Help! I've been dumped! Baby won't feed off the breast at all now :(

[JimmyChoo17]

hi

I have been so lucky with massively successful breastfeeding. Baby is 8weeks this Friday and been putting on about 8oz a week since birth he took to the breast himself and has been great!

BUT once breastfeeding was well past being established I started expressing milk for the odd trip out so would be giving say 1 bottle a day....I had random days where he would have more than 1 bottle but not like it was all day....he has a dummy which he has at night as he kept waking just to go on boob every few minutes but was a nightmare, I was a human dummy and we got no sleep at all. The dummy helped with nights and he doesn't keep it in and doesn't really suck on it well they seem to fall out so he's not stuck with one in the whole time and is quite content without one during the day and "dummies" on me much less....

Well at the beginning of the week he would cry with hunger but not latch on...I had to get him sucking on a dummy for say 10 seconds, remove it...then slot my nipple in! I tried leaving him but he would go on crying that painful crying where they sound like they are choking as they are so upset! I cant keep leaving him like that especially as doesnt seem to make him give in and take boob... The dummy trick, It was the only way to get him sucking on me.....well today he is refusing the breast completely. I have had to use expressed milk which I don't have a massive stock of and takes loads more from a bottle so am trying to express more but my supply has not caught up yet. But I don't want to stop breastfeeding him as I like the bonding and the ease too....is this something I can turn round? Has anyone had this? Had useless health visitor this week who just didn't care! I'm going to a breastfeeding drop I. Session on Friday but would love to know if others have had this and their experiences?

I was going to try him on a formula feed at night to see if would get him to go through the night but I'm reluctant to now seeing as he seems so disrupted already...hubby will just have to put up with his waking at night...but am concerned I may need to put him on some formula to meet his demand which is more than my stock! He is being treated for slight oral thrush but that's been ongoing for ages he has a couple of thrush White bits on palate that don't seem to be budging even with the gel..I don't think this has attributed to these problems tho.

Night times are my biggest worry as I can't think of anything worse than having to do bottles in the night. He has been feeding ok in the night but with some slight latching issues but he seems to get plenty, will see how tonight goes...

Help! :(

[Bert2e]

Are you being treated for thrush as well? If not you will be reinfecting him every time he feeds. There is a fab thrush leaflet on the Breastfeeding Network website. Thrush could be making his mouth sore and therefore not wanting to feed. Or he could be too used to feeding from a bottle / sucking on a dummy and not want to feed from the breast where he has to work harder to get the milk. You really do need to go to the drop in on Friday and talk to a bfc and work out a plan. In the mean time you may be able to get him to feed from the breast using a nipple shield to kind of hide the nipple and make it feel more like a bottle teat. Protect your supply by feeding / expressing at least 8 times in a 24 hr period (including at least once at night).

[violetwellies]

Have you tried feeding when he is asleep ?
I used nipple shields to 'con' ds back on the breast, we have been mammary only for over two months now, but its bloody hard work, I found the drop in really helpful.
Are you both being treated for the thrush? You could be giving it to each other just a thought
Hope someone more use than me comes along soon.

[Albrecht]

Have you been treated for thrush too?

Kellymom has some good stuff on nursing strikes. I think it is possible to get back to bf usually but you may have to ditch the bottles and maybe the dummy. I'd give one of the bf helpines a call to help make a plan to ensure he gets fed in the meantime (maybe using cup feeds or a supplementer) and you don't put yourself at risk of mastitis.

I agree, I couldn't cope with making bottles up at night - rolling over is hard enough! Is he not refusing at night then? If so I would offer him feeds before and after his nap - this worked for us when my ds got very distracted by the world.

[buttonmoon78]

Poor you Jimmy. I don't have anything to add, just wanted to offer some moral support.

[JimmyChoo17]

Hi all yes we r both being treated but to be honest one hv said is thrush other said is possibly not. Dr wasn't opinionated either way...helpful!! Didn't offer any other explanation just told to carry on with gel for him and cream for me It's not milk as it's been there so long and doesn't budge.

