Please help!!

[NinNic]

Hi,

LO is 9.5 months and is refusing BF around twice of feeds per day. Its been going on for 3 days now. Ive been sick with fever for 6 days and still sick. Thought it might be my fever that makes her not feed, but try to keep my fever down. Yesterday she skipped feed before BT and DF, which means I didnt BF until this morning! When I try BF she sucks a bit and its not the real sucking she would do when feeding, she then pulls away, I switch breast several times to try but she does the same. I dont feel my let down like I usually do since Ive been sick, can this have something to do with being sick?

When I pump nothing comes out and its just frustrating! I havent pumped for a long time as I havent needed to and even several months ago almost nothing came out, its like my let down doesnt work with the pump. What do I do now if LO continues to skip feedings to not go down in supply. I dont want to stop BF now!!

[becj86]

Could be a bit dehydrated and she's not getting a letdown with the usual amount of effort. Try a big glass of water before each feed and put your feet up so your body can rest if you can xx

Also, has she got a full tummy from solids at that time?

Is she feeding any more through the night at all when missing those feeds?

Could she be getting the illness you've got? Sometimes LOs appetite might go down if they're ill.

I assume she's feeding fine for 3 other feeds in the day? Could be she's just dropping a feed of her own accord and it's not really anything to worry about if she's still feeding fine and taking 3-4 good feeds in 24hr at this age.

Hugs xx hope you feel better soon!

[NinNic]

Thanks so much for info!! Thanks! It sucks being sick when having baby.

I will def drink water before BF.

At mo she is only on some finger food for breakfast and I top up 1 hr after with BF, other than that she only has solids for dinner. I always felt she needed at least 1.5 hrs after dinner for her to BF before bed. Now that her CN keeps moving later, gave her dinner at 4 pm yesterday so that I could BF at 6:20 pm but still didnt want to. This is how EASY looks like:

BF 7 am
Breakfast finger food 8:15
Top up BF 9:30
S 11:00-12:30
BF 12:30
BF 15:00 (before 15:30)
Dinner 16:00 (before 17:00 but now too close to BF before bed)
CN 16:30-17:00
BF 18:20
DF 22:10

Is this too much? Im following what is suggested here for her age. Ive thought for some time that I need to drop DF. Can it be a sign that she doesnt need it anymore? Just confused why she wont take anything before bed? She has also skipped fedings during the day also the day before. I will try to DF tonight but if she wont feed and that will be 3 days in a row, can I drop it cold turkey or should I still phase out?

No she did not feed at all during night, not for any of these days where she has skipped BF. She doesnt BF at night anymore and hasnt for some time.


I dont think she got it then she would have high fever.

For other feeds she is feeding fine. She does get annoyed when milk doesnt start to flow.

[becj86]

She's still having a lot of BFs through the day, I'd do away with the DF - she likely doesn't need it

How much is she eating for dinner? I can imagine she may still be full if she's eating a lot at dinner (remember her stomach is the size of her fist) as solids take longer to digest than breastmilk. Given she's not waking hungry in the night, she's clearly getting sufficient calories in the day and she's still having plenty of Bfs in the day, just going a long time in the PM/night without intake which is probably ok at this age.

I think in your shoes, I'd try solids for breakfast and lunch and do a BT BF, so substitute the 12:30 BF with lunch and BF at 4ish with a top up at BT. At this age, we had two 1hr naps but nice to keep a long nap if you can!

[roseola]

I seem to remember from DS that someone here or in LLL said LOs typically go on a BF strike around 9 months.

[*Ali*]

BW suggested routine for a 9.5mo would be 4 BFs in the day and nothing at night. Yes, some LOs demand/need more than that but if she is happy with that then I would be happy. Tracy recommended dropping the DF around 8mo.
If you feel the need to BF again before the first nap (if LOs don't take much solid food at breakfast they sometimes need that) then I would do it closer to the end of the A time like 10.15/30 and then do Lunch when she wakes from that nap and the third BF of the day more like 2.20/30. Then you could do dinner and BT feeds as usual. Something like that would give her more time to get hungry between feeds.

[NinNic]

Thanks all for your advice! 

LO did get sick with high fever, so I decided to do DF so that she would get enough fluids in her also she did not have much solids. I've now decided to drop DF but gradually.

I have started giving solids for lunch as suggested and it is working fine.

My question is now that I start dropping DF, shall I start giving solids for dinner? I also want to start BF less than 4 times/ day to 2 times/day and then when she is around 12 months stop completely. How do you suggest I do that?

[*Ali*]

Here is our faq on weaning off the breast
Weaning
Have a look and see which approach  you like the sound of. 
Breast milk needs to be their main source of nutrition until 12mo unless you plan to switch to formula so most LOs would need 3-4 BFs in 24hrs to get enough.

Yes i would give solids at dinner.  What are you feeding her for dinner now if not solids? In the uk it is recommended to add a third meal at 8-9mo.

[NinNic]

Thanks for your quick reply. 

becj86 suggested I BF for dinner and BT as she didn't get hungry enough for BT feed.

From what I understand I stop one feeding at at a time and introduce snacks instead. Is that how you would do it?

[*Ali*]

I'd drop the DF and do a solid dinner before dropping any feeds in the day. Then I'd drop the middle of the day feeds and replace them with a solid  snack yes.