Baby always crying before feeds

[Sarah8418]

My second baby is so different from my son. She is so much more hard work in terms of behaviour. He was low weight and scrawny for ages. She's almost 18lbs at 3m and in 6-9m clothes. She's been sitting up with help for ages and is super alert.

I wanted to combi feed but she won't entertain a bottle. We've tried all sorts of brands, formulas and bm. She was having a bottle then we had a week of cluster feeding with no bottle and she won't go back to it. She will have 1-2 feeds and then she won't so I'm exclusively breastfeeding and I'm exhausted.

She cries now before every feed. She had a fussy week and then we got covid and I'm losing the will to live. It doesn't matter if I meet her cues, she will cry and cry and make herself sick sometimes before she will give in and latch. She's got no symptoms of allergies so I don't think it's that especially given how big she is.

Does anyone have any advice or tips? To stop the crying/meltdowns..she's 18w today. I also want to stop breastfeeding but I've got no way of feeding her of she won't take formula..the feeding team keep going on about cup feeding but I can't see us doing that for every feed each day. My husband is far too lazy to even try.

Wonder week Leap 4?

I would give it a couple more weeks to see if it resolves.

It's been going on for weeks 😭

That's tough going, sorry to hear you're feeling exhausted. Your little one sounds like a bonny baby. Could she be teething early? If so, she might find latching painful. Is she otherwise well? If there's other signs of being poorly like a temperature it might be an ear or throat infection, which could be painful when feeding. Has she just had her immunisations? They can make babies very unsettled for a while. Alternatively, check her mouth for signs of oral thrush, which also prevents proper feeding. Is your baby greedy when eating and sucking in lots of air? This would make her feel bloated and full - try gripe water to relieve tummy pain from wind. Also make sure you're not trying to feed her too often - be led by baby when she's hungry and actively looking for the breast. Where do you feed baby? Make sure you're both in a comfortable position and away from loud noises and distractions. I'd definitely recommend talking to your local health visiting team for more advice and research milk strike.

Were getting over covid. She seems.fine re that now. When she's alert she's v.smiley and happy. She's had her 8 week jabs, it's not that, no thrush.... physically she appears fine.

That should have said nursing strike. Overstimulation and/or being overtired can also cause bouts of intense crying. Are you feeding to a schedule? Babies can get frustrated when offered the bottle if they've been used to breastfeeding and switching between different formulas can lead to tummy upsets. You could try calling the La Leche League, they'll hopefully be able to help. I would suggest expressing breast milk but I see you've tried that.