I've cancelled a load of visitors tomorrow and Friday as really want to work on him feeding again. I'm definitely going to go to the b/f session on friday, I'm a little gutted things have gone this way so hope it's just a blip :(
I have a friend who is a b f councillor but she's not about at the moment which is a shame.

I'm milking myself as am just filling up and definitely don't want mastitis. Not 8 times tho So will do more. It's such a shame I didn't have the easiest of births and epidural complications and was so proud We mastered b feeding so well. Annoyed at myself with using bottles now....

Hey button thanks :) hope u r on the mend, saw your accident news!

He hasn't refused at night yet so we will see how tonight goes as he fed off the breast all day yesterday pretty much. Tried feeding around naps today and still wouldn't. Will see what is suggested Friday and then maybe try shields, not seen them before so I guess can be bought at supermarket or chemists.

[SleepDeprivedGrumpyBum]

Hi Jimmy
I had a similar thing when Ds was about 14 weeks, he just point blank refused to feed from me for a few days, but he was a bottle refuser as well so i was quite concerned.

I phoned a BF helpline and they suggested lots of skin to skin contact again, maybe some baths together lots of cuddles in bed. I also found that Ds would feed properly if i fed him as soon as he woke from a nap and was still a bit dopey and sleepy (but i had to be very quick getting to him or he was too awake) I also found that he was still happy to feed during the night probably due to the combination of sleepyness, low lighting and minimal distractions.

It took about 5 days before he decided to feed properly again, but 10 months on i'm still bf'ing (although looking to stop but thats a different post) so try not to worry about it being the end of your bf'ing experience. It's definately a good idea to go to the drop in they'll be able to give you more advice than i have.

HTH

[violetwellies]

How did it go at the group Jimmy hope things are beginning to improve

[JimmyChoo17]

There was no one there!!! Was so annoyed. Was told to go to that one but it's been cancelled ages ago! All the details were in my health book and post natal info too...oh well now going to another one next week! I've been spending more time holding him, skin to skin and he's been a bit better....still having to trick him into latching on sometimes during the day. But tried expressing more and nothing to express?! I wonder if supply isan issue? I was leaking lots etc before this strike and that stopping has coincided with nursing strike.....saving questions and info for next weeks b/f session but starting to wonder if there r more issues than introducing bottle :( he is feeding at night thankfully so far!

[PenguinArmy]

we had this, an absolute nightmare. I personally went with the no bottle approach, but could get a few sleepy feeds into her. Was a good week before things went back to normal but only a few days where every feed was a nightmare. (about a month a later really fussy feeding started for about 2 months). However in hindsight it never took much to upset her feeding. MIL once force fed her a spoon of porridge because she decided I was wrong when I said she was done. Was 6 weeks before she ate porridge again. If she's that awkward on solids no wonder she had problems with expressed milk.

FWIW you can look up techniques on how to bottlefeed the breastfed baby. I never had a problem when DH fed her (which was good as he was the sahd) but did everytime my mother fed her (old school FFer)

good luck, it is incredibly emotionally draining

[JimmyChoo17]

Ive read now that having period affects breast milk and can cause baby to strike as changes milk.....I've been on (forever it seems) for 9 days now and no sign of letting up! Anyone notice this link? Might not be thAt at all tbh.....am fed up of AF tho. Didn't think would get as ebf! Miles different to my pre pregnancy periods...

[LAbaby]

Hi Jimmy. I'm having problems with my 11 week old rejecting the breast at the moment. He completely rejects the right one, and will only suckle on the left one for a little bit before coming off and squealing with anger. He doesnt take bottles so I am just trying him on the breast regularly. It's really frustrating but I've been told it may be a sign that he is going through a development jump and I should persevere. It's tough though. Have no advice but thought it might help to know you aren't the only one!