Sudden drop in feeds - help!

DD is 9 mths and fully BF. She has her first cold and this seems to have coincided with a drop in feeds.
She used to have 5 good feeds during the day (she sleeps through so none at night) but now she has a good one in the morning, and if I am lucky a few sucks after her two naps. And sometimes she will totally refuse her last feed before bed at night. This literally seemed to happen overnight.

I am offering water to compensate, and she drinks that fine. I'm not sure if her cold has put her off BF? She's not overly snuffly.
We do BLS and she is a good eater.
Do I need to offer her formula or would she be ok with one good feed and a few snack feeds at this age?

Hi,

There's no doubt that this is a result of the cold. It is so hard for us to understand what they are feeling (except if we get it a few days later - that can happen) Maybe she has sore ears, and it hurts when she lies down to feed. Maybe she has that yukky phlegm in her tummy, maybe she is just out of sorts and wants to be left alone - or doesn't know really what she wants. Don't take it personally! She will come back to breastfeeding when she feels like it - in the meantime she will do well on food and water. She doesn't need formula at all

Thanks Barb :) Hopefully she will feel better soon and love the boob again!

Barb - DD is still only feeding first thing in the morning and refusing the rest of the day. She does have a runny/blocked nose and I think that is the problem.

I am starting to get concerned about her nutrient intake as it has been about a week now, so I did give her about 50ml of formula last night before bed, and again at lunch time today. She is even struggling to drink from the bottle. I don't have any EBM to give her and I've tried expressing but I can't get anything out.

I'm not sure if she is starting to self-wean now, apart from the first drink, or if it really is just her nose that is the problem. I tried the Fess spray before a BF earlier today and while she did attach and have a few sucks she then pulled away.

Should I just wait a few more days for her nose to clear, and maybe give her a little bit of formula each day? She doesn't have a heap of extra weight on her so I don't want her weight to drop.

Hi,
It is worrying, but it is her nose that's the problem! Babies need to prioritise breathing over feeding if their nose is blocked. She is not self weaning - at 9 mnths she is too young for that. However, if you give her formula you may well wean her inadvertantly. How is she eating? Solid foods? You can give her extra solids, or like many of us when we are sick we like cold things - icecream, jelly (you can make with fruit juice, iceblocks etc) She seems to have been sick for a while - it might be worth taking her to the dr if you are worried - put your mind at ease if nothing else, and get the right treatment if there is a problem

Thank you :) It's hard being a first-time Mum and not knowing what to do!!

She is a champion eater - we do baby led solids and she has 3 meals and 1-2 decent snacks per day. I've been trying to give her more dairy (cheese, yoghurt) the last few days, though I know dairy can increase mucous production when you have a cold (catch 22!).

Apart from the snuffly nose she is fine - still sleeping through, I think she just needs a few more days to kick the cold. It's the first one she has ever had so I guess that's why it's hanging around a bit.

Right, well I do want to continue BFing so I will hold back on the formula and give her a few more days.