3 Month Old Crying on the Breast

Here are some links from my favorite breastfeeding website, www.kellymom.com, for increasing milk supply:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html

http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html

Hopefully if you can follow some of these suggestions this week, you can get a handle on the problem by the time you go back to work.

Could be a growth spurt? Also, don't judge how much milk you have by how much you pump. I made the mistake of doing that. Baby is much more effective at getting your milk than the pump and it could be she's doing just that and that's why you're pumping less. Also, they gain at a more rapid pace in the beginning.

Around 4 months, my daughter's patterns changed, too, and I stressed out, but it was nothing-just a change! We remained successful till we naturally weaned at 15 months. I say that to encourage you. Also keep in mind what others have told you. Your baby extracts way more than a pump! Keep nursing when she and you are comfy. If she starts crying, try to readjust her. If that doesn't work, maybe remove her and pump. She may not be hungry at the moment, and you'll need to build your supply for return to work anyway.
Don't give up if it means so much to you :) Good Luck!!!

Try the herbal tea for nursing and even simple camomile tea without milk - that really helped my baby relax. Eating certain foods like almonds helps to produce milk. I couldn't ever get enough to pump but my baby was able to get milk directly from the breast. Perhaps it might be in your diet something upsetting him. I learned that what I ate upset my baby; acid from tomato sauce; milk w/ the gerd and unfortunately just about everything I usually ate! I know it can be frustrating. Your baby may have sensitivities to the food but not qualified allergies or fully gerd.
Returning back to work - it may be the stress you may be having about that- ? They are so emotionally attuned to us. If so can you have an opportunity to de-stress yourself about it and also talk to a supportive person about it, a close friend, family member or even maybe a counselor specializing in the adjustments of new motherhood?
You might find help w/ these through la leche league - on line if you can't go to one of their groups.
Best of Luck! You can probably reverse what is going on now.

Is it possible that you may have eaten food that is affecting the baby like cauliflour or broccoli maybe cabbage.
Are you drinking enough water?
Are you relaxed when feeding?

Please do whatever you can to keep breastfeeding but stay calm! Have you ever been to a LaLecheLeague meeting? They are very helpful. I would also suggest you take a good probiotic superfood to counteract the possible damage from the Zantac and to build up your milk. I can email you some files if you like. Just message me so we can exchange emails. The more you let her suck, the more milk you will have.

If you don't think you are making enough milk then nurse more often. Breast feeding is all supply and demand so any time a baby hits a growth spurt your milk supply isn't going to meet his/her needs for a couple days. Nurse more often making sure you empty both breasts each time and your body will increase the amount of milk to meet the new demand. Also make sure you drink plenty of fluids and eat well.

You can try Fenugreek (herb to increase your milk) and/or supplement with Nestle Good Start (closest to breast milk). I had the same probem. I now give some bottles with 1/2 breast milk & 1/2 good start and baby seems happier & he sleeps better. Good Luck!

I would just stop breastfeeding and just pump. The milk is what is important i feel and makes my 3 month old very relaxed and calm. I had to stop physically breastfeeding because my daughter was given medication for her mouth for thrush..I was allergic to the meds from my daughter. My nipples were so much pain.. I have been just pumping.. The more u pump the more milk u get. This is my second child.
Also, I find that when u are just relaxed and get more sleep. I know that is not easy. Also, I would have a beer here or there w/ my hubby. The beer in the yeast.
My lacation consultant said for every beer u drink every hour u must wait to breast feed/pump. I hope this helped u.
Also, they provide FREE classes at Babies R Us. Check it out. If u need name of lactation nurse let me know Also, r baby may be allergic to the meds and u need to speak to r pediatrician.
Barb G.
GOOD LUCK!!

have you ever heard of biological nurturing?

http://www.biologicalnurturing.com/pdfs/Colson 2007 non prescriptive recipe for BF put with recipe.pd

