4mth EBF baby refusing to eat

[wahwah1270]

My 4 mth old dd has started screaming if i offer her the breast, and when she does eat she'll make muttering noises whilst eating. Very stressful but I'm worried about her losing weight and dont want to ff any suggestions - should i try Expressing?

Is she teething? DD did this for a couple of days and I felt awful as I had to almost forcibly hold her on the breast. Then a tooth popped through and we were back to normal service. I have read that some babies do find the action of breastfeeding can be painful if their gums are already sore.

Will she take a bottle or a cup? If so I'd definitely try expressed BM over formula if you're both finding it stressful.

Try not to worry too much just yet, though - as long as she's still weeing and pooing fine she'll be OK on reduced rations for a few days.

Fingers crossed things improve soon.

I've been through the same thing with mine and it is very stressful. I try not pressure him to feed which is not always easy because sometimes he gets by on very little fuel. I find it easier to feed him bottles of expressed milk and I give one or two of these a day, using a slow flow teat. But sometimes he refuses the bottles too.

If you haven't had problems before, it's unlikely to be reflux or oversupply or an allergy to something in your milk, but it could be teething or else thrush. And these are only temporary hiccups.

If you're worried about your dd not getting enough to eat, try feeding her when she's sleepy. My boy feeds best when he's just waking up, otherwise it's almost impossible. I know that it's hard not to worry about the weight, but IME, you need to consider weeks of bad or no gains alongside the good gains and look at the overall pattern in a month for a more accurate idea of how your baby is doing and whether to call for help. That said, I took mine off to a paed as soon as I could when he stopped feeding.

could be many minor things. if you think it could be teething, why not try some natural teething packet things. you get ones that are just chamomile.?? are they the nelsons ones?? cant remember. you can get them in supermarket and holland and barrets.give them a wee 5 mins before the bf. if it is upset stomach these wil also halp calm stomach.

p.s are you still after bumbo?

I thought this link would be helpful.. and give you more possible causes.
Baby fusses at breast

thanks elmo but i now have got one via ebay, thanks anyway