reverse cycling

[domesticungoddess]

My 18 week old dd used to be a great breast feeder but especially in the last 3 weeks she is refusing the breast for hours during the day. She is really distractable-I have tried all sorts, days naked skin to skin, dark room no distraction, numerous breast feeding positions, slings, swaddling etc. But she still can go up to 6 hrs between feeds in the day. If I try and put her on the breast she has a few sucks then looks around constantly or screams at me until I take her away from the breast. At night however she is getting up every 2 hrs for a feed. This is making her very grumpy during the day as she is getting too little sleep. She is a bad napper-I have to walk with her or she wont sleep so naps are limited to how far I can walk, which with very little sleep is sometimes limited to 2-3 hrs a day (slowly).

She has dropped two centiles since birth.

Should I wean her. I am so worried she is not gaining enough weight.

I have sort advice from my HV (she said wean), GP (he said formula feed), breast feeding specialist help line (no advise) and the local breast feeding specialist mw (skin ti skin advice). I am now at a loss.

I dont mind the sleepless night (well I do but if its best for her I will continue like a zombee) but she isn't gaining enough weight so it is effecting her.

When she feeds at night she feeds well with no problems. Her nappies are very wet at night and much less so at night.

HELP.....

oh and she wont take expressed breast milk in a bottle, sippy cup or doddy cup. I am home with her all day and have been stopping going out/any visitors so that she is less distracted but it hasn't changed anything.

I really wanted to BF her for a year at least....I don't want to give up we have made it this far.

If she's making up for it at night, then I wouldn't worry about intake in terms of weight. I've never looked up how to deal with reverse cycling, but I would also look up nursing strikes and/or fussy behaviour, as the screaming sounds more indicative of that.

Has she dropped the two centile lines in these 3 weeks or has it been a gradual thing. If it's been gradual then it's probably just normal. My DD has gone from 25th to 0.4th (and probably lower now), but that's just her. I'm sure you've been told before but crossing two centile is within normal range. Judge the baby, not the weight in that regard. In fact months 6-9, she only put on 1lb.

Wow, lots of conflicting advice there and I don't really want to add to it, especially since I am merely a lay person. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will see the thread.

Dropping two centiles might be cause for concern. I am really surprised (well not really) that your HV said to wean, as it's hardly as if she's drinking as much milk as she can. Your GP doesn't sound very helpful either .

How do you mean the bf helpline had no advice? Were you talking to a bfc from one of the four voluntary bf organisations? Not some fake formula company helpine?

I'd try calling a different helpline, or calling again at a different time to speak to someone else. It's pretty shocking that if the person you spoke to initially had no ideas they couldn't pass you on to someone who did!