Things aren't going well..

[LoraLoo]

I'm in desperate needed advice if anyone can help.

Just a bit of back ground- I've breastfed my other babies, the longest for 27 months. Never really had any issues apart from with William who had severe reflux Nd failure to thrive and we stitched to formula at 5 months due to him falling off the growth chart.

Anyways, back to Nellie. She was born 6lb 15oz, on the 25th percentile. Each week she gained really well, 8 or 9 oz a week, jumping up to 50th percentile up until 6 weeks.

She's now almost 9 weeks and her weight gain these last 3 weeks has really slowed- 3oz last week, 5 oz previous week. I weigh her on Thursdays but I thought I'd weigh her today (Monday) and she's only gained 1oz since Thursday.

I'm not sure what's happening, she's either fussing and refusing the breast, or she's latching on and pulling off constantly. She's feeding for very short lengths of time. She doesn't seem hungry or interested. She doesn't particularly seem in pain. She isn't being sick.

I've tried different positions. I bought a pump and offered the milk in a bottle and she gagged and refused that too. This has been going on 1-2 weeks. She's still having wet and dirty nappies that are normal coloured. She also seems to be getting a bit of tummy ache at times. Not sure if any of that's relevant, just trying to put everything down in case anyone has any ideas as I'm struggling to know what to do. Thank you x

 

[jessmke]

My daughter went on a two week nursing strike from 8-10 weeks old and only gained 1 oz that entire month. We took a lot of baths together as I found she would nurse better in the warm water when she was relaxed so that is maybe something you could try? My LO also nursed well at night when she was sleepy so I would dream feed her a lot at night time to make up for what she wasn't taking in during the day. My doctor said he wouldn't be worried unless she started losing weight, if her slowed weight gain lasted for more than a month, or if she wasn't having the appropriate number of wet and dirty diapers. After 2 weeks of not wanting to nurse she went back to normal and started following her growth curve again so for her it was just a phase. Not sure if that helps you at all.

Did your breasts recently soften? I'm not sure if it was a coincidence but my daughter started refusing the breast as soon as they softened and didn't feel full all the time, I think she just had to get used to it feeling different when she latched as she tends to have a fairly shallow latch.

 

[noon_child]

Great advice above.

I would also agree that some problems occur once supply starts to regulate because a baby can't rely on overfull breasts leaking in to their mouth, so if there was anything not quite right about the latch, this is the time when you might see it (especially if you were prone to oversupply and/or fast letdown).

It could be as simple as they learned not to latch deeply as it stimulated too much milk, or there could be an underlying issue such as tongue tie (which can also mean babies can't latch on to bottles either). If it is just a case of re-learning, time will be all you need, but it might be worth going to a support group or contacting someone like La Leche League for further support.

Remember that weight gain is supposed to be measured as an average over a chunk of time. This allows babies to have a few off weeks because they are teething or sick because it all evens out in the end. I know it is stressfull but your baby is currently hydrated and doesn't seem in pain. This means you have time to figure this out between you.

Remember that the oxytocin that allows us to letdown is blocked by stress hormones, so while I know saying 'Don't stress!' is pretty stressful in itself, giving yourself pleasure will up your oxytocin (that sounded way ruder than I meant!). What I mean is, anything that makes you feel good will help with nursing, so talking to a friend on the phone about making some plans to meet, or having a bath, getting someone to give your shoulders or feet a massage, cuddling and touching in general, laughing (so put on a comedy show or something), smelling comforting smells, ANYTHING you can do to feel better yourself will help nursing AND baby will feel it too and feel more relaxed...and yes, if you have time and inclination, orgasm does up oxytocin

 

[LoraLoo]

Ladies thank you so much, your replies have helped me so much today when I've been feeling frustrated and upset, and put things in perspective- you're right she's hydrated and she's definitely getting milk even if not as much said like, and she isn't going to starve over night.
I think it's definitely coincided with my breasts going softer which I hadn't realised until you mentioned.
I put her in the bath with me earlier on your advice and she had an OK feed, not great but probably the best in about 5 days. And again on your advice, tried feeding her while she was really sleepy after we got out and she had a really good feed, so I'll definitely be using that technique over the coming days.
I do sometimes find it difficult to just have some quiet time with baby as we have such a busy household so I'm going to make a conscious decision to try and just spend more time cuddling and having some skin to skin contact even if it means temporarily having a really messy household!
Should I be expressing to keep my supply up? X

