Friend's 6 Month Old Won't Nurse

[sommermommy]

She is exclusively breast fed, and this is day 5 now of only nursing once in the morning and then once again at night. The mom offers all day and has been pumping to keep up supply. Baby will play with nipple for a few minutes and then get mad and cry. She was doing ok at first but now is starting to just cry a lot, assuming from hunger? She has had bananas a few times and mom tried to give her some to have something in her tummy but baby is refusing that now too.
Any advice?

[alegna]

:hug to your friend. I would stop all solids for now, lest that's part of the problem.

First- no other sucking- no bottles, pacifiers or sippy cups.

Then- no other milk- formula etc.

Last- spend TONS of time topless. Cosleep topless. Take baths together. offer often. Pump to keep up supply and offer a bit in an open cup.

good luck!

-Angela

[smeep]

:hug to your friend. I would stop all solids for now, lest that's part of the problem.

First- no other sucking- no bottles, pacifiers or sippy cups.

Then- no other milk- formula etc.

Last- spend TONS of time topless. Cosleep topless. Take baths together. offer often. Pump to keep up supply and offer a bit in an open cup.

good luck!

-Angela

Pretty much all she said. Sounds like a nursing strike and/or nipple confusion. