Breast refusal

Have you tried to pump and bottle your breast milk. See if she take bottle? Some babies can start teething early on so maybe out your finger in her mouth and see if she sucks and bits it. Could also be the weather as it’s been a lot warmer. Sorry if what I’ve suggested you as already tried. Hope you figure out soon ❤️❤️

I had exactly the same thing with my little one, she was around 12 weeks when she started and it lasted about a week. Honestly it was so stressful she just absolutely wouldn’t latch and would scream for about 5/10 mins before I could get her successfully on the boob! I found the best way was to pop a dummy in her mouth and get her sucking, then quickly swap for my nipple and also sometimes I’d hand express milk into her mouth to get her engaged. We’ve also been having lots of contact naps as she’s been a bit more fussy and won’t nap in her crib, but I’m just embracing that for what it is and letting her sleep on me for day naps for now. I did some research and apparently the breast refusal is called a ‘nursing strike’ or ‘breastfeeding crisis’ and a lot of women end up giving up breastfeeding at this stage. This article below explains it a bit better - keep going, you’ve got this! X https://www.londonlactation.co.uk/the-3-month-breastfeeding-crisis/

We went through it! So you’re not alone. I was told by the breastfeeding teams it’s to do with them basically putting their ‘order’ in to tell your boobs to produce more milk for their next growth spurt. I did a lot of dream feeding & persevering. It can be disheartening and you feel like they aren’t feeding enough. But at this age, it’s also when their feeding cues change, and chewing their hands becomes developmental rather than just a hunger cue. And their feeding becomes more efficient around now, so she won’t need to feed for as long to get what she needs. I was so worried because we dropped from over 3 hours in 24 hours down to less than an hour in 24 hours. Try not to stress, I know easier said than done. Skin to skin. Just keep offering boob throughout wake windows. And keep an eye on nappies. As long as she’s still having wet & dirty nappies, she’s getting what she needs. I was told to trust my boobs & my baby. They’ve got this!

@Ange We tried bottle couple of times and she straight out rejected it. Will try again thanks

@Phoebe thanks for sharing the link phoebe. All I am doing now is making her sleep and then feeding her when awake. If I offer anytime during. Wake window she screams her heart out

@Becca thanks. Yeah it’s frustrating and difficult to know hunger cues now. What kind of cues do you look for now ?

@Abi biggest cue is him rooting & trying to eat my arm when I’m holding him! But generally I tend to just go off his last feed. So I know if it’s been 2 hours since his last feed & he starts to get whingy, he’s probably ready to feed! If it’s not been 2 hours, I check his nappy & then check how long he’s been awake. If we’re not near the end of a wake window & his nappy is okay. I know he’s probably hungry & 99% of the time he’ll feed & then be fine! If he’s been awake too long, he’ll refuse to feed and just scream until he crashes pretty much! And then I dream feed him. That happened over the weekend, when I’d been out for abit & didn’t realised he’d missed his nap!

@Becca thanks Becca. She used to give rooting cue till few weeks back now it feels like she stopped giving hunger cues totally :( Now every time she screams until crashes then starts stirring in 10-15 mins into sleep and then feeds. Pretty much every feed thing now. It’s so stressful that I feel like giving up few times. Observing this more esp after her second jab 10 days back not sure if it’s related