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What to do when baby won't nurse?
Christopher is so miserable right now. Along with his horrible croupy cough he's congested. Today he hasn't nursed much at all. I assume it's because he can't breathe too well out of his nose, so using his mouth the suck is out of the question.
I need help! I constantly suction out his nose (pisses him off), and they sleep with the humidifier on, and I even tried the vicks on the feet.
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Re: What to do when baby won't nurse?
What's the issue exactly? ?Are you getting engorged? ?Or worried that he's not getting fluids? ?I wouldn't worry too much about him. ?He'll nurse if he really needs it, and he's 8 months so it's not his only source of nutrition at this point. ?If you're engorged, I'd pump some to relieve the pressure.
Sorry he's not feeling well!?
When dd is like that, I usually find it's best to hold her upright in the glider and cuddle and let her nurse as she can. After a while, the mucous seems to drain and then she can suck to nurse. Dd also hates the snot sucker- it makes her cry so much it does more harm than good. Sometimes I will turn the shower on hot and sit in the bathroom with dd. The steam loosens up the stuff in her nose and it comes running out.
It's so hard when they are sick! Nursing definitely goes down a bit, but dd is usually pretty cuddly, so spending the time in the glider is nice for both of us and then she can eat.
No snot sucking and hold upright. I hope he feels better soon.
Johnson's vapor bath followed by sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running so the steam can loosen things up. It also helps the croupy cough to take the baby out into the cool night air (not right after a bath, clearly).
I used baby vicks as well. It took a few days for the snot to slow down. Since Jonah couldn't breathe and eat well, he fed when he could and didn't when he couldn't. If you need relief, you could pump or take a warm shower.
You might try shooting some saline up there to loosen up the mucous right before nursing. The snot sucker would upset my DD so much that her crying produced more snot than we sucked out in the first place! What a lovely subject, eh?
You could also mix BM with something he likes (rice cereal, pureed veggies) and spoon feed him that so he still gets some fluids and nutrients without having to suck. Poor guy - I hope he's feeling better soon!