# 10 Week old suddenly won't latch--help!



## Neve (Jan 13, 2007)

I have had to feed her bottle + breast since early on because I shoot weddings on the weekends. She seemed to do fine until the last few days--now she cries whenever I try to breastfeed her. I've resorted to taking away all bottles and having to walk around & distract her while I try to get her to latch on. When she is extremely relaxed/sleepy she will latch great, but if she is awake or cranky at all she refuses and struggles.

The breast used to calm her and she would feed for 20+ minutes on each breast and now I'm lucky if she latches for 5 minutes.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REFUSE to stop breastfeeding!! Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any ideas??

Thanks!


----------



## MamaBear1976 (Jul 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Neve* 
I have had to feed her bottle + breast since early on because I shoot weddings on the weekends. She seemed to do fine until the last few days--now she cries whenever I try to breastfeed her. I've resorted to taking away all bottles and having to walk around & distract her while I try to get her to latch on. When she is extremely relaxed/sleepy she will latch great, but if she is awake or cranky at all she refuses and struggles.

The breast used to calm her and she would feed for 20+ minutes on each breast and now I'm lucky if she latches for 5 minutes.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REFUSE to stop breastfeeding!! Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any ideas??

Thanks!

I have one idea, but there's no guarantee it will work. When she's hungry, hold the bottle she's been using under your armpit so that the nipple comes straight out, kind of like your human nipple would. Then "latch" her on to the bottle that way, in a regular breastfeeding/nursing position. I think the key is to make sure she gets positive associations with being in that position and eating again. You want to reduce the stress on her so that she's not traumatized by being put in the nursing position. After she's been "nursing" on the bottle for awhile (use your judgment, maybe five minutes or so), see if you can "unlatch" her from the bottle with your finger (NOT by pulling the bottle out -- you have to treat it like another breast) and latch her onto your breast.

Like I said, no guarantees (I'm an EP'er and never could figure out how to convince my daughter to breastfeed), but I sure hope this works. Let us know please.

ETA: I tried many many things to try and convince my daughter to nurse again, but I never tried what I suggested above (though I have heard it work for others), which is why I am suggesting it to you and why I offer no guarantee.


----------



## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Neve* 
I have had to feed her bottle + breast since early on because I shoot weddings on the weekends. She seemed to do fine until the last few days--now she cries whenever I try to breastfeed her. I've resorted to taking away all bottles and having to walk around & distract her while I try to get her to latch on. When she is extremely relaxed/sleepy she will latch great, but if she is awake or cranky at all she refuses and struggles.

The breast used to calm her and she would feed for 20+ minutes on each breast and now I'm lucky if she latches for 5 minutes.

Sounds like classic nipple confusion. This can be so frustrating! But, it is possible to work through it. I think you're doing the right thing by ditching the bottles.

Lots of skin to skin contact can help encourage a reluctant nurser. You could try wearing baby in a sling while topless. Baths together and co-sleeping can also help.


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

I agree- sounds like textbook nipple confusion/preference. You need to eliminate ALL artificial nipples and bottles for a bit.

good luck!

-Angela


----------



## Neve (Jan 13, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
I agree- sounds like textbook nipple confusion/preference. You need to eliminate ALL artificial nipples and bottles for a bit.

good luck!

-Angela

Not sure if this is possible. I don't think I'm producing enough milk. Last night I had to give her a bottle because at 7:30pm she was screaming and I literally had almost no milk in my breasts because she had drained them all day (I had her in a sling all day to encourage breast feeding). She sucked down 4 oz of formula in about 10 minutes and slept all night. I tried to pump out what was left just to see if there was any milk and I only pumped less than an oz. Also, I have to give her bottles on Saturdays because of my business. ???? My lactation consultant told me about domperidone???


----------



## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

It sounds like your baby was nursing a lot today--that's good to hear!









