thing...maybe she only wants to do it one way? I doubt I helped at all, but I hope you find an answer soon!

 

It sounds to me like a nursing strike! http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html
Theres a link for some great info on nursing strikes. Read it in its entirety. I think it will give you some great suggestions!

 

My SIL syringe or cup fed during a nursing strike. The baby still got nutrition, but it was "fun" for the baby as no sucking/pacifying was involved. Maybe that could help her get over her bottle preference? If she wants milk from a nipple, it has to be yours.

 

Thank you so much!!! I was up very late last night reading all of this information and guess what? I breastfeed for the 5 a.m. feed and the 8 a.m. feed this morning!!! She was upset at first but I just kept rocking her next to my breast skin-to-skin like one of the articles suggested. Once she settled down she rooted and latched on..hee hee. She was a little more upset at the 8 a.m. feed because she was more awake but the same steps helped. I just read the latest post which echoed one of the articles - feeding her from a small cup rather than a bottle if she was refusing. I am prepared to do that - we are going bottleless for the weekend - that is my first small goal - after that I am going to try to go exclusive for the week before introducing maybe the bottle back for an evening feed. Thank you so so much to every one of you for your posts. I got 7 straight hours of sleep last night, took a walk this morning, and I could feel my milk filling in already after just two feeds with both girls. I am on a high!!!!! I will let you know Monday how the weekend goes.

 

Wow, that's great!!! Nursing strikes are really depressing. I'm glad she's back at the breast. Hopefully, you'll be able to cut down the bottles. You'll save yourself a load of time if you can tandem nurse them. I was able to do it from about months 3-6 (except when I was at work 2 days a week), and those were the best days of my breastfeeding career.

 

Update...

I have been nursing my LO for three solid days now! Thank you so much for all of your support and input. It is so awesome and to think I almost gave up. There is an issue still. She only nurses for 3-4 mins and then is done, but then I am feeding her every 90 mins it seems. Anyone ever deal with this and how did you try to encourage entire feeds? She is at the distracting stage...

 

Yay!!! Some babies are fast nursers but if you think she should feed a little longer you could try a few things:
1. nurse in a cool dark room
2. nurse without distraction (no tv, telephone etc)
3. a nursing necklace (this one is my favorite!) - get some beads/animal shapes etc the most colorful hidesous interesting things you can find and string them on a necklace. This will give your LO something to look at and play with while staying at your chest. It worked well for us when they got older too (like 8 months) and I didnt want them ripping the blanket off me and displaying me to the world.

 

Jess has some good suggestions. I just wanted to chime in and say that I'm so happy your DD is is nursing!! :yahoo: Keep up the good work!

 

It's really great to hear that things are improving. It can be so tough, can't it, and I can completely understand when you say that you are a softy for her crying as result of her reflux.

See now you are winning "the battle". Well done you for perservering :clapping: