I recently returned to work from maternity leave. I had been breastfeeding my daughter who is now three months old for the first 2 1/2 months. Initially, she rejected the bottle (drank only 1 - 3 oz. in a 10 hour time frame) and waited until I got home to eat. I would then breastfeed from the time I got home and throughout the rest of the night.
She still gets up in the middle of the night, which is the time I usually feed her. Although she is rooting around and acts like she is hungry, she cries whenever I try to breastfeed her. Is this behavior normal? Can anyone please share with me why she is doing this and if there is something I can do about it?
Thank you to all who have provided me with some suggestions and insight. I have noticed that my milk supply has decreased tremendously. Although I pump twice at work, I am now producing only 2 - 4 ounces with both breasts throughout the day. I was hoping to breastfeed longer than 3 months.
I will contact a lactation specialist. In the meantime, please let me know if you know how I can increase my milk supply again.
Nursing strike? I found a good article at www.kellymom.com
http://www.llli.org//NB/NBNovDec92p173.html
M.
sounds like she could be going through a growth spurt. continue to offer both breast, alternating until she seems satisfied. this will increase your supply.
one of my babies would only take a few ounces of breastmilk from the bottle during the day and would nurse all night. She would do what you're describing when she would go through growth spurts. the only way to keep up with what she needs is to breastfeed more so your body will make more.
Just a few thoughts- It could be a mixture of less supply, because you're not nursing during the day & the baby getting use to the ease of bottles where they don't have to work as hard for the milk.
You didn't mention if you are pumping at work, but I agree with Melissa, if you're not pumping sometime during the day, your milk supply will diminish and she might be having to work harder than she wants to to get what you've got. I know pumping at work is a pain...we could do a whole segment just on that!
Do you have a lactation specialist you could hook up with at your hospital or through La Leche League? I used the La Leche Leagues book "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" like a bible during nursing. It was very helpful on a number of occasions and I highly recommend it.
FOLLOW UP: The only thing I found that helped increase my supply was to drink lots of water and pump, pump, pump!! Fitting in anothe pumping session at work would help and even setting an alarm to get up in the night one more time Your body will get the idea again.
How is your milk supply? Do you pump at work? If so, how long and how often? When I returned to work, I was only able to pump on my lunch break. As a result my milk supply lessened dramatically and since we naturally produce less milk in the evenings, it was my nightime feeds that were the first I had to supplement with a bottle. If it is a supply issues with you, there are many remedies that may work, so don't give up hope!
Hi I know your request was awhile ago.
But is your girl nursing/drinking better now?
Just be careful that she does not get dehydrated. She is probably starving all day, and this is why she is nursing all night. Make sure this is not affecting her growth/development/weight gain.
Sometimes a baby cries at the breast because there is no, or not enough milk coming out, or a fast letdown.
I hope, if she is not drinking anything all day, that she is being supplemented with formula perhaps? A baby this young needs adequate intake AND calories in order to grow/develop.
I had a friend, who's baby barely drank anything either. Her baby got dehydrated twice by the time she was 3 months old, and her growth & weight gain was not well.
I'm sure you got good help from the Lactation consultant. Take care and all the best with breastfeeding. :)
~Susan
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