Is She Finished?

Do you think she has a stuffy nose? When my son was a few months old, he got his first cold and acted the same way - maybe his nose was stuffy and it was hard to breathe when he was latched on, or he had a sore throat. When he had an ear infection it was the same thing. I know if the let-down was slow it was frustrating for him also. I hope things settle down for you both soon!
W.

I am a lactation consultant and I see that a lot of mom's have responded to you with some good advice. But don't think it is because you don't have enough milk, this is rarely the problem if you are feeding on a regular basis throughout the day. If you start supplementing, this will cause your milk supply to decrease. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is to check both of you for signs of thrush. Have your baby open wide and look for white spots around her mouth that you can't clean off with a rag. Are your breast itchy, red or tender? Also, is she beginning to teeth? If you still have problems contact a breastfeeding consultant in your area, start with the hospital.

Just keep going. If you don't have any new detergent/perfume, etc. and you haven't eaten anything different, than it probably is just the supply regulating. She will work through it. Just be patient. If you want a little break try pumping and giving it to her in a bottle, but it is best if you just keep going to let her work through it to maintain your supply. Also, your baby can get more out of you than a pump because the highest time of milk production is during nursing and the baby is better designed than the pump and your body responds to the baby. So if you do pump and don't get much don't think that it is indicative of your supply. She also might be getting distracted by other things and maybe that is why she is pulling off.

You should not give anything other than breastmilk until she is 6 months old, hold off on juice until preferably 9 months according to dr. sears:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t031400.asp

With both of my children, after they were a month old I couldn't eat ANY dairy, chocolate or drink any carbonated drinks until they were about six months. It's so strange but if I did they'd be colicy and in pain with gas. They were the happiest babies if I didn't eat those things. That's the only thing I can think of. I also used gripe water and that helped to. You can order it online and it's all natural. Oh, she might be teething. She probably won't get her teeth in for awhile but it might hurt to suck. I love hyland's teeting tablets. They dissolve in their mouth and it provides instant relief. That or origel but my kids hated it. Good luck and I hope this helps some.

When my daugher was that old that is when I started giveing her formula and she was eating the cearal and some baby food and juice if you get juicey jucie put a quater juice then top off with water or she will get the runs.

It could be a number of things. Does she do it at every feeding or just a specific one. also are you catching the early hunger cues or waiting till she's crying?

Anyway my advice would be,
!st look inside her mouth do you see any white spots? If so try to wipe them off if they don't go away it's probably thursh take herto get treated, It may hurt her mouth to nurse ( make sure that if that is what it is they treat BOTH of you

2nd massage your breasts befre you start ( if you are comfortable then stretch your nipple some too) this signals your body that it's tim eto eat so that way the milk is right there when she latches on. Don't let her get to the point of crying, watch her to pick up the early signs she's getting hungry. You can also catch her when she's in "active" sleep. She may nuse then.

I have breastfed all six of my children. And all of them have gone through something similiar to this. I think the other response was right on the money. Your milk has slowed down. I find when this happens I squeeze my breast as the baby is latched on to give her that same reaction she is used to.

Also, your milk comes on demand. So as your baby grows it is very normal for her to want more. And need more. Drink water. the more water you drink the better your supply. if your lips are chapped that is a definite sign you are dehydrated (A LOT). Beyond popular belief lips do not become chapped by exposure to the elements. a study in 1998 found that if you Drink water (no matter how chapped and peeling your lips may be) you'll find within a few hours your lips will be completely healed.
hope this helps.
J.

R., First off you need to make sure that nothing else is going on with her. It may not be that she is frusterated with your breasts...it may be another issue. Babies that young can get ear infections. If she is fussy then take note and see if there are other triggers. If your diet hasn't changed then you can rule out gas issues. Look at things like her bowels patterns, spitting up, increasing fussiness, sleep patterns, eating patterns, goopy eyes or being congested. If she has any of those things going on then she may need to see her doctor. Ear infections can cause her not to want to breast feed due to it pulling on her ears. Hope she gets better. Take care.
Michelle

I suggest that you contact a La Leche League representative. Or a lactation nurse or midwife. They are trained to ask all the right questions to help you solve the problem.

There are so, so many things that it could be. Have you changed body soap? Clothing detergent? Started using perfume?

Maybe your "let-down" reflex has slowed (that happens sometimes after your body gets more regulated with milk production)and baby is not happy about waiting on the milk to come out when it used to squirt her in the face on approach!

It is very important that your baby continues to gain weight and certainly does not lose

Best of luck

Hello R.,

I've read all the responses, and I agree that you check your water intake and what you're eating.

However, I also wonder whether your baby is latching on correctly. Is this your first child? I had the same problem with my first child, and I was breastfeeding "like a pro" at the beginning and was SO proud of myself, until...the same thing happened to me. After many tears from both my baby and myself, I hurried to see a lactation consultant, and instantly she realized that my baby wasn't taking "in" ALL the areala, (brown area of breast) into her mouth! When that happens, they are not able to extract as much milk! As a matter of fact, I had noticed that yes, indeed she was only sucking at the nipple, but I didn't care if she did, I thought that the important thing was that she was sucking and drinking! (I thought I was the one being affected by the redness and blistering that was beginning to occur. But it turns out that if not properly latched, not only do YOU suffer, but the child doesn't get milk after a while. The lactation consultant "played and teased" my baby by gently touching and pulling on my baby's upper and lower lips, and when my baby in frustration opened up her mouth wide enough to devour an entire horse,...the consultant quickly,(but gently) shoved her tiny head into my breast! And it was so fast a shove, it actually startled me, but my baby latched on and started sucking like she was starved! haha (Then she unlatched her and kept doing the same trick...to teach the baby that she must open her mouth and take in the entire brown area of the breast, and not only the nipple! Then I cried at the relief and happiness that I felt! I had been up all night, desperately waiting for morning, so I could go to the hospital for this, and it was one of the best days in motherhood that I can recall. Try it... Hope this is all that's the problem and it can be solved. Let me know! Good luck...M. Angeles