Is my 7mo weaning? Or breast refusal?

[Sequoia]

DS got his first teeth last weekend, and BF'ing has been downhill from there. I also weaned myself off Motillium last weekend too.

We do comp feed (2 bottles a day along with 5 BF's), due to initial weight gain issues and low supply. And whenever I offer the breast, he can be calm as you like or yelling for a feed, he pushes it away. So I give him a bottle, do I have any other choice?

When he cut his teeth we didn't even realise until my Mum spotted them! A wee bit grizzly but not much other discomfort.

I really wanted to feed him until he was 12 months old.

Is he weaning or is it breast refusal? He feeds well at the first feed of the day and doesn't feed overnight.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated!

[Kmn]

Can you give him half a bottle and then the boob?
I assume you have found this too https://www.bellybelly.com.au/baby/breast-refusal

[MantaRay]

It sounds like breast refusal to me. That seems to be a common age for it too. I am sure I've read Barb say that babies don't self wean at that age. I know it's really hard, but try to relax at each feed, and not worry too much. The key is patience. I have BTDT, so I know how hard it is, but if you can it really helps.

[Sequoia]

Kmn - thanks, I'll try some bottle to take the edge off his hunger then offer the boob.

MR - thanks, I find myself really concentrating on let down, which obviously doesn't help the cause! I will try to be patient but am finding that I'm feeling upset, and also rejected, when he won't even attach and arcs his back and screams in protest.

SG
xo

[MantaRay]

It is hard hun, I know. Have you tried feeding in the bath? Just start by being in there together, then cuddle, then see if he'll take the breast. Or you can do much the same lying in bed together with no top on. And even if none of that works, breast refusal usually doesn't last long. Best of luck hun.

[StrawberryMumma]

Hey matey, sorry you are having a tough time atm

Being rejected is just so horrible, there's nothing much worse is there..
Miss L went through a stage like that but she was a bit younger then Baxter, but I know how you must be feeling anyway..
Hang in there, I'm sure he'll come back to the juicy bb's very soon

[Sequoia]

Lee - thanks matey.

So I read the article that Kmn linked to, and tried singing very softly while he feeds, quite good success I have to say! He's fed really well at 2 out of his 3 feeds so far today.

[MantaRay]

That's great to hear Shoegal. I hope you have a great night tonight!

[Sequoia]

That's great to hear Shoegal. I hope you have a great night tonight!

Um, no. He refused his 2 other BF's, so he had 2 out of 5 today, but I'll keep persisting.

Thanks for the support girls.

*sigh*

SG
xo

[AndiE]

Hi SG,

I'm still feeding DS (almost 8 months) 4-5 times per day and while he doesn't have teeth yet, his day time feeds can be a bit sketchy. He's easily distracted and if he's not interested he'll arch his back and kinda scream till I stop trying to "force" the boob on him, iykwim. Anyway, I've learnt that if he's hungry, he'll BF. I don't stress about it any more as he started this caper a few months ago and I semi-freaked out, thinking he was starting to self wean. He wasn't. In my case I think DS is just sucking very well, so he probably gets all he wants in a few short minutes of BFing. Plus he's on 3 solids meals a day ...

Anyway, the point of my post. DS feeds best when he's half asleep and/or if there are zero distractions. So, I can only suggest trying to BF your DS in a darkened room with no distractions (TV, pets etc). Skin to skin wouldn't hurt. Not sure if this helps any, but just a thought.

Good luck.
Andie

[MantaRay]

Sorry to hear that SG . Your DS is the same age as my second DS was when he went through his worst period of breast refusal. It lasted an entire weekend. But then he was back to normal thank goodness and I really hope you find the same thing. I'm thinking of you hun

[Marlene]

We have been through this as well SG. It lasted a few days, the only way I could get him to feed was to sit in a dark room with no noise at all, but sometimes he would still refuse, would feed ok when he was half asleep though. He still plays around sometimes and has very quick feeds, but i think he is just more efficient at getting the milk now. I think this is just a stage most babies go through and it should pass soon. Maybe cut down on the formula if you can, he has probably realised it is easier to get the milk form the bottle...babies can be lazy sods, LOL.

[Sequoia]

Thanks girls. He is still hit and miss but I don't feed around any noise now, that has made a big difference. We are still missing 2 - 3 feeds a day but he did feed last night before bed, he hasn't had a pre-bedtime feed for over a week so that felt nice.

Thanks again.

SG
xo

[MantaRay]

That's good to hear that it's going ok SG. Hopefully it will be fully back to normal in no time. Well done for getting through this rough patch.