Refused feed! ☹️

[MummaBC]

Hi Mum’s,

I’m new to this and not up on the lingo so bare with me. My daughter Ray is 4 months and exclusively breastfed and as a rule feeds every 3-4 hours day and night. Last night she point blank refused the boob after her 6 o clock feed until 3 o clock this morning, very unlike her. She was really upset and just pulling away, I gave her calpol, gripe water, tried a bottle and even called the NHS helpline before eventually expressing and giving her some of my milk through a syringe - which then encouraged her to latch on. She has been totally fine since and fed as normal. So nothing to worry about! Just wondered if this has happened to anyone else or any ideas why it may have happened?

Thanks in advance
B x

Had she woken for the feed herself OP? If it’s just once though, it could be anything. You could always give one of the Bfing Helplines a call this morning and talk it through with a BFC?

Yes she woke about 9:30pm which would be a usual feed time, after refusing eventually went back to sleep and woke again at around 12:30pm when I tried again till she eventually fed. Like I said she is fine now just wondered if his had happened to anyone else x

Hmm what was she like whilst she was awake? Very upset and crying, bit grumpy and restless or happy but awake etc? Why calpol, what was the thinking behind giving her that did she have a fever or was she seemingly in pain etc? Same with gripe water? my first impression, without further detail re level of upset, is that’s an awful lot of things to try and a lot of worrying for what doesn’t necessarily seem that worrisome re a 4 month old (as opposed to few days oats old when you don’t want them going too long without feed) I’m a FTM to 7 month old (so I don’t really know anything and feel free to ignore me 🙂) and can worry myself a fair bit with stuff but i don’t think I’d have done anything orworried unless she was obviously very upset and wouldn’t stop crying despite offering feed, checking temp, changing her and cuddling her or walking about with her) is there any reason why dont just think she’s changing her routine/not as hungry/possibly teething etc? You mention a bottle, My daughter will only feed from boob so not personal experience but 2 friends who do combi/give expressed milk say sometimes there baby will go through phase of being bit lazy and refusing boob and if they keep offering boob only it works out. That’s only 2 though and most others say its Absolutely fine and they chop and change happily. I remember reading about nursing strikes - Kelly mom website will have something useful but not sure one or two missed feeds constitutes that. But if baby gaining weight ok then couple of missed feeds is fine and they change so suddenly what they need, mine went from every 3/4 hours to doing 8pm -1, then 8-3/4am to sleeping through and now feeds 7.30pm and is fine until 6.30am but then feeds again a couple of hours after and then roughly every 3 hours, irrespective of solids, until bedtime.

She was really upset initially, screaming and flinging her arms and legs around hence the calpol, we managed to soothe her with dummy and cuddles, so I realised nothing was terrible wrong, tried a bottle just because at that point I was really worried about her not feeding - in hindsight I now see this probably isn’t such a huge problem. She didn’t take it any way, she has only taken a bottle a few times. Then when we put her back to bed she was bringing her knees up and crying hence the gripe. She took my boob fine at 6am when she woke but had been refusing again since, only thing that works is if I give her a little expressed milk through a syringe and then put her on. From what I have been reading I think it may be nursing strike?! I have just had my first period since she was born I wonder if that has anything to do with it.......