LO loses it while nursing (working moms)

kaylerjean

Hey mamas. My LO turned 15 weeks yesterday and is EBF. I've been back at work for about 4 or 5 weeks now and the first few weeks LO did great going back and forth from breast to bottle. But now, starting maybe 3 weeks after I returned, she gets super frustrated while nursing. She will suckle for a second, then pull of and cry, then suckle and scream, etc. For pretty much the whole nursing session. A few times I have gotten her to calm down and suck long enough to stimulate a letdown and she seems fine after that until we switch sides and it starts all over again. 

It seems to me like she is frustrated that milk isn't flowing instantly like it does with a bottle. When my breasts are super full in the mornings she has no problem because it starts flowing right away. But once it's later in the afternoon/evening she just loses it when I try to feed her.

I've tried several positions, to no avail. I've tried calming her with a binky and then trying again which hasn't worked. I refuse to give her a bottle while I am home, I feel like giving in will just make the problem worse. We are using the slowest flow nipple on the bottles so it's not like it comes out super fast with the bottle.

I'm just looking for advice/support.  Its gotten really stressful during feeding times which sucks because it's all I look forward to while at work. I know she is in the middle of a Wonder Week leap and I'm hoping that is it and it will be a phase. My goal was to breast feed for at least one year and I'm really, really hoping this doesn't hurt our BF relationship. 

dAsch14

Could you try pumping for a few minutes and then bring the baby to the breast? This would get the milk flowing for her a little bit quicker. A manual pump might work well so you can use it just on one side.

SmrBrd2012

Have you tried offering the bottle first and then once some of her hunger subsides, offer breast? Sometimes that works.

kdoak2015

I have this issue with my 10week old and it's definitely because she doesn't get the milk right away, she's fine during the day but when it comes to cluster feeding at night she wants none of it. I offer and bouncer her(sometimes that works) but most of the time I have to give her the bottle and pump or give her the bottle until she's satisfied and then offer after. 

Livvyloo87

We had the same thing and it was so frustrating.  I just persisted - kept offering her the breast, tried my hardest to stay relaxed so letdown would start sooner and just kept re latching her and switching sides.  After maybe a week, she was back to normal.

With the bottle, perhaps you could instruct whoever is giving it to her to pinch the teat when she first starts sucking so no milk comes out...

kaylerjean

Hey ladies! A week later, I have gotten daddy and grandma, who watch her while I am at work, to start pace feeding. She is doing so much better!! There are times when she still gets cranky, like when she cluster feeds. But overall, she is calm enough to stimulate a letdown or I can calm her until she gets one. I really think the pace feeding has made the biggest difference! Plus, I am less stressed now which helps as well. I think my supply did take a little hit because she wasn't eating much from me when she was getting frustrated but I am pumping more often at work and dry pumping a little every time to get back to normal!