ebf baby + dummy = nipple confusion - badly in need of advice.

[phlossie]

I'm ebf my third baby, but really having a hard time. He's 15 weeks old, was 10lbs at birth and has carried on that centile - weight gain and latch etc are great.

The problem is that he had reflux and we were advised to give him a dummy to help. And by gum does he love that dummy! But we got to the stage that he was stimulating the dummy instead of me for milk, and as a consequence he was constantly hungry. So I dropped the dummy. For a few days it was ok - he was going on the boob lots, but once my supply was back up and the screaming in the car seat each and every journey became unbearable, the dummy crept back in.

Now milk is plentiful, but now he seems hungry, goes on the boob briefly, comes off screaming and then becomes inconsolable. It's like he doesn't know what he wants - food or comfort.

I had NO problems feeding DS1 or DD, and they didn't have dummies, so I can only assume this is nipple confusion.

He is teething too - 4 at once. Is that it? Or is it digestive pain? He arches away from the boob screaming.

What do I do?

Hi Phlossie,

That sounds frustrating :( How's it going with the reflux, is he still suffering?

There are a few tricks you can try to get him to breastfeed. This is about newborns but you can try out some of them to see if they work. Biological nurturing might work.

You say milk is plentiful now- do you think you might have fast let-down or oversupply? Does any of this sound familiar?

When he does latch on and feed, how is it? Is he otherwise well, apart from the teething?

Let us know if any of that helps or if it's way off the mark.

Thank you so much for your helpful reply. Hmmmm, oversupply... My fast let down was a problem for DS1 and has been for DS2 too when he was smaller. DD didn't have a problem with the letdown, but her weight gain was ridiculous - she came off the top of the chart within the first 12 weeks of her life, and had dreadful colic, puking and explosive poos.

Of 13 points on that LLL article, 9 ring true. He's a gorgeous, alert little chap, but cries easily and often. He comes off spluttering and coughing sometimes, but mainly gulps noisily and drains a boob in 5 minutes. He's sick lots, and will often seem hungry half an hour later. When he does pull off, he (and anyone nearby) gets sprayed. I often end up soaking myself. He's quite a good burper, which may be saving him.

Maybe he wants the dummy because it's easier to handle?!

I need to find myself a bf group, don't I? I can't believe after bfing 2 babies, I'm still struggling!

Could it be that he's a very sucky baby and gets annoyed because he's not hungry but he would like the comfort of sucking without the milk IYSWIM. Maybe try to space out the feeds a bit more and see if that helps? Just an idea...

If oversupply is an issue then there are a few different things you could try out. Any position where he is working against gravity might help a bit.

Don't worry about going to a breastfeeding group just because you've BFed 2 babies- every breastfeeding relationship is different and just when you think you've got it figured out they throw you a curve ball I had awful oversupply with my second and mastitis too after a problem-free experience with DD1.

See if there's an LLL group near you.

Just to add my DD started arching away and screaming at the breast around this age too and it was because she was so distractable. I also have a spraying boob so if she came off because of that and I couldn't get her back on comfortably very quickly she went mental and would then not feed and wanted to sit up instead to look around. She started feeding a lot more at night to compensate but I still ended up engorged a few times. It could be a combination of all those things other posters have said plus developmental for her age. Good luck, DD has just started feeding nicely again after a quite hellish month!