My Son Won't Nurse

JB,
My daughter did the same thing and I finally met with a lactation consultant, who was extremely helpful. In my case, my daughter was so distracted watching my son play and be active that she would nurse for only a few seconds each feeding during the day and wanted to nurse a lot at night, which wasn't especially helpful for me. I ended up not producing enough and had to take supplements to produce more milk. I planned on weening her at 1 year, so I stopped taking my supplements and now she nurses like crazy. I think if you want to nurse still talk to someone who can give you support through the difficult times, La leche or a LC. Really babies have a mind of there own and many mom's have some sort of difficulty with it.
Good Luck,
K.

My guess is that your son has realized that he can get his milk faster through the bottle, and doesn't want to wait for your milk to let down through the breast. Breastfeeding does take more effort for a baby, the bottle deliver milk more easily to them. I would contact a lactation consultant through the hospital you delivered in, they almost all have them on staff now days. Some will even make house calls to help you out. I would also contact LaLeche League. This is a group of mothers focused on breastfeeding their babies, knowing that this is the best for both mom and baby. You can find a group near you http://www.llli.org/Web/Illinois.html
Most certainly the have lactation consultants to refer you to. Good luck and don't give up!

Sometimes babies go on nursing strikes. It usually only lasts a week or so and then they'll go back to it. Just make sure you offer your breast before every bottle feeding and he'll probably take it again. Did you change anything about the bottles, new nipples or anything? If you did, try going back to however it was before. Either way, if you want ton coninue nursing at night and bottle feed during the day that should be fine as long as you don't cut back on nursing/pumping too abruptly (and end up with supply issues).

Hey as long as he's getting the milk, by breast or by bottle he's still getting your milk. Babies get finnicky sometimes, but keep trying every now and then. You might want to also make sure theres no lotions or perfumes or powders on the nipple and breast. Your lucky, mines won't take the bottle at all unless he's despartely hungry and he's starts with the sitter this monday! Know i'm in trouble.

I am just wondering, will he not nurse at all or are you nursing sessions so short you don't think he is getting enough? My son is 10 weeks and over the past few weeks he nurses for shorter periods, but it is because he is now a very efficient nurser and is so quick at it. I can nurse him on both sides in less than 10-15 minutes. So just wondering if it is that or if he isn't eating at all. Regardless I hope things work out.

Sounds like you are going through a nursing strike. The only thing you can do, is keep offering. Try to get a lot of skin to skin contact with him. If possible, just lie in bed with him only in a diaper, and offer him the breast all day long. You can also get into the bath, and have someone hand him to you while in the tub, and try nursing.
Good Luck!! Let us know how it goes!

My son is the same age and I have had a few issues as well. Will he not nurse at all? My guy seems to get distracted easily. His arms and legs are so active that they also seem to get in his way. I have wrapped him in a blanket a few times to swaddle him but he gets mad. Seems like I am nursing more often for less time.

I also just read an article today that addresses that some babies will just stop all together for a time or be really bad eaters. They suggested acid reflux or sore throats as possible causes and that if the baby stops eating for 24 hours to call a doctor. I could see a sore throat being a problem just because of the weather lately. Adults and kids are getting them, why wouldn't a baby too? (just the way I look at it) I didn't see any actual suggestions for how to work through that though. I would recommend the message boards on the La Leche League site. I have always found them helpful....

Yes, I have nursed 2 babies successfully and it's called a "Nursing Strike." Just keep pumping and trying to nurse. It might be easier if he is sleepy/sleeping to "trick" him into nursing. It usually happens when they are going through a developmental period and have so much going on that nursing is like an overload or something. You can google the term and I'm sure you'll get lots of info. There is a great site for chatting at Mothering.com as well.
Hope this helps!
M.

The same thing happened with my daughter when I had to supplement and switch between breast and bottle the first week beacuse she was so jaundice.I remember when the doctor told me that I could go back to just breast feeding we had a really REALLY hard time the first week. She didnt want to eat, would cry and scream and get sooo upset. Its harder for them nurse than it is to drink from a bottle, and once they figure that out going back to just breast feeding is very hard. What I did was only breast feed her for awhile and not give the bottle. Also, if we did happen to have to use a bottle we used the ones that are like the breast they are called breastflow and babies r us sells them. It helped her learn to latch on again in the transition back to breastfeeding. You will understand what I am saying if you see the bottle. Also, when I would breast feed her I would pump a little first so that when she would latch on she wouldnt have to wait for the milk to let down. It would just be there. I also would sometimes pump/ squirt milk in her mouth so she would get the idea. Another thing I would do when she would latch on is start massaging my breast in a downward motion which helps release the milk faster which is like the bottle. Once she figured it out she never wanted a bottle again, but i'll admit that that first week was not easy on her or me, but keep trying and he'll figure it out. Good luck.