Breastfeeding strike or just tiredness???

[JackieDW]

Hi, my LG Is nearly 13 weeks. We currently have quite a lot of drool and a desire to chew on her hands, muslins, pretty much anything so I think we might be starting teething. But when fully awake she doesn’t like to breast feed, she will scream when she is near to the breast but happily took 140ml from a bottle. She has been suffering from reflux so is sick after feeding. I also know that she is about to go through a leap on wonder weeks so it could be something to do with it.
She also doesn’t like to sleep much in the day, so it’s 12.15ish and she has had 30 minutes since 9.00am. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you x

I have vague recollection of this when one of mine was teething, I think having to suck so hard hurts the gums, it's far easier to get the milk out of the bottle than the breast. Anbesol liquid (not the gel) applied on the gums really helps.

Thank you

We are currently having exactly the same situation at 10 weeks and I too suspect teething beginning. Did things get better for you?

Hi, I’m really sorry to hear you are going through something similar. Unfortunately not, we had a paediatric appointment due to dropping percentiles and we now have to top up with bottle feeds. She now even when hungry will take a bottle and will latch on but not stay latched and then gets upset. I hope that you manage to find a way through. Get in touch if you need to chat

Oh no I’m so sorry to hear that! I hope things get better for you. I have started topping up as sometimes (the crying feeds) she just doesn’t seem satisfied - she was only on the 9th percentile so am very conscious of her weight gain. Sometimes the popping off is about 10 mins into the feed but she’s always covered in milk, I’m wondering now whether she’s got fussy with my letdown. So hard to know.

I completely understand this and the desire to help weight gain. My LG was born on the 75th percentile and at last weigh in at 14 weeks was between the 9th and 25th so we have not been gaining weight well at all. Obviously breastfeeding has been tough for us and throw in a cold at week 6 weeks for 2 weeks has made things difficult. I don’t think she put much weight on at all for those 2 weeks.
I completely understand your concerns about the let down I have a strong let down I think and little one would choke a little, pull off and then get sprayed in the face with a stream of milk. Have you considered maybe a tongue tie or any latch issues? I am coming to terms with us probably not getting breast feeding back on track