9mo gone off bf, feeling rejected & worried not getting enough milk

[AliciaJohns]

Can't believe I am writing this after the hassle bf was at first, but now dd seems ready to stop bf and I most definitely am not!!

She feeds a little bit off one boob on waking, then I feed her around lunchtime and again at bedtime. For both these feeds she used to go to sleep whilst feeding and then I would put her down, and now she's pulling away and fussing and doesn't seem to want it. I thought it might just be teething but she's been like this for a couple of weeks now.

9 months seems too little to not have milk at all, do I try to give her a bottle instead? I just feel so upset about it because I wanted to feed her for at least a year and now it looks like that's not going to happen.

are you offering her milk before food or after?
it could be teeth, even if it's been going on for a while, my ds's always seemed to take forever to come through.

Has anything changed recently? Anything stressful? Any illness? Disruption? It sounded to me at first glance like it was either teething or a nursing strike. Try googling for info or read kellymom's info here.

"When babies abruptly stop nursing, it's a nursing strike - not weaning. Babies rarely wean on their own before 18-24 months, and self-weaning is almost never abrupt.

Will baby nurse while asleep or just waking up? This is usually one of the best times to try. You also might try nursing lying down or while walking around. See also the tips at the top of this page for persuading baby to nurse.

As long as baby is not nursing as often as before, you'll want to express milk to maintain your supply, stay comfortable, and reduce the risk of plugged ducts and mastitis."

My own dd went on a bf strike for a couple of days after she had a virus and what I suspect was a very sore throat. I googled 'nursing strike' and found lots of very helpful info.

Well, she has had a new tooth in the last couple of weeks but the first one didn't seem to put her off, quite the opposite in fact!

She has a feed first thing before breakfast, then about an hour after lunch, and about 2 hours after tea.

Thanks will try kellymom, should have thought of that before!! Never got the hang of bf lying down unfortunately!

I do feed when she's going to sleep cos this always made her take more in before!

Any chance she has got a cold / stuffy nose? My DD has had a runny nose on and off since the beginning of September (bless all those germs at nursery)and when she's really gummed up the feeding is trickier - she just gets frustrated at not being able to breathe properly.
If she does you could try some Karvol, helps clear the nose.

ds1 self-weaned - or at least reduced me to being unable to feed him any more - at 9.5mths by biting systematically and laughing, and i couldn't cope with bleeding nipples again (after really rocky/mastitis first 6wks). i felt v upset and vulnerable but also thrilled to have first g&t in 18 mths. hopefully you'll be able to keep going if that's what you want but if not remember your hormones are still in turmoil and you will feel better soon ... poor you ...