Slurping!! Why?

[Tissy]

Has anyone come across this before?

My 6mo dd has recently started "slurping" at the breast, and I don't know what to do about it! She used to settle down for a good feed, latch on well and not stop until she'd had enough (a real guzzler!), but in the last few days its all changed. She doesn't open her mouth properly, sucks weakly and makes these awful slurping noises. She will also intermittently clamp on, then pull her head back and arch her back, sometimes crying, sometimes not. She will also bite!! The only time that she's "back to normal" is when she's almost asleep, but getting her almost asleep is a challenge as when she bites she does it very quickly without warning, and makes me jump and shout "OW!"- wakes her up again PDQ!!

Other info- she may be teething(but if so, has been for a couple of weeks, and this has only happened in the last couple of days).She has also dramatically upped the amount she eats and drinks (bottled EBM)at nursery- see previous thread (Expressing-can't keep up with demand).It bothers me that at nursery she will happily drink a 7oz bottle of EBM in 5 minutes, but mornings and evenings, the only times I get to BF her during the week, it is a real struggle, and she doesn't seem to take very much at all. Is this a form of breast refusal?

It might be worth trying to get her to drink from a beaker rather than a bottle so that her sucking experience is from the breast.

You could offer the breast when she is not particularly hungry and see what she does. Do you offer her the breast as soon as you are both home?

I suspect however that this is just a stage she is going through. I remember with all of mine having to remove the breast from a 'biting' baby so that they realised they couldn't get away with it. the associated the bite with the breast being removed but I offered it back a few mins later ( with some trepidation I might add). It usually passed over the course of a few days.

It possibly could be teething. Once the teeth are through - normally the bottom 2 first - you don't feel them when feeding because the tongue lies over them. It is only when you are given a 'playful nip' that it is painful. It will pass.

Thanks mears-

I've tried getting her to drink from a beaker, but have had no luck so far- she just chews on the spout and chuckles! I'll try sending in a beaker to nursery tomorrow and see if they can get her to take it!

I don't feed her as soon as we both get home, beacause the first thing we do is have dinner (just a little puree so far) and then bath and then the bedtime feed.I'm afraid I got into the habit of nursing her to sleep when it seemed to be the only way to get her to sleep. I haven't been able to break that habit yet, as I want to get her sleeping reliably first. If I fed her as soon as we both get home, I would be worried that there wouldn't be enough milk to get her off to sleep less than 2 hours later. We have to get up at 6 am to get us all ready for work/ nursery, and she seems to sleep best when she goes down at about 7pm. Maybe I could try giving her one side when we get home, and the other side at bedtime.

Your help is very much appreciated, this bf business is getting me down at the moment- I know its the best thing for dd, but she's dinking so much at nursery that I can't express the same amount at work, and then she doesn't seem to enjoy taking it from the breast any more . I know that there will come a time when she is no longer dependent on me, but I wasn't expecting it to come yet!!

BTW, she was sent into nursery with a bottle of watered down EBM today- she flatly refused all attempts to give her apple juice!

Be reassred Tissy that there is always milk in the breast. You may not always be able to manually express it but the baby can expertly get it to flow. I donated EBM to a special care baby unit and sometimes I would express as little as an hour prior to feeding dd.
W would certainly try and up the solids at the nursery so that she does not need as much EBM. She should not need 7oz if she is having solids as well. Sometimes babies just suck what is in the bottle whether they need it or not. She will get plenty of milk from you at home.
You are doing superbly well. You will get through this hiccup (hiccuph?) just as you have done the others

I would try one side when you get home but still offer her both at bedtime. Good luck.

Tissy I went through a very similar phase with my son when he was around 10 months. I remember feeling v concerned that he was trying to tell me he no longer wanted to breastfeed but it only lasted a couple of days and he ws then back to normal. I don't know if it is an old wives tale but I have heard it said that babies can go off breast milk when their mother is menstruating.