Feeling REALY SAD - is he really weaning at 7 months??

I am crying as I type this! I am really struggling with b/f my DS2. DS1 was very sick and so I expressed full time for a year and he had my milk down a tube in his nose. DS2 is big and healthy and I really expected to get at least to 12 months. DS2 was hard to feed in the beginning with bad attachment and really damaged nipples and of course mastitis by day 7 but we got the hang of it eventually.

Can anyone tell me if this is weaning or a difficult feeding phase? DS2 had been feeding well until a month ago (6 months + 1 day) when he found staring at my boobs just too boring = he demonstrated this by not feeding from me for 12hours while we were out. SO we moved our daytime feeds to being at home, and around sleep times. Then it was only while going to sleep or waking up and only in our bed. Now he has progressed to only when asleep and if awake will BITE me hard and be fussy and pull away. This biting has been going on for a week. And now he is getting upper teeth as well as the bottom ones so I am scared stiff about him doing me some serious damage.

I have expressed for a while and has a great stash in the freezer (2.180 litres) which I had to give away as it turns out my baby's eczema is related to dairy and so he and i are both off it. So now I am down to zero back up and stressed and guess what - supply seems to be reducing. I have tried a sippy cup of EBM and he will take that.

I dont want to stop but I dont want to be dictating to my DS when he can stop too. Isnt it supposed to be baby led?

Help...bit stressed...thanks,

Rachel

Hi,

It sounds like you are having a confusing time. But he is not weaning - far too young for that. He needs breastmilk and he knows where it comes from. Tell me, what is he having apart from breastmilk? I guess he is having solids now? When did the eczema appear? Cows milk proteins do transfer through breastmilk and can cause irritation - but who decided your milk was at fault? How was this diagnosed? Nothing is simple in these cases - I know there will be a story behind this. Feel welcome to share it a bit more.

Thank you Barb for replying!

OK - Leo (DS2) was diagnosed with eczema by our Paed about a month ago after a very frustrating two months of GPs' visits and three courses of antibiotics and weeks of steroid cream for repeated nappy and drool rashes that kept spreading and covering his whole body. This all started at New Years after Leo had a virus that presented as a fever and small red rash over 90% of his body.

The Pead suggested dropping dairy from my diet and Leo's to see if that made a difference and it really did. Within a week I could see a significant improvement.

Leo is on solids and has been since 4.5 months. We did baby led solids and he went for it. He was a big boy and constantly reaching for food and trying to push it into his mouth so after checking with CYH nurse and GP we let him play with food - only he didnt play he ate.

He is doing well with solids and has at least three meals and a couple of snacks a day. He was enjoying cheese sauce on his veggies until we went dairy free. I am ok with dairy free (:o please dont tell me I shouldn't have given away my frozen EBM!!!).

We had a great bf relationship going for a while with Leo feeding every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 overnight. Then as he got bored with daytime bf that changed to more often overnight and less during the day.

We also bottle fed EBM (cringe) him while I attended Board meetings for a couple of hours a day for a week at around 5 months.

Why is it that I am feeling guilty as I write this?? Blimey mothering is hard.

He just woke half an hour ago from going down with a bottle of EBM (first time I swear!) and fed from me well. He is also resisting being wrapped for sleeps now (as of two nights ago) and so I am a bit at a loss how to get him to sleep as I used to wrap and bf!

Please help!

I just wanted to sympathise. My DD is 7 months old and is behaving similarly. Won't feed anywhere but in bed, which means if we're out and about she wont feed at all, not even in a quiet, dark corner. It has be lying down and it has to be my bed. She's also starting to resist being wrapped.

This mothering thing is hard, but it sounds like you're a great mum! I don't think you need to feel guilty - all you can do is give breastfeeding your best efforts, which clearly you're doing by seeking advice. Some babies do wean earlier than others, although 7 months seems young.

Maybe you could try patting to sleep without a wrap? I have found with DD sometimes she's too distracted to feed, so I walk her for a while and get her drowsy, and then offer the feed. Seems to work well for her (not so much for me, but I just have to do whatever gets her through!).

Will be keen to see if anyone else has advice.

Barb, I love the way you write your posts. Thanks for your dedication xx

Rommy's Mummy :hug: Thank goodness for Barb huh!?
No advice from me as, i too, am experiencing something similar with my DS! You are right, mothering is hard, but you should be proud.. after everything you have been through you are still BFing... Good on you xx

I can't tell you how many posts I have read asking "is my baby weaning at 7 (to 9) months. I have even posted it myself....and my DS ended up self weaning at around 21 months (still too early for me, LOL).
At this age their little minds are so busy and they just have so many more interesting things to do than lay there and BF. My DS got to a point where he was only having one BF a day and that was when he was really tired just before bed. I just kept plugging away and offering him the breast at the normal times he would have it, he eventually went back to taking it and everything returned to normal.
Of course, everyone's situation is different, but I would suggest that this is just another developmenal stage and there is absolutely nothing for you to feel guilty about. Just keep offering and I'm sure he will start taking the breast again soon :)
Good luck, let us know how you go.

Sounds like normal teething behaviour to me. I was getting some almighty chomps when mine teethed, and feeding was very fussy. Once they cut through it all eased up and we went back to normal. Hang in there, it'll sort itself out.. just keep offering :)

Well I thought I best come back in and give you an update...

Thank you all for helping me out. Just reading your posts gave me more confidence and a greater determination to push on. That in itself helped.

I called in my LC (Jill Bruce) who had helped us when Leo was 7 days old. She came in on the Wed am and by that afternoon we already had made progress.

My main problems were refusal and then increased feeding overnight (every 2 hours :o). Jill advised that I was feeding him too much solids and he was therefore not hungry enough for the breast. Also I fed him in front of her and what I interpreted as a refusal she saw as a quick and efficient feed!

So now we are;

# offering more often,
# offering one side twice, then the other twice and if he refuses put him down, and
# only doing solid feed for breakfast and tea and then really only finger foods.

The difference has been amazing! Leo now feeds readily and happily from me wherever we are and if not then I am more relaxed and offer again.

Also at night he has been gradually getting bigger gaps between feeds again. Last night I even had 6 hours!!!! :dance:

Back to thinking about feeding long term again. I feel like I have my "baby" back!!

Very happy.

Rach

Great news! Thanks so much for the update! I guess the theory that solid food helps bub sleep is totally debunked. Yay for boobies!