One Baby Won't Nurse All of a Sudden at 5 Mos Old

One of my 5 month old twins recently started jerking away after nursing for a few seconds and arches her back and cries. She'll latch on again, and jerk away, and this continues until she gives up. I have a very low milk supply, and have since day one, and the milk comes out slowly, so it's not choking her.

I always let each baby nurse one breast and then give bottles of formula, and we've done this since they came home from the NICU when they were one month old. I've started just pumping for this baby with the issue, but I'd like to get her back to nursing again. Nothing different is going on when she has her bottle and the other baby is nursing as usual.

I can tell from pumping that my low supply is getting even lower, so I'm thinking she's frustrated with how little milk comes out. She's also a weak suckler. I just don't understand why we're having this problem all of a sudden.

I'm on Reglan and fenugreek, but I'm not seeing much improvement. I pump/nurse 6-8 times/day and make about 12 oz per day, total. I hate that I make so little of their total intake, but I figure it's still worth the effort, and I enjoy doing it.

 

Sounds like a nursing strike! Read about it here Keep offering the breast to her, it might help to let the other baby get your milk flowing and then try putting her to the breast.

As for the low supply: 6-8x a day doesnt seem like enough. Are you pumping after each nursing session? or in-between? are they sleeping through the night? Are you going longer than 4-6 hours without expressing? Are you getting enough water? enough rest? calories?

 

Are you using a slow flow nipple on her bottles? If the bottles have a faster flow that the breast that could cause her to get upset with the slower flow when bf. The only other thing I can think of is a nursing strike due to teething pain or something along those lines. Is she teething? I would keep offering and pump when she refuses to nurse. I would also switch to a slow flow nipple if you are not using one already. I hope she comes around soon!

 

ditto Melissa, it sounds like she is preferring the bottle these days, which is understandable, the flow is constant and requires very little sucking, and she knows its coming after bfing every time.

Do you want to get where you are bfing more?

 

I would like to produce more milk, that's for sure. The babies started sleeping through the night about three weeks ago and I have too, so maybe that's the reason my supply is even lower. I've done two seven-day runs where I've pumped/nursed every two hours around the clock and that didn't improve my supply, so I've lost hope that I can every have a good supply.

I still use the Level 1 nipples, so that's not a problem.

Would you recommend that I pump after bfing each time? I haven't tried that scenario.

 

Ditto Kristi and Melissa and also consider that she may be teething...?

 

I read some articles that Jess linked me to and one suggested walking while nursing. That did the trick this morning! She's drooling a lot, so she might be getting ready to have a tooth erupt.

Thanks so much!

 

Oh glad I could help!! lets hope she keeps up the nursing

I would try pumping immediately after nursing while they are getting those bottles. Even if you dont get a drop, pump for 10 minutes after a nursing session. Eventually its going to tell your body make more

 

Update us when you get a chance! I'd like to know things are going better and how it was resolved!

 

I nursed successfully while walking and yesterday she was not happy nursing and I walked her some more and got her to nurse okay, but not great. I nursed her in the dark this morning just as she woke up before changing her diaper and she nursed great. That was another tip from an article, to nurse while they're very sleepy, and that worked. Now my other twin is pulling off frequently, so they might both be teething.

I have started pumping after nursing each time, so we'll see if that helps improve my output. Since I pump after nursing, I'm not getting a lot, but that is still additional milk so that's a positive.

Thanks for the advice!

 

It sounds like a pain reaction to me. I'd go ahead and give them Tylenol and see if they change their tune. Also, if they've been sick, an ear infection can cause them to pull back in pain.