15wo refusing breast in eves

[dustpan]

My DD is 15wo and EBF, never liked bottle much although DH has offered her a small bottle of expressed milk each eve during cluster feeds.

A few days ago her feeding became scrappy - Pulling on & off, fussing, complaining. I thought it was a mild cold causing it. But suddenly she's taken to the bottle & for the past few eves has had screaming meltdowns for 1hr+ and refuses the breast despite being wild with hunger. Tried feeding in dark room, walking etc but nothing works. She's so beside herself I give in & give a bottle of expressed but I feel rejected! Now I've noticed my milk supply is dipping which won't help. Today she's had 3 bottles & I feel sad like my little girl doesn't like my breasts anymore.

I wsnt her back on the breast & feeding properly again - how do I break the cycle of screaming-breast refusal-over hunger-bottle-too full to be interested in breast?

It definitely sounds like nursing strike. Often triggered by teething, colds etc. Totally frustrating but definitely a phase.
Check out Kellymom website for advice.
Anecdotally I found spinning around with baby & boob out disoriented baby enough to latch on! (Someone gave me that nugget of advice when I was struggling & trying everything!!)
Have you tried skin to skin too?

Oh I didn't know nursing strike could be connected to a cold or teething! Thank you. Is it common to have a nursing strike??

I think it sounds more like baby encouraging supply during a growth spurt rather than a strike! (Sorry!)

At about the same age my LG would go through periods of fussiness, slapping and squeezing at my breast, whinging and pulling whilst feeding. It's baby's way of communicating with your body that it needs to produce more as they get hungrier and go through growth spurts. It's very common around the 4 month mark for baby to be hungrier, which is why people start on purees/baby rice to 'fill them up!' When all they need is more milk!

Your LG will appear to be more settled with a bottle because the milk comes out faster which is what she wants- she then develops a preference for a bottle because it's so easy to get. Are you using a slow-flow teat and pace feeding? That might help. I'd be tempted to try to not give her a bottle and settle yourself on the sofa like the newborn days and feed, feed, feed!

kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/fussy-while-nursing/

Thanks LittlePears, I do know what you mean about that fussing/beating st the breast during cluster feeding & growth spurts but it's different from that -- she literally screams hysterically when I even lower her into nursing position & wont accept the breast.

I agree she will prefer the fast flow of the teat (am using slos flow but nonetheless) but not sure what else to do as she is beside herself with hunger. The kellymom article says not to force them or they may get breast aversion (if she hasn't already got it!)

I'm starting to pump after each feed to increase my supply & get a quicker let down to see if that helps but not sure how many days of pumping it takes before the body makes more milk.

Has it got any better dustpan?

And to answer your previous question nursing strike is relatively common. My baby had it twice quite badly, similar to how you described. I didn't bottle feed at all so had no alternative but to pursue with skin to skin and other tricks. It does pass though.
You just have to find the balance between pushing through and offering bottles which is probably very difficult to manage.

But like PP said a lot of the symptoms also fit with a normal fussy baby stage. But the fact that she isn't keen to latch at all makes me think nursing strike could be the culprit.

kellymom.com/ages/newborn/nb-challenges/back-to-breast/

Hi @chequeplease thanks for checking back with me & sorry I only just saw this. Yes, strike seems to be over thank goodness so it was all over relatively quickly - but felt like an age when it was happening! I did manage to get her to latch whilst resting one foot up on the bed & jiggling like mad so like your spinning it seems odd positions work! Also realised her sniffly nose was more congested than I had thought, so likely that caused it. Thanks so much again for your help

Well done!! So glad it's all sorted now.