DS won't nurse anymore (BFAR mama)

[Mamja]

I am a BFAR mama (breast feeding after reduction surgery). DS will be 6 months on Saturday.  At birth he got about 12 hours of only colostrum before I was essentially talked into supplementing. Oh, how I regret that decision. From then on out, we have been nursing/pumping/supplementing. We have been slowly working towards more and more supplementing and less nursing. 

For the past few days I can't get DS to latch on, not even when we use the SNS (which we only use occasionally). He has a definite aversion to the breast now. He gets upset when we even try. I'm at a loss for what to do. 

The reason he won't latch is because I've gotten lazy about nursing. When he was younger, I would nurse before every bottle. He was able to go from breast to bottle with no problems. Overnight, I was able to nurse without even needing a bottle afterwards. Then, as life went on, I started relying more and more on bottles. Recently we were down to just one or two nursings a day. Then things got busy and I got sick, and we stopped nursing. Now it's been 3-4 days or so, and I can't get him to latch on. The sad thing is that I can't pump very much milk, so I doubt I'd bother pumping at this point. 

Does anyone have any advice for getting him back on the breast? 

[PatioGardener]

sounds like a strike kellymom has some good info: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

nak

[Mamja]

But if he normally nurses only 1-2x a day, is it really a strike? If he's used to faster bottles, isn't it possible he just has lost patience?

[carrierwright]

So it sounds like you had stopped nursing out of busyness and now are trying to talk him into it again, and he's just thinking 'wait, what is it you want me to do again?' That's a really hard place to be. If it's still important to you to have him at the breast then here's a thought that may (or may not) be helpful. During a feeding when he is sleepy you may try to start w/his bottle until he is content and no longer starving. Then after 1/2 of the bottle or so is gone and w/o changing positions, move him onto the breast w/the SNS attached. Some babies are more willing to latch when they aren't really hungry. Good luck in your bfing relationship. It's wonderful that you've been able to nurse for the first 6 months!