My 3 mth old suddenly started screaming and crying when we get ready to nurse. She is completey fine prior to eating and suddenly I place her down on the boppy to nurse and she starts crying. She will eventually latch on and eat after I work with her for 5 minutes or so, but it doesn't make sense why she is doing this. She hasn't been fussy during the day at all, so I don't think she has an ear infection or teething. Please help with suggestions on how to get through this. I have gone back to work 3 days a week, but she is exclusively breastfed at all other times.
Are you using the slowest flow nipples you can find? She may be mad that bottle feeding is easier.
Otherwise, thrush or an ear infection come to mind. Or maybe a pinched nerve in the neck?
Also, if she is sometimes given a bottle, it is easier to get milk from the bottle than from the breast. I agree that it may be she doesn't want to work so hard to get the milk. Thrush can cause this too.
I know my twin girls started doing that, and I found that they just were getting to the point where their schedule was changing and they didn't want/need to eat as often. They would be fine when they were actually really hungry. Have you tried just waiting awhile, and then see if she does better a little later? Just a suggestion, since you said she isn't fussy until you pick her up to nurse. Good luck to you...I know it is no fun to try to nurse a fussing baby:(
My son did the same thing at about that age. I was starting to get worried and called my doctor and she said it was probably a time when he was changing how much and how often he needed to nurse. I dropped out a feeding and adjusted the time on the others and he was fine. You might try that with your little girl and see if that maybe works with her. Good luck.
Hi T.,
Check her over really well for any signs of a physical problem ... Rash, Thrush (as already mentioned), etc...
If it were her ears she probably would also fuss if you just laid her down without nursing.
If it's nothing physical then it could be that you've gone back to work. It could also be a growth spurt, or it could be your supply. I'm not saying that your supply is lacking, but often around the 3 month mark your body has adjusted nicely to the demand of your baby and let down isn't as forceful.
My daughter went through this. Early in our nursing relationship I had enough milk to supply a small country. Let down was SO forceful I feared I would drowned my daughter. ;-) She had MANY milk baths. Anyway, when my supply settled into her demand ... she didn't like that now she actually had to WORK for the milk. ;-)
I just kept at it... and after a couple of weeks all was well again. I'm betting you are experiencing something similar. Baby doesn't like having to actually work for the milk now. ;-)
www.kellymom.com is a great website for info on bfing with good info on nursing strikes.
Good luck.
This is a long shot but my cousin has been a fussy eater almost his entire life and his parents have spent years trying to figure out why he refuses to eat. The latest diagnosis was that he has a form of GERD that makes it uncomfortable for him to eat and he was put on something like Zantac to address the problem. Now they just have to break the habit of refusing food that he has developed over the last seven years.
Your situation may be much simpler, your daughter may have just developed an aversion to something in the mealtime routine, whether it is the position you sit in, the boppy, or just the change in routine if you have recently gone back to work and begun the supplemental bottle feedings. If changing the feeding routine doesn't bring about a change or if she is fighting eating all the time I would at least investigate the possibility that she may have some upper digestive tract issues because once the pattern of behavior is developed even fixing the underlying problem won't get them to eat as well as other kids.
Does she nurse well after you get her started? Maybe try feeding her in a different room, or a different position. My son used to flip out as soon as I sat down with him in the rocking chair, because he knew what came next and I was taking too long!
Could she have thrush? Don't know if I spelled that right, but it's the only thing I can think of. She would have white bumps in her mouth if she did. My baby had an ear infection once, and she showed no symptoms except a fever. So don't rule out an ear infection just cause she is showing no symptoms. I would call the doctor and have him check her ears and mouth just to be on the safe side. Good luck to you and kudos for breastfeeding!
