Anyone only pump breast milk and for how long? My son is refusing breast :( HELP

[Mamabear12]

I am sad to say my son is now just refusing my breast. He started out great...in the hospital when first born, latched right on...and fed nicely the first few days. When my milk came in...had a little trouble bc he didnt like let down...but we got on with it for a month of exclusive breastfeeding. Then I introduced bottle and slowly he started taking bottle of pumped breast milk more and more...until he was just getting breast fed in the middle of the night or in the morning first thing. Now he is 6 months and in the last week or two started not wanting breast at all...only taking a few sucks and pulling off...so im having to only pump my milk out and give it to him in the bottle. He will then drink from the bottle. I wish he would breastfeed! I love the bonding feeling. I breastfed my daughter until she was 13 months and would have kept going if I didnt fall pregnant and return to work. Anyway, I am torn...do I stop pumping all together or do I just pump his feeds? I dont like pumping...and wish he would breastfeed instead of me having to pump all the time.

Has anyone sorted out breastfeeding this far along? Has anyone continued pumping all the feeds for one full year?

Anyone?

Do you absolutely need him to take a bottle?

Also, are you using fast flow teats?

It sounds like he prefers the faster/easier milk from a bottle. If you want to continue feeding directly, I would ditch the bottles altogether and concentrate on feeding direct. He might not like it much at first but he will get used to it again.

It could be a nursing strike - Kellymom has some great advice for dealing with this.

The best thing is to return to basics. Lots of skin to skin, perhaps a visit to a drop in to check your positioning (as babies grow, our muscle memory means we still hold them in the same way we did when they were smaller, so sometimes the latch needs a bit of work again).

I know ladies who have exclusively pumped up to a year, but it's hard work - feeding directly from the breast will save you a lot of time! Please try and get to a local drop in - the experienced ladies there often have lots of tricks up their sleeves.

perhaps i might try to only breast feed tomo....thing is he used to drink and pull off during let down. he didnt like when the milk sprayed out...after it was done spraying he would be okay to drink more. but now he doesnt even want to get on the breast at all! im hoping it might just be him teething. i will read the kelly website again. another problem is bc he wakes a few times in the night...im so tired in morning...that i can not deal w baby who fusses at breast and doesnt want to feed! not sure what to do if he doesnt want to feed in morning? like if he just cries if i try to put him on breast?

Have you considered trying different position like laid back nursing to minimize the effect of the fast let down? It's entirely possible that he doesn't want to feed because he finds the position difficult. Did you notice anything similar with your DD?

Really you need RL help and support on this. Exclusive pumping is possible but very hard. It's the worst of both worlds really.

I've tried lying down and sitting up. I have not tried laid back nursing. Will try that tomorrow. But not sure its going to work now that he wont even latch on! But he teething so that might be it. Cross fingers!

Well, tried to feed from breast again and he just screamed at the breast :( I will try again tomorrow morning...as that was the best time for him to breastfeed in the past....in the mean time ill have to pump the feeds.