It's all going wrong - can I get it back on track?

[Davette]

Baby D No 3, 22 weeks old and EBF. Up until now she had been a brilliant feeder, good feeds, excellent latch on, stimulated good milk production and slept for most of the night. Until now! Suddenly she is fannying around, taken a distinct dislike to the left breast, feeding for 6 - 8 minutes and that's it! waking for feeds frequently in night and will not settle for daytime sleeps unless I feed her first and then only sleeping for about 40 minutes.

She is really interested in food - tries to grab food out of our hands so it could be she wants weaning. She has also moved into the cot from her moses basket (she was petite so I held off and now obviously she's lost the security of the moses basket around her) so this could account for the sleep issues. Oh and she is obviously teething, can see two front bottom teeth under gums but at least a month away from breaking through I would guess.

Any suggestions what I can do to get things back on track, I'm exhausted, my supply has definitely dropped as she is not feeding as well, coupled with me stressing about it. It takes ages to get a let down sensation and basically if she isn't getting milk at a let down flow she becomes impatient and kicks off. I feel it's just a bit of a spiral downwards.

I have tried a small amount of baby rice which she loved, mouth wide, legs going like the clappers in anticipation, but I've given up as the expressing was really hard and painfull and thought that may also be affecting production. I let her cry it out for daytime nap today making sure she went in awake and she has slept - 1.5 hrs this morning and .5 hours so far this afternoon hence my window of opportunity to post.

So many questions in not a particularly co-herent structure but hopefully some of you will pick out the issues and have some suggestions - TikTok?

i would say it is likely a combination of:

growth spurt. very common at this age. she needs to feed more often to increase your supply

distractible. they tend to suddenly get a bit more interested in what's going on everywhere else and it can mean fussiness at the breast and shorter feeds

more efficient feeding: that would account for the cutting down on time at breast

teeth: definitely definitely definitely has had an effect on all 3 of mine. if she is feeling uncomfy then she may not latch on as well or feed as well. it may be waking her in the night, hence the new night feeds

personally i wouldnb't wean. she needs high calorific food. baby rice is not. it will fill her up, but to the detriment of your milk supply and her calorie intake

I guess what I am saying is that if it were me I would just ride it out.
if you do want to wean early then have you considered baby-led weaning?
Gill Rapley suggests that a baby that can sit up by itself can be sat with the family at mealtimes and given access to some food. that doesn't mean passing it to baby, or putting it in her mouth. just some on her tray or on the table.
the theory behind it is that if they are capable of picking it up, chewing, swallowing it then their gut will be mature enough to handle it

I was just about to say everything that thisisyesterday said, only she said it better than I would have!