Please help! Can no longer bf my 8mo an refusing bottle plus possibly allergic to milk?!

[Walkinglikeazombie]

Hi all,
Apologies in advance if I ramble on but I'm at my wits end now.
My nearly 8mo DD was ebf so never really used a bottle. As we are of course weaning her she does sort of take sippy cup to drink some water but she only has about 2-3oz of water a day as she is not interested. Tried giving her different juices but she doesn't like any of them.
She now has two bottom and four top teeth. She used to bite me every now and then but I got her to stop doing that, however while she bf she keeps on catching my nipple with her teeth and has now pierced my skin so much that its no longer a crack but a hole and feeding her became unbearable and i can no longer feed her from the left breast.
She had preference for left boob from day one so even though I'm giving her my right boob while the left one recovers, there just isnt enough milk there for her, plus she has now hurt my right nipple also.
I have tried expressing my left breast and giving expressed milk from doidy cup to her but she refuses it. I bought the aptamil follow on formula to sort of supplement shortage of milk until i recover but a) she refused it, and b) after getting in touch with the formula she got this red rash all over and under her chin. The same happened when I once tried giving her a banana porridge (prepared with ebm).
Now, as a result of her not feeding from left breast, she isnt producing as many wet nappies, hasn't passed stool in 5 days, and my milk supply is dwindling as I can't express milk properly as it's too painful.
I just dont know what to do any more. I can see that she isnt getting enough fluids and just dont know what else to try.
I have contacted my hv and waiting for a call back but so far they have not been very supportive so decided to see if anyone on mn may have some advice.
Sorry for any possible typos, rushing type this up on my rubbish tablet.

Thanks all in advance!

[isisisis]

God that sounds tough. I'd skip the health visitor and get yourself to a breast feeding cafe ASAP. Even if it meant travelling a bit to get to one today. If you can't do that phone the NCT helpline ( you don't have to be a member) or LLL. Hope you heal quickly.

[10000Fireflies]

walking I don't have any advice to offer, but just posting a quick message of support. Sounds like a dreadful situation. Hope you get it all sorted soon.

[Walkinglikeazombie]

Thanks all. Just came back from gp, she is being referred to st thomas to be checked for any allergies.
Gp advised me to try and get my husband to tak over while i heal, but he works 40hrs a week and i dont know how that'll be possible. She was also prescribed some sort of formula which my pharmacy needs to order and wont have till 4pm.
Ive now got a hungry little girl that wont go to sleep until i give her breast which i cant do. Gosh, I'm crying my eyes out and have no one to share it with but to bother you guys, sorry.
And yes, you were right re hv, all i got was "oh dear", bloody useless. Im just trying to get her asleep and i will be calling nct to hear what they got to say.
Thanks again...

[Lovemyfriends]

Can you ask a friend to try giving her a bottle as a short-term measure? Try different temperatures, and see if you can find one she will drink it at. She will associate you with breast milk, but she may accept ,ilk ina different form from somebody else. Once she's had some milk from a bottle, she will start to get used to it.

Hope that helps.

[ShoeWhore]

Would a nipple shield help OP or will it still be too painful?

Really feel for you. I was going to suggest juice but I see you've already tried that.

Right now, would she take something like a yoghurt? You could also offer her some fruit which has a reasonably high water content? Not a solution I know.

[josephine1986]

Oh that sounds tough, hope you get some help and hoping this will sort itself quickly x

[Lovemyfriends]

I meant milk in a different form! iPad makes no sense!

[Walkinglikeazombie]

Hi all,
Tried giving her a joghurt last night and she loved it but developed a rash from it, so gp advised that I stay off it till she is tested for allergies.
Called NCT and the lady advised to allow someone else to try and offer her the bottle (as you suggested lovemyfriends) and to leave the house, so i went for a walk with our dog while my mum tried to feed her. She still refused to eat but managed to fall asleep. Just waiting for her to wake up when my mum will attempt to feed her again.
Fortunately, she's got a healthy appetite when it comes to solids, but I will try and offer more fruit, thanks shoewhore. As for nipple shields, she hates them, she screamed when i tried using them, i would endure any pain for long as she was happy believe me. :(

[isisisis]

Glad your GPs being proactive with the referral, sorry the HV was useless. Don't apologise for posting, it sounds really tough. Keep posting for support & ringing the NCT helpline.

[Lovemyfriends]

You could try asking your mum to feed her the bottle when she is half-asleep, rather than awake and yelling/cross. Also, you could try offering her liquid on a spoon in the hope of increasing her fluid intake.

[Laquila]

Definitely call the La Leche League and/or NCT breastfeeding helpline. I really sympathise - I know it's horrendous and rips your heart out to see her upset and hungry, but please just try and tell yourself that she won't starve, and sooner or later she will take EBM or formula from some kind of vessel! Have you got Lansinoh for your nipples? If you can leave them out in the open air after applying it, that'll help them heal.

[leedy]

Can't add much to the useful advice you've got here, but for your own healing I found Multimam compresses by far the best thing when I got a bad bite from DS1. I've also heard good things about Jelonet (kind of meshy moist stuff for wounds).

[Protego]

This takes me back! She sounds like a strong character who knows her own mind. First of all do not worry that she will starve herself - it will pass and like all mums ever you will get through it. Certainly there is no way you can let her hurt you and it is time she moved on to a different regime.
My DD like her brother was ebf and when I went back to work and she went to nursery FT I expressed and she had my milk out of a bottle. Now DS adored bf and I weaned him at 9 months as he seemed ready - no probs. But DD clearly found it much harder work to suckle and bottles so much easier. When she was 7 months we were just about to leave to travel 200miles for a family Christmas when I just sat down to give her a feed. She took one suck and pulled away with an air of decision. We set off leaving my trusty electric breast pump behind. It turned out she had decided not to feed from me anymore and so I got mastitis and had a very uncomfortable Christmas.
Obviously as others have said and you have done, make sure that there is no other reason for it that needs treating. Try her on substitute milk based on goat rather than cow's milk - in future many will do this so as not to sensitise them too young.
My DD is now a lovely kind YP and still knows her own mind and is passionate about things! I always found her determination rather charming as I was like this as a child but it was met with hostility by my parents - now dead. I never gave her a hard time and still don't and we are very close.

[Walkinglikeazombie]

Laquila, yes I've got Lansinoh but it isn't really doing much. I have been leaving them all exposed after application :). I'm sure my hubby doesn't mind!
leedy, my gp recommended just plain vaseline, I'll give it a go and see how that goes and if no luck I will definitely look at Multimam and Jelonet, thanks for that!
Protego thanks for sharing that with me. Guess I'll have some stories to tell with my lo also! My mum actually commented today that she's just like me, apparently I was really stubborn, and still am to this day if I'm honest. No wonder my DD is the way she is. Just came back from pharmacy so will be trying substitute milk once she wakes up. I just pray that she takes to it!
Thanks again all for your kind words

[Gen35]

Dd was like this. Tbh, I'd persist with the special formula as you're hurt and you've done well to get to 8 months. DD could get by on 2-3 ounces of milk/fluid too, she used to bottle refuse at nursery but if you keep offering it she'll eventually accept it. It's an unpleasant transition but your boobs sound in a bad way, it'd be my choice personally.

[Gen35]

Is is it the bottle? Dd hated tommy tippee, somebody told me their bf baby would only accept mam ones. You could ask other mums about what nipple their baby accepted. It can be a factor.