loss of apetite bf baby

[Becky333]

Hi, my 14 week old breastfed baby doesn't want to feed today, it's now been about 5 hours since last feed, not like her at all, she's usually very hungry after 3 hours. I just got over a sick bug yesterday which baby didnt seem to catch but I had no apetite, Maybe she has it now? She's showing no signs of being unwell (no vomiting or diarreah(?)) Don't know what to do! Maybe my milk tastes bad today?! Should I try formula?

Have you been offering or waiting for her to ask?

If she's not asking try her and see if she'll take some. If she refuses, try snuggling up with her skin to skin so if she does feel like a feed she can have one with out too much effort. If you think she might drink from a cup or bottle then expressed milk would be best as if she's feeling a bit poorly (especially if it's gut related) the last thing you want to do is introduce a new food so hold off on the formula for now.

Your milk can't go bad or taste bad (though some bfing toddlers say the milk tastes funny if their mother is pg but that's not relevant in your case!) so don't worry about that.

It may be she is coming down with your bug so if she does start vomiting. Remember breast milk is the best thing for her then and give it to her even if she is sick straight away. Even a little breast milk is better than none and it will keep her hydrated. It is never recommended to starve a child who's vomiting (though some of the older generation do seem to think that) so keep up with the feeds.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try cuddling up. She's just fallen asleep on her dad at the mo! I keep offering and she suckles for about 5 seconds then comes off and starts crying. I've heard of something called nipple refusal but can't see why she would? I don't want to introduce formula but just want to make sure she feeds!

Does she normally have a lot of bottles then? Sometimes babies can start to prefer one way of feeding over another for what ever reason.

Has she had any wet nappies today? If she has and they weren't dark then you should be ok (though obviously if you suspect she is dehydrated and she won't feed get her seen by a Dr).

No, she's never had a bottle, but I seem to have a very fast let down reflex so I wondered whether she was getting annoyed with that. I usually have to take her off when it first comes to it to calm down! Anyway, she's just had a little feed, I'll try a bit more after her bath. She's had wet nappies today so not too worried, will keep an eye. Thanks for the advice.

So you think she might have got put off by the fast flow rather than she prefers to feed from a bottle - sorry I got the wrong end of the stick.

Have you tried laid back feeding so that your daughter is over your breast rather than being beside it (it helps by gravity slowing down the force of the flow) - you feed reclined in a chair/bed and the baby is supported but feeds without being held. It's also called biological nursing and is usually used for babies who won't latch on after birth but is good for fast flow/over active let down mums.

Kellymom has some good information about overactive let down here. Hopefully there will be some things in there you can use to make feeding a more restful experience for both of you.

I'll have a look, thanks for your suggestions. Once the initial letdown has slowed down she feeds really well, we've had no problems lately (although the first two months were really hard!) If we still have this problem tomo I'll try some of the kellymom advice.