Please tell me this is just a phase. . .

[aet.tea]

DD (now 6.5 mo) is now not very interested in nursing in the daytime. I have read that babies get harder to nurse around now, when they are very interested in exploring the world (btw she is not crawling or even sitting up yet), but I didn't realize that would mean that she would hardly nurse AT ALL in the daytime. Sometimes she will latch and just suck for 2-3 minutes, then get whimper-y and refuse to nurse. Other times she will be whimpery right away and not nurse at all.

The only times I can get her to nurse in the day are right before naptimes (i.e. twice) when I lay down with her in a dark room. If she is not sleepy (or hungry?) enough she will not even nurse then. And while she typically wakes up 2x/night to nurse (yes we do co-sleep), I don't think she's making up for her daytime lack of nursing.

She is a tiny girl, well below 5th% weight-wise, so I am eager for her to nurse as much as possible.

We have started experimenting with solids a few times, but I don't think she's really that interested yet (I can't say she's even swallowed anything).

Should I try giving her a bottle in the day time and she if she will take that? She has been taking bottles 1 day per week when I go into work, and those do seem to be her biggest eating days.

I had hoped that when she got hungry enough, she would eat from the breast anyway, but I'm really feeling like her intake is going down. I also don't want to jeopardize my supply.

(she is making the usual # of diapers, btw)

Any thoughts, mamas?

TIA!

[lifeguard]

I found that at times I just needed to go somewhere quiet & boring when ds needed to nurse but wasn't interested. He just got too distracted.

[Mama Lo]

How long has she not been interested? Does she have any teeth?
My first thought is that she could be teething. My dd's nursing was definately affected when she was teething.
I wouldn't give her a bottle while you are with her if you can help it, this could negatively your supply and just isn't a great idea. I would continue offering her the breast often and just stick it out.
Have faith everything will work out, there are so many times in your babe's when you're left wondering if this is normal, is it okay, do I need to do something, do I need to wait and see? In the case of this important nursing relationship, I would just wait and see what happens. Especially if she is still wetting diapers, "we judge input not output"! I heard this so many times at the hospital after dd's birth
Sending your way, everything will work out I'm sure

[mommy2one0326]

I would try a quiet room with little distractions.
Have you started using a new deorderant/perfume soap? sometimes babies will stop nursing because of that.

[aet.tea]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

I don't think she is teething - it would be the right time, and she's certainly biting on anything she can fit in her mouth, but she's not drooling or especially fussy. DH and I were both late getting teeth and she is on the slower end of growth and milestones, so I'm expecting her to be pretty late getting teeth.

I haven't started wearing any new scents, either - a good thought though.

I guess I'm just curious - what comes next? If our days of sitting and nursing quietly in the daytime are all but over, what is our breastfeeding relationship going to be like from here on out?

[RiverSky]

Originally Posted by aet.tea

I guess I'm just curious - what comes next? If our days of sitting and nursing quietly in the daytime are all but over, what is our breastfeeding relationship going to be like from here on out?

Don't let them be over. That doesn't sound normal to me at all, but I'm really not a breastfeeding expert, though I've breastfeed into the 2s.

If you even consider that the your nursing days might be over, then there is the possibility that they will be. I found that I had to not even allow the ~thought~ of anything other than full time nursing into my head, which gave me the resolve to get through every hiccough that came along.

I can't help but wonder if she might be getting a bit lazy because of how easy it is to drink from a bottle. Do you have a really slow flow nipple on the bottle she uses on your days at work?

[RiverSky]

BTW, how often and for how long does she nurse at night? At which point in the day does she tend to eat more frequently? I'm asking because if she nurses constantly all night long, perhaps she's just a little less hungry during the day?

Is it possible that she has developed an intolerance or allergy to something you are eating? Could she have tummy troubles?

[aet.tea]

Thanks for your advice, RiverSky. Don't get me wrong, I'm not considering stopping nursing. I'm just seeing that we're doing a lot less of sitting and quietly nursing, which I enjoyed, and instead it's micro-nursing sessions (3-4 minutes only) or nursing her to sleep in bed before a nap.

At night, she usually goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:30, then wakes up to nurse when I go to bed around 10-10:30 (after which I put her in the co-sleeper), wakes up usually about 3 or 4 and stays in the bed with me after that, sometimes nursing on and off till 6:30 or so.

I had also thought that she might be too used to the bottle. Yes, we do use a really slow flow nipple (she was very particular at the beginning and would only drink from the slowest one we could find). We also used a nipple shield for a VERY long time - I just managed to wean her from it two weeks ago, in fact (and not from lack of trying all along) - and now she's latching well to the breast and I think a very efficient nurser when she nurses. The trend toward less daytime nursing was happening even with the nipple shield, so I don't think it's that, although it could be playing a role.

I guess I can also say she's just not ever been a big eater. We had a really hard time at the beginning; she was an early baby and had trouble latching (hence the nipple shield) and then was not giving hunger cues so we had to wake her up to be sure she got 10 feedings/day. She still only rarely gives hunger cues; I offer the breast often and she used to take it pretty much every time, now she's only taking it about half the time, and then only nursing for a couple of minutes at a time.

My supply is good - I still have problems with oversupply from time to time (especially when she's not nursing well)

BTW I am quitting work so she will not be staying with the sitter as often, although occasionally I do leave her for an hour or two and she may still take a bottle then.

I think Mama Lo is right - just one of those times to be patient and get through it. She is growing and gaining, so I'm thankful for that and as long as she is growing I will just try to keep doing what we're doing.

[hotharmony]

Just for a picture of the future to come.

My LO who is almost a year, latches on nurses anywhere from 15 seconds to 20 minutes about 100 times a day. I would say we have 6 good nursing sessions. Although only two or three of them are with him laying on my lap like a little baby. He often does leg lifts while nursing, likes to nurse sitting up and likes to stand in front of me to nurse while I sit on the edge of the couch.

So I would say don't disregard the 3-4 minute session and just keep offering as often as possible. It will change but that's the beauty of our babies growing up.

Good luck

[nwatt]

My daughter is only 4mo old, but I have been experiencing the same disinterest in nursing for the past couple of weeks. She used to nurse to sleep and then nap on my lap, but suddenly she started getting really fussy after just a moment or two of nursing. For the last couple of days she was only getting a couple of good nursing sessions in during the day, and was therefore nursing all night long.

I finally found something that worked better today. We have always been able to bounce her to sleep on a yoga ball when nursing didn't work. Today when she started fussing after nursing for just a minute. I sat on the yoga ball and started bouncing very gently. I kept on encouraging her to latch, and eventually she did! After a moment, I stopped bouncing, and a few minutes later I moved to the couch. She got in the longest nursing session she has had during the day in awhile and completely nursed herself to sleep. I am hoping that this continues to work for us.

Is there something that your DD finds really soothing that you could do while nursing? Rocking, walking, bouncing, etc? If it works for my DD, it might work for yours!