BF less at 6 months

[oneplusone]

My LO is almost 6 months and I've been expecting a big growth spurt. However the last couple days he's been nursing a lot less. He normally nurses on both sides about 5-7 minutes. Yesterday he projectile vomited after one of his feeds. He hardly ever even spits up and this was vomit all over him and me and the floor. Yesterday and today he's hardly nursed. Maybe 5 min on one side and refuses the other side. He normally cries when I have to switch sides or my let down isn't fast enough. He's been a great eater as he's 20 lbs at 6 months and has only ever been BF. he's definitely teething - gnawing on everything, red & warm to touch cheeks & more fussy than normal. It's funny because he got his bottom two teeth at the same time without a fuss, but right now he's miserable.  I gave him some Advil today and it seems to have helped, but he's still not BF'ing much. I'm not really sure what my question is just has this happens to anyone else? Can teething make him vomit and not want to eat? He doesn't seem sick at all. Please help! Thanks

[Erin M]

Have you started solids yet?  Could he be reacting to something?  Any reflux or anything like that?

He's also at the age where distraction can become a problem - is that the case - is he too busy looking around to nurse or is he just not interested at all?
 
If it's teeth and his gums are sore, you might try to let him chew on something cold before he nurses - it could help him nurse without any pain.

Is it possible that he's got a touch of a tummy bug (I've found with mine that bfing protects them to the point where they'll get a tiny bit sick, but not too bad.). At any rate, if he is eating somewhat and wetting enough diapers I'd just keep offering and he should go back to his usual intake.  If he's not acting all that sick he's probably fine, babies tend to let you know when something is really wrong!

[oneplusone]

I haven't started solids yet. I was waiting for 6 months and he's been such a good BF'er I was waiting and not worried. He doesn't have reflux, he hardly spits up but this was full projective vomit. We did work through a little distraction issues but I usually feed him lying down in a dim room and he can focus. I can get him to latch and he'll suck once and then pull off. He just refused his dream feed! Ugh. I don't know what to do and my breasts are probably going to explode. I'll probably have to go get a breast pump tomorrow so I don't get blocked ducts. Maybe he is sick and just doesn't want to eat? He had plenty of wet/dirty diapers today but I'm not sure about tomorrow since he hasn't eaten much today.

[Erin M]

Well, it's good that you know lots of things it's not!  In my non-medical opinion it sounds like he's got a bit of a stomachache or something of that nature.  Keep offering (of course), even at odd times, he might surprise you and nurse when he usually doesn't.  As long as he's acting fine and his diapers are fine, he should be ok.

As for you, here is a link about hand expression - might keep those blocked ducts at bay until he starts nursing again if you don't have a pump.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=70304.0
I always find massaging the lumps in the shower works quite well.