Babies: 3 - 6 Months

Need BFing help

DD has been very fussy lately, and now she screams when she tries to nurse.   I don't think she's teething or has thrush, and it's not b/c of a forceful letdown.  Sh'e hungry; she just won't eat.  I was able to get a couple of oz into hr using a dropper & we're seeing the pedi this afternoon.  Anyone else go through this?

UPDATE:  She has an ear infection.

Thanks for the suggestions/ideas, ladies!

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Re: Need BFing help

  • I did on one breast when he was about 6 weeks old. In my experience you need to take all the stress out of breast feeding.

    What worked for me: we lay down in a safe, warm, darker place (for us it was our bed with the shade down) and offer your little one your breast with no expectations. If she takes it, great. If she doesn't, great. If she just lays her hand or her cheek or whatever on your breast, great. If she rolls away, great. In other words- take your stress out of the situation.

     Do this often and without stress. Maybe baby needs to feel good on the breast again. It took a few tries with my guy and we were off again. I think I also heated up the room a little bit and stripped him down to his diaper and took off all my clothes to have skin time too, but I can't remember if that was before or afer he started to latch on again.

    Sometimes when he gets too distracted these days, I do this again.

       image

  • Melanie has been kind of like this too lately, but she doesn't really scream during.  She does fuss and grunt and turn her head down, and will often scream when I'm trying to put her down for a nap as if her stomach is tearing her up. At night she's been awful too with waking up screaming.  I don't have any advice since I haven't figured her out yet.  I'm thinking its due to some things i've eaten lately, but who knows.
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  • Is she gassy or constipated? Whenever my DD is fussy at the boob, it's usually b/c she needs to poop. I'll give her a break and pump her legs (which she loves for some strange reason) or do TT to try to get the gas moving. Once she lets loose, she'll nurse just fine.
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  • My LO has also had fussy times at the breast over the last month.  I think it is due to him being more interested in his surroundings than nursing.  Sometimes it does seem to be that he prefers one boob to the other(usu left over right).  If he starts on the right and is consistently fussy, I'll switch him to the left and see how he does.  5 out of 10 times, this will work.

    Is she getting any bottles at all?  I also think that DS is unhappy if he doesn't get a letdown very quickly and fusses and pulls off the breast.  If I'm patient though and don't get stressed out, the letdown will happen more quickly and then he'll calm down enough to eat.

    I agree with PP about stressing out.  When he started this behaviour I was getting really stressed just thinking about him nursing and then if he fussed getting really stressed about his getting enough to eat.  I think it made a difference for the better when I didn't let my stress level rise when he started to fuss.  Sorry you're dealing with this!  Hopefully it is a short phase you're dealing with and she'll be back to nursing normally soon. 

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  • My LO started doing this around 3 months as well.  For him, it was because he has a strong bottle preference.  If you can, try to eliminate all bottles and offer your boob as much as you can.  I also found the side lying position helped him focus and he nursed better when he was a little tired.  

    Unfortunately for us eliminating bottles was not an option since I'm back at work and now I'm stuck pumping 90% of the time (he'll still nurse once per day).  I got tired of trying....he's pretty stubborn.  I hope this isn't the case for you and your LO..  GL!!!!!

  • I had some similar issues in the beginning. I agree that stress doesn't help, but it's tough to prevent it. My suggestion is to try feeding before your LO starts to cry. When my daughter is really upset she can't latch properly, so I calm her down first and then feed her. Someone suggested skin to skin and I think that's a great idea. Minimizing distractions is another good idea. Good luck!
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  • imagegenekelly:

    My LO has also had fussy times at the breast over the last month.  I think it is due to him being more interested in his surroundings than nursing.  Sometimes it does seem to be that he prefers one boob to the other(usu left over right).  If he starts on the right and is consistently fussy, I'll switch him to the left and see how he does.  5 out of 10 times, this will work.

    Is she getting any bottles at all?  I also think that DS is unhappy if he doesn't get a letdown very quickly and fusses and pulls off the breast.  If I'm patient though and don't get stressed out, the letdown will happen more quickly and then he'll calm down enough to eat.

    I agree with PP about stressing out.  When he started this behaviour I was getting really stressed just thinking about him nursing and then if he fussed getting really stressed about his getting enough to eat.  I think it made a difference for the better when I didn't let my stress level rise when he started to fuss.  Sorry you're dealing with this!  Hopefully it is a short phase you're dealing with and she'll be back to nursing normally soon. 

    This is my DS exactly... only now he prefers right over left!

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  • could be a nursing strike, sometimes they do that. Here's a like from the LLL

    https://www.lalecheleague.org/faq/strike.html

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