He's on breast strike

[BrightonNim]

Ok, throught I'd be the one who decided when to stop breastfeeding but it would appear that dd has his own opinions about this. He's 22 weeks and have been weaning since 17 weeks, slowly at first but on the advice of HV now give him as much solids as he wants. Was trying the following:
BF when he woke up (about 7.30am)
Breakfast cereal about 45 min later
BF 11.30 ish
Lunch 12pm (mix of veg puree then fruit)
BF 3pm
BF 4.30pm then tea (single veg puree then fruit)
Bottle 6pm (have never been able to satisfy his hunger in the eve with a BF)

Today he breastfed very quickly when he woke (despite going 14 hours between feeds!!!) then refused to BF at 11.30 and at 3. Tried giving him a bottle at 10 as he had so little milk first thing but he only took 2oz. He had a qick BF at 4.30pm and then took 6oz at 6pm.

Not sure what to do, as he can't be getting the recommended amount and i think it's too earley to give him dairy - although he's having formula, so can I?

Any tips/similar experiences?

The WHO code recommends milk only till 6 months; maybe this is why: if you fill ds up with solids he won't take enough milk, which at 22 weeks he still needs. So I'm sorry you had this advice from the hv esp if the WHO recommendation was not mentioned to you.

If you want him to take more milk, offer more often and reduce solids. Try offering the breast first at mealtimes, before the solids. If he won't take it directly from the breast you can express and offer it in a bottle. Or you can offer formula but then your own milk supply will dwindle until you don't have that option.

If you want to express milk, to give you more of a chance of getting some down the baby, and to keep up your supply, you can hire one through Ameda-Egnell if you don't want to buy.

He could always be a bit poorly. DD has a cold and I posted here worrying about selfweaning but really I think it is just hard work and the solids are easier to manage if you have to breathe through your mouth. Teething can have a similar effect.

Simlar thing happened to me.

DS1 stopped breastfeeding on Christmas Eve and like a fool I panicked and put him on 100% bottles.

I found out afterwards that I should have kept trying and that he may of gone back to it and I felt gutted.

Someone will probably be able to give you full advice.

my DD did a 24 hour strike at a similar age when teething. Stick with it, don't give bottles. The food won't be filling him up, milk has more calories. So just keep going she will come back and feed. Express if it gets uncomfortable. He is probably ill/teething.

ElasticWoman - thanks, don't worry, am aware of world health guidelines re 6 months and HV was aswell and we did talk about it, but dd was feeding full feeds every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day, had been going 4 hours between at least 2 feeds before, and still very very hungry and starting to wake twice in the night after sleeping through etc etc, stuck with it for 3 weeks but he was just too hungry and milk wasn't enough. He's a big boy, very tall, doubled his birth weight on breast milk alone by 12 weeks. Don't think there was any way he would have lasted 6 months (or me).

He breastfed more yesterday and a bit more today, but still quick. He takes himself off when there's still lots left so it's not supply. Even this morning after he'd gone 13 hours without a feed he still wasn't that interested. Maybe it's the heat?

Not sure about teething - hard to tell I guess.

They do get extremely quick all of a sudden. DD is super fast nowadays and it suprises me how little time we get before she is off wanting to play.

My DS was weaned early for simular reasons. I had started giving formula to supplement breast and try and get him to hang on but it made no difference so we started solids at 4 1/2 months. He took to it really well and was much happier and more settled but started refusing breast feeds and wanting either food or formula so thats when i stopped bf. It sounds like your DS is doing a simular thing and if you really want to carry on bf i would suggest stopping formula and just giving breast. Also your ds won't need as much milk as an unweaned baby so prob need to look at the guidelines for a weaned baby? HTH