My daughter is four now, but I breast fed for a year. I would be a liar to say that she never tasted formula, because we did supplement a little. The truth to that is around the three month mark it was a NIGHTMARE and not only was my daughter crying, but I was crying too!! In my opinion... and everyone may have a different one. You are probably a bit tense and anxious about her crying, returning to work and the worry that something is wrong. The baby can sense this worry and voila... all of this works against you. If you can find a way to destreess you might find it easier. There are lots of support groups, but I think as a new mom with such a young babe you would want to find one that fits with your philosophy and that too can be stressful. Especially if the breast feeding crazies get a hold of you and you are not of the same mind. No offense to anyone with that comment! I realized after about nine months that I had spent the first six months in a post-partum fog... who knew? If your doctor isn't worried and you trust your doctor then just see how it goes over the next month or so. There seems to be a lot of good advice in your responses below, but also keep in mind that babies develop in their own time and as long as you are having monthly or as needed check ups there probably isn't anything to worry about. One of the things that helped me around the three month mark was to pump and then bottle feed. We did this for about a month and then I got so sick of the pumping that the breast became a breeze and she latched on no complaints. I think some of my anxiety over the whole business went away. Whatever happens, don't be too hard on yourself. Aside from your medical professional, no one can tell you what is right for you or your baby, you have to figure that out together. Some of the best advice I received to help me through breast feeding... 1. It is good for the baby , BUT having a sane mother is also good for the baby. So... you decide which one needs to take precedence. 2. There are no boxes on the kindergarten or college applications which ask "were you breast fed?". You're doing a GREAT job!! You'll get through this and chuckle in a couple of years and maybe in a couple of months... Good Luck.. GB

I know what you're saying and if you not getting enough milk there are ways to help and here is what I found for myself. I noticed by the time they are three months, I would be losing breastmilk. No matter how much water I drank and I drank a lot of water, breastfed constantly and my boys were 20 minutes on each breasts, that a long time and they were big eaters and my last one is a huge eater but not fat, just solid kid. Anyways, I talked to my midwife with my third that I was afraid I was losing breastmilk and she suggested I take Fenugreek which is an herbal supplement and then all of asudden I had a lot of it again .I was losing it around 3 months and was ableto continue until he was 8 months and lost it again and din't come back. I had some stress going on and don't forget at this time, I had a 3 year old and 2 year old and then the baby. STRESS does all bad things to us and one of those things will be reduce the breastmilk. Please do not fret or worry or be upset. If you're upset the baby will be. Who can eat with an upset stomach and nervousness. What I did was take a big deep breath and release worries and dalmly put the baby to the breatst. When you go back to work, pump as frequently as you possibly can to continue. I have also learned that peanuts and garlic help increase breastmilk, and stay away from parsley. That will reduce your breastmilk and it's good for weaning the baby off the breastmilk gradually. Also, I know that pediatricians want mothers to eat peanuts because of allergies, I ate and still eat natual peanut butter because I am allergic to peanuts and other peatnut butter like Jiffy and Peter Pan because of the junk in them. So I get Teddy Bear, or Nature's Place or Natural Peanut Butter (Smucker's). I do fine eating those and no allergic reaction. So, if your child is crying, it's a possibility it's something you're eating. My third son would not nurse if I ate something with onions in them. Even just a little bit of onions, he wouldn't nurse....because onions make the breastmilk sour. My second son was fine with it but not my third. If you have any more questions I will try my best to help you in any way possible and will get back to you as soon as I can. Drink plenty, plenty of water, eat some nuts or peanut butter and if you can eat the organic peanuts and natural or organic peanut butter, eat garlic, stay away from parsley (like in pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce) so we make our own homemade pizza dough and pizza and other foods. Let's talk if you want to or if you have the time. I will be praying for you that's for sure.

Sounds like she is hungry. I would continue pumping if
that makes her happy. Good luck.

I used to have to avoid gassy foods because they would irritate my baby and make her cry during feedings also. Avoid broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Your pediatrician should be able to get you a list of foods that might irritate breastfeeding babies, and you can try eliminating each one until you find the ones causing your baby problems.