It's very normal to have a lower supply in the evenings (also, unfortunately very common for a baby to be fussy in the evenings) and does not necessarily mean there is anything wrong with your milk supply in general. The problem with supplementing is that if baby is satisfying her needs at the bottle, she will be nursing less, thereby not stimulating the breast to make more milk. Hence, that could negatively effect supply.

If there _is_ a supply issue, the best thing you can do to increase supply is nurse you baby more. The second best thing you can do is pump. The more milk that comes out, the more milk you will make. it is supply and demand.

A new baby will sleep a lot after being given formula because it is very difficult for their immature digestive system to digest. It wipes them out because they have to work so hard to get rid of it. That's not good!


----------



## letniaLynne (Jun 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Neve* 
Not sure if this is possible. I don't think I'm producing enough milk. Last night I had to give her a bottle because at 7:30pm she was screaming and I literally had almost no milk in my breasts because she had drained them all day (I had her in a sling all day to encourage breast feeding). She sucked down 4 oz of formula in about 10 minutes and slept all night. I tried to pump out what was left just to see if there was any milk and I only pumped less than an oz. Also, I have to give her bottles on Saturdays because of my business. ???? My lactation consultant told me about domperidone???

Hi Neve,

Its great to hear you are back to BFing all day! I would say before you go to Dom let your body do what it is meant to do, Make Milk. Just nurse like crazy, even wake your babe at night, take your babe to bed and just arose her enough to latch and drain your breast since you said night nursing was not a problem. Your body's milk making hormones go into overdrive at night so take advantage of it.

You said you feel empty and that may be true but your babe can still get more out even if your pump can't. Your body is always making milk, it never stops so if your babe just stays on and sucks it will continue to drip out as your body makes more. Of course the flow won't be as fast since their is not much stored at the time but milk will flow if the latch is good. (pumping even with a hospital grade pump is not a good measure of supply, it has taken me months of practice for hours a day to be able to effectively drain my breasts using a pump alone.)

Since your flow is diminished in the eve and your babe is dealing with nipple confusion she will be very frustrated by this BUT it does not mean that you should supplement. This is a very vicious cycle that many moms get in by giving bottle every once in a while. It may be hard days until your supply increases by direct nursing but supplementing with bottles will only make the road much longer. It sounds like in general your supply is not so far gone that you MUST supplement for health reasons so I would just deal with your babes frustration(crying) in the eve with lots of cuddles and nursing non-stop until your supply increases. Babes are very smart and have the NEED to suck that once you remove the bottles full time her instincts will bring her back to your breast to increase your supply.

Also pumping whenever she does not nurse during the night especially will help, a drained breast makes milk faster than a full one.

I was not successful at getting my babe back to BFing after a Horrible bought of nipple confusion but I NEVER removed the bottles either. (The story is more complicated than that but I would consider that to be the worst issue.) I had bad support and was just trying to keep my head above water and pump 4 hours a day to try to increase my horrible supply I really did not know where to turn for Great help. Since then I have read everything I can get my hands on regarding nipple confusion, especially in very strong willed babes like my LO.







I think if we had tossed the bottles when it first started and just went for it we may have got her back but that is the only thing I never tried that I have seen be truly successful in the literature.

Bottles confuse babes, it is like transplanting another breast on yourself that follows completely different rules than the other two. The bottle really has no sensory feedback and requires no skill or patience to use and to top it all off it is alway full of faster flow milk (no matter how slow flow of a nipple you use). That is very confusing for a new little person.







:

HUGS, you can do it! Also if you are going to go full force without the bottles you should also toss them on the weekends and syringe/cup feed. That will be hard for your babes care giver but it will not last forever. You most likely will be able to give bottles again once you cure this and wait until you babe is a bit older.







:


----------



## MeganW (Jul 11, 2004)

I'm digging this up I'm having a similar problem I think but here is what I want to know. How is my impatient DH supposed to feed DS while I'm at work all day without a bottle? I know he's not goign to cup feed him and I know he probably wont keep the binky out of the babies mouth sooo....


----------

