My DD is 12 weeks old and while we had some issues in the early stages of bf we had managed to work through them and I thought we were doing well. I had just managed to wean us off using shields but DD has suddenly become really fussy on the breast and latches off and on all the time. It is worse without the nipple shields because my letdown is very fast and she splutters and pulls off.
Also, now that she is waking up more to the world, the least noise or distraction wakes her up and she pulls off. It is destroying my nipples! I did read online about nursing strikes starting from 3 months due to distraction as they wake up more but it is hard for me to minimize distraction all the time as I have a 3-year old. It's especially hard from 4-8pm when she is at her fussiest and most overtired / hungry. I use a sling but now she is even starting to wake up and fuss in that!
How do you settle a baby that won't feed from over tiredness? She will take a bottle but I don't always have EBM ready so last night out of desperation I gave her some formula (DH has an emergency stash in the garage in case I am out and there's no EBM in the fridge. Haven't had to use it so far) as she just would not feed on the breast. Should I start pumping and trying to bottle feed more? Do they eventually get past this fussiness and settle down again? It's been going on for the last 2 weeks now.