8 week old suddenly refusing breast?!

[user1494888032]

Hi!

So no professional has any helpful possible explanation or can advise me on what to do

Baby girl is exclusively BF. At 7 weeks she started to be really cranky and clingy. Also fussy with her feeds, she then didn't poo for 10 days
I had read about the 8 week wonder and put it all down to this.
We took her to a&e, where they gave her a depository, after 5 hours she finally let it all out!
Due to wanting to feed less she had lost a little bit of weight (sorry I can't remember off the top of my head how much exactly!).

So 4 days later still no sign of any poo and still near enough refusing the boob! She probably has only 3 good feeds a day
Tried different positions and she does latch on good, has a little sick then pulls off crying.

So worried about her!

I've been reading on forums about they can be fussy and refuse, no one has any advice tho :(

Any advice?!

Has she been checked for a tongue tie?

My DD started doing the same thing around 3 months after feeding fine up until then. She would latch on well but soon pull off and start crying. I realised after trying to pump that I didn't actually have much milk and I put this down to going back on the pill, even though it was the mini pill. It's very distressing I know - maybe try pumping and checking you have enough milk.

It sounds like you have a lot going on OP. You're doing a great job.

It's so worrying when we have a concern but we're not getting any advice about what we might be able to do about it. This page www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/breast-refusal talks about breast refusal and gives some suggestions you might like to try.

A previous poster mentioned checking whether your baby is receiving enough milk. Broadly, there are two things required for baby to receive enough milk: 1) your body producing enough milk; 2) baby being able to effectively transfer milk from breast to mouth/stomach. You haven't mentioned that your baby's cleft-affected or has any other concerns, so perhaps you're both fine in regards to milk production and milk transfer. Frequent feeds do drive milk production, so while she's refusing you might find it helpful to, every time you try to feed, offer the opposite side from last time to send the message to your body to keep producing milk.

Do you know the signs a baby is receiving enough milk?
-at least 5 wet nappies in each 24 hour period, with the urine being fairly colourless and odour-free;
-soft or runny bowel movements (you've mentioned she poos infrequently. the consistency of the bowel motions is also important. if they're hard or formed in a young baby it's a good idea to seek advice from a health professional eg an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant or a health professional with expertise in infant health and in lactation)
-some growth - length, head circumference, weight (you've mentioned some weight loss and again this might be a sign it would be helpful to seek advice from an IBCLC or another health professional)

• good skin colour, good muscle tone
• alert and with at least some content periods in the day and night (a young baby is likely to need a lot of reassurance and close contact with you and has a small stomach so might cry to communicate her needs but hopefully would be content at least some of the time)

You probably know that the amount of milk a mother can express doesn't indicate either the amount of milk her body is producing or the amount of milk her baby is transferring.

Has anyone ever told you how and why your body makes milk? You might have heard of prolactin which causes milk to be produced and oxytocin which causes milk to be ejected from your body during what's known as the letdown reflex. Have you heard of the letdown reflex and some of the things that for some women can inhibit it or help it?

Do you have an IBCLC nearby? If your baby's not receiving enough milk it's important to address that first, eg by seeking advice from a health professional and perhaps by feeding expressed milk by cup or spoon or supply line (supply line can be great, perhaps a little down the track when baby's not refusing, because a baby feeding at the breast with a supply line helps signals to your body to continue producing milk). Some IBCLCs do skype consultations.

Best of luck OP, and do keep posting with questions and progress.

Am getting a bit bored of reporting Gina...

Sometimes my little one gets cranky if they need to have a poop. This can lead to fussing at breast and not feeding as much due to tummy being full but uncomfortable so they don't want as much milk but want to nurse for comfort.

Baby could be teething

Baby could be settling into a new pattern as your milk supply adjusts.

It's worth trying to see a breastfeeding expert and get latch checked, check for tongue tie. Also make sure baby is having plenty of wet nappies etc not becoming ill etc.

Lots of skin to skin cuddles if there is no underlying issues I am sure baby will start nursing more again.

Some great advice from previous posters, especially skin to skin - that really helps and supports a breastfeeding relationship!

They all go through phases so try not to let it worry you - as long as she's weeing she's fine. Definitely try the links sixandoot put above

Very important though - breastfed babies pooing rarely is normal! 10 days is on the longer end but still completely normal. DS only pooed once a week maximum when he was 2-6 months old! Ah, those were the good days