feel rejected!

[topsy1]

perhaps i;ve brought this on myself - my ds2 has always been difficulf to bf - on and off throughout a bf, often crying etc,. diagonised with reflux about 5 weeks ago (hes 12 weeks) and been on gaviscon. i've been giving him a bottle at 10am 5 pm and after his bath because it was easier to manage with my ds1 who is 2, mainly because ds2 was a difficult feeder. anyway, to get to the point, he completley refused to bf at lunch time. in tears gave him a bottle, mainly becuse dh was around. he drank 6/7 oz. feel completly rejected. what now - hes due for a bf 10.30pm and i bf him first thing - dreading that he'll reject as well - what can i do. don't want to give up - mamanged to bf my ds1 for 13 months - 8 months exclusivly. any help/suggestions/support? thanks

As long as you don't want to give up topsy, don't. My ds stopped abruptly and I felt very sad and rejected. I kept trying though, offering gently now and again, he kept refusing and it was very hurtful and strange. After several days though, he just started again out of the blue.

Look up threads about nursing strike and you'll find lots of great info and tips about how to coax him back on.

You could also google 'nursing strike' or try the breastfeeding network on the subject. It's quite well known.

Good luck and sorry you're feeling down about it. I totally understand. x

Here.

I experienced this when dd was around 10 weeks.. only she would not even allow me to hold her in the cradle position whilst we were both fully clothed and i was NOT trying to feed her.

What you would be best doing is ditching the artificial teats.. use a feeding syringe or a Softcup Advanced Cup Feeder and spend as much time as possible creating a "Happy Atmosphere" at the breast.

This is how i done this;

I would blow raspberries on dds tummy until she giggled then i would quickly and gently touch her face with my bare breast.. this took approx 1.5weeks of perservereance but it did pay off big time when she eventually latched and nursed successfully again.

Hang in there you can and will get through this if you want to.

The feeling of rejection you are experiencing is not nice at all. I can remember crying for practically the whole day thinking she did not love me and that she actually hated me as she would not let me hold her. Just remember this is not the case.. it is just that it is easier and quicker for them to be fed from the bottle and thats it. He loves you more than anything in the world, he just wants an easy feed.

thanks for the support - masnaged a successful dreamfeed, but he had milk pouring out of his nose throughtout the feed - didn't seem to effect hum. thus morning he took one side well - he was still very sleepy, but when wide awake didn't want to feed and ended up screaming - it seemed that he was in pain - could it be part of reflux? can't be normal to have milk coming out of his nose - my let down is very strong - is that a reason?.....

Yes it definately can be... once i started properly producing loads my dd used to have milk flowing from her nose sometimes