BF'ing question

JenbenIU

Is it normal for a baby to all of a sudden prefer a bottle over nursing?  Eli has had a strong preference for the breast since day 1 and all of a sudden he will not nurse.  However, we have both come down with a cold this weekend and maybe since he's not feeling well he's just too impatient to wait for my milk to let down.  Is this possible?

He's usually a pain to feed a bottle to but since very early Saturday morning he has taken bottles like a champ and wants nothing to do with me when it comes time to eat.

How much should he be eating?  We've been making 3oz bottles because he usually doesn't take more than 2oz when he has a bottle, but he's been guzzling them.  We just fed him again and he took almost 6oz.

I'm clueless when it comes to bottle feeding!

Tariega

He could have an ear infection and it hurts him to suck harder when nursing. Especially since he had a cold. We had the opposite happen, Amelia is refusing bottles all of a sudden.

Perfect timing since I'm going back to work in a few weeks

Also, at 2 months and 14 lbs, Millie would take anywhere from 4-6 oz. per feeding. Good luck!

mbs427

Evan went on a mini-nurse strike when I went back to work.  He was getting used to the faster flow of the bottle and was impatient for let-down.  I would just keep working with him.

Around 4 months old, Evan was taking 4-5 ounces per feeding.

Val&B0604

Lily struggled with nursing when she had a cold.  We don't offer bottles that often so she's not overly attached to having them in the first place.  I also didn't try a bottle with the cold, I wasn't feeling well and I didn't not want to stick at the pump all day.  I've seen posts about nursing strikes but not paid much attention, so as not to jinx myself.  

lemen99

That's the hardest thing about being a mom - once you figure it out, they throw you a curve ball!  I have no advice since I'm not BF, but I hope you get it figured out soon and that Eli decides he wants to nurse again :-)

Oh, as far as how much - A eats an equivalent of about 25 ounces per day, and he's 11.3 lbs.  (If that helps.) 

BrendaK

Babies sometimes taking "nursing strikes."

Here's an article from LLL about it.

I've noticed that after Paige is on the bottle during the day (while I'm at work), our first evening feeding can be hard. She just sticks her mouth on and almost waits for the milk to come out - I think she forgets that she has to suck to get it out!! Maybe your LO was just having a lazy-day.