I have an 8 month old who has been breastfed since birth. He has never had any formula, and, only recently started some foods and an occasional ounce or two of juice (maybe oncea week).
Here is what is going on:
Lately, he hardly nurses during the day. Come nighttime, when he used to nurse to sleep, he fights and fights me. I let him down, thinking maybe he is not tired, but, he crawls back to me, scratching and pulling at me. So, I try to nurse him again, as he acts like that is what he wants to do. He'll start, then, he start pinching me and screaming again. It takes me a good half hour or more to get him calmed down to start really nursing. Then, he'll wake up several times through the night to nurse which he had pretty much gotten over. I figure this is because he is not wanting to during the day and by the night is just too tired to fight it.
Does this sound like he is trying to wean himself? My dog chewed up the cord on the pump (which I hardly used before) and my husband is going to fix it. I am going to try to pump and see if he will drink the bottles. I had to wean my other children due to work and scheduling, but, I was hoping to go a full year with him at least. I'm fine with pumping and giving it to him also. I just don't know if it is something with me, the milk, or, if this is what natural weaning is like.
Thanks!
Thanks everyone. My husband is right on fixing the cord so that I can pump during the day, and, we are sticking with the nursing at night. I read the Kellymom link, and, I'm just going to ride out these nighttime nursings. To clarify a little, he does not eat much at all. I'm more worried about him getting his breastmilk, so, I don't offer much food at all. I've just given him a few things, but, he is by no means having meals yet.
He's got the teething toys, and, I have the Hyland's tablets. I can definitely feel the effects of a low supply now, so, it must have been creeping up for him already. So, once I start pumping when he would normally eat, I should be able to get my supply back up. Good thing I don't have to go in for work somewhere, I might be nuts by now due to no sleep!
Thanks ladies, I appreciate your help.
From what you're describing it sounds like teething. Poor guy. He's too young to be self weaning - http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/babyselfwean.html
It seems to me that he is just getting older and may be different from your other children. Sounds like he is restless, and possibly wants to nurse but knows that if he does he will go to sleep. Babies are smarter than we give them credit for. Most breastfed babies rarely wean themselves. If you dont find a solution here, I would definately talk to your baby's pediatrician. Hope I could be of some help to you and your little one. Also try to get as much sleep as you can, you need to take care of you as well as your baby...
Do you think there is a chance that you are pregnant again? Sometimes hormones change the taste and the nursing baby is the first to know. Happened to me...
I had the same thing happen to me!! I can tell you that my son is now 9 months and we got past that stage and we are still nursing well. He is also back to sleeping well at night. So, here are the things I thought it was and what I did to solve.
Teething: he was getting some new teeth and his molars are cutting. I would give him an ice cube or something cold to numb up his mouth before he nursed or ate cereal.
Supply: I think because he was busy crawling and exploring, he was only eating a little during the day. So, I added a few pumping sessions and tried to get him to eat every 2 hours to get my supply up. Also, if he was really frustrated at the bedtime feeding (pulling, whining, etc), I would pump until I was just about to let down and then fed him. I think he was frustrated I wasn't letting down as fast. Now since he is sleeping better again, I will nurse him at 7pm before bed and then I will pump a bottle at 10pm before I go to bed. I am doing this to keep up mu supply and have extra in the freezer or for cereal.
ME: At 8.5 months, I got my period back and I read that the hormones can decrease your supply temporarily or causes let down to be slower.
Good luck!!
Could be teething or ear infection -- or you are low on milk. Keep all 3 in mind.
Sounds like he's teething.
Dear M. L,
The first question I would ask is whether you are producing enough milk. Something similar happened to me, my daughter would get really frustrated because she was not getting enough out of the breast. She was also drinking some bottles and eating a little food at that point, and not very interested in me during the day.
This sounds to me like he really wants to nurse but it's painful or unpleasant for some reason. I would definitely talk to the pediatrician. Perhaps he has reflux; teething might also make nursing difficult; or maybe you've been eating a lot of spicy foods, etc. This is not weaning; something else is going on.
I breastfed both my boys. Whenever they went through a growth spurt, they would nurse like crazy at night and be frustrated nursing during the day. Then my supply would catch up and life would settle down again.
Hope he's back to normal soon!
L.
He is too young...either teething or having a hard time stopping what he is doing during the day to nurse. I would take my daughter to her room and close the door and dim the lights during the day time nursing...it seemed to help her focus on eating and not playing (looking around etc.)
I used Hyland's Teething Tablets and occasionally a dose of Infant Motrin to help with teething pain.
Good luck...stick with it and you will come out the other side of this.
Is he teething? It may hurt to latch on if he is.
Some babies do naturally wean themselves around 9 months; if you are ready you could jump on the opportunity but if not, just try to find a way to get through this stage and i bet he's back on board w/ nursing in a month or so.
good luck!
It sounds like he is 'too busy' exploring his world to nurse during the day, and he may feel full enough from the table food not to need to nurse as much...however, that is making your supply decrease, which probably really frustrates him at bedtime when he really wants to nurse and is feeling hungry...there just isn't as much milk there! Try nursing before you feed him anything else during the day (but if he refuses to nurse, go ahead and feed him as usual). If he doesn't seem to be nursing well, try to get in a couple of pumping sessions during the day to keep your supply up, so you will have enough to satisfy him at night. Your body will self-adjust if he continues with this pattern, but you may have to utilize your pump for the next couple of weeks to keep him from getting so frustrated in the evenings (not to mention keeping you up all night long). Good luck!
Could he be teething? My daughter does the same thing each time a new tooth is coming in. She fights her bottle, drinks a few sips, and then wants no more, she however will eat anything off a spoon. I think the sucking hurts their little mouths when they are sore already. She likes sippy cups, or I hold her by the sink and let her drink a few sips of water out of a regular cup. Just an idea. Hopefully in a few days he is back to normal.