 

[honey915]

Hello, I'm a breastfeeding peer support so hopefully I can shed a bit of light for you. First of all are you sure you are positioning and attaching baby correctly? I had breastfed two babies well in the past but still experienced positional and attachment issues with my third. Most breastfeeding issues are caused by positioning and attachment issues so a lot of what you say i.e. Fussing at the breast, poor weight gain, pulling away. This is good because it's a relatively straight forward problem to fix. What area are you in? Look to see if there is a local breastfeeding group because they can demonstrate position And attachment and also look at how things are going for you so they can detect anything obvious. If there is no group running today then try going onto the NHS website and type in breastfeeding position and attachment as they have a video demonstrating this. If baby is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies then she is not dehydrated so this is really good so I hope that reassures you. She is also still gaining some weight but I would discuss that with the health visitor just to be sure because they might be concerned.
Also you might want to ask them to check she doesn't have a tongue tie as these can go undetected and should definitely be ruled out and check for oral thrush as this can cause a baby to want to refuse feeds.

Do let us know how you get on. Good luck and remember you are doing great. You have made an excellent decision to breastfeed your baby.

 

[honey915]

Just re the oral thrush signs would be pain in the mouth of baby, white coating of the tongue or patches of white in the tongue and mouth.you may also experience pain at the nipples or in the breasts but sometimes you may not notice this initially.

 

[LoraLoo]

Hello, I'm a breastfeeding peer support so hopefully I can shed a bit of light for you. First of all are you sure you are positioning and attaching baby correctly? I had breastfed two babies well in the past but still experienced positional and attachment issues with my third. Most breastfeeding issues are caused by positioning and attachment issues so a lot of what you say i.e. Fussing at the breast, poor weight gain, pulling away. This is good because it's a relatively straight forward problem to fix. What area are you in? Look to see if there is a local breastfeeding group because they can demonstrate position And attachment and also look at how things are going for you so they can detect anything obvious. If there is no group running today then try going onto the NHS website and type in breastfeeding position and attachment as they have a video demonstrating this. If baby is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies then she is not dehydrated so this is really good so I hope that reassures you. She is also still gaining some weight but I would discuss that with the health visitor just to be sure because they might be concerned.
Also you might want to ask them to check she doesn't have a tongue tie as these can go undetected and should definitely be ruled out and check for oral thrush as this can cause a baby to want to refuse feeds.

Do let us know how you get on. Good luck and remember you are doing great. You have made an excellent decision to breastfeed your baby.

Hi, I'm pretty sure positioning and latch etc are fine, there's no pain issues and she was putting on 8,9 and 10oz a week during the first few weeks so weight gain has been really good up until the last couple of weeks.
I'm finding during the night and when she's really tired she will feed good, but yesterday I couldn't get her anywhere near me- as soon as I cradled and drew her in for a feed she would stiffen and go rigid and scream.
I'm the end ( on hv advice) I resorted to expressing milk and syringe feeding her, because she hasn't fed for. Around 10 hours, all while she cried and screamed, and even then I only managed to get a couple of oz into her.
During the night we co slept and she had a good few feeds but this morning she's back to refusing... She also seems a bit croaky, her cry has changed, I think I'll get an appt with gp just to check her over x

 

[marina294]

I'm not a doctor but this really sounds like silent reflux.refusing to feed bucking off and not being sick and creaky voice.maybe worth mentioning to gp to try infant gaviscon xx

 

[honey915]

Any news? What did your GP say? If you're sure positioning and attachment are fine then I quod say the GP definitely needs to check her so you were right to have her seen. Hope things are improving for you

 

[LoraLoo]

Feeding has completely resumed back to normal- so bizarre! We had about a week of the refusing, fussing and screaming. I followed all the advice on here and then one morning she just started feeding normally again. She had a 5oz gain this week, amazing considering really, so hopefully we're back on track. Thanks for all of your help x

 

[Bevziibubble]

So glad things are better now