Distressed by 4 month old ebf baby refusing to feed

[DaleyDerDrache]

Baby is four and a half months old and has been exclusively breastfed since birth. She's never had a bottle and feeding has always gone relatively well for us. She's gained weight, meeting all her milestones, sleeping through most of the time etc.

In the past week, she has been refusing to feed, even after two or 3 hours. She'll latch for a couple of seconds and then pull away crying and arching away from me. I get the most success feeding in a dark room, when she's tired. I'm just really worried that she's not eating enough anymore and that I'll have to quit breastfeeding. Still plenty of wet and dirty nappies for now but I know she's not eating nearly as much as she was.

Any suggestions for what I can do to help? Or is this the start of the end to breastfeeding? 😢

Definitely not the start of the end and fairly typical for 4 month olds.

You could try a few breast compressions when she’s latched bit if you’re worried id call one of the BFing Helplines. Do you have the numbers?

My daughter was like this due to severe silent reflux and allergies. The back arching suggests maybe reflux at play here.
We had more success lying down.
At her worst she fed for a total of 1-2 minutes during the day in 5 second feeds but was better overnight
Cutting out dairy and soya and getting high dose reflux meds made a huge difference!

My DD did this when she had oral thrush - check her mouth for any white spots or white coating on her tongue.

My daughter did similar at around the same age. It was a phase, albeit a stressful one. It's a big developmental leap at this age. Keep offering, try not to pressure (easier said than done I know when you're stressed) and you'll get through it. She won't starve herself, just keep an eye on nappies as you are. It could also be teething, start of a virus etc.

If baby has a dummy then I'd try and pull back on that for a bit too to encourage them back to the breast.

I’m going through the same for my 3 month old except they’ve always had one bottle before bed from dad and use a dummy for sleep. Have you had any chance at all? So so stressful!

It turned out to just be a phase! It is so so stressful though, you have my sympathy! What helped, whilst we were going through it, was feeding in a dark room and having the fan and sound machine on so she wouldn't be distracted so easily.

Just keep offering and don't force it, if they're getting too upset. Give them a break and try again in 15/30 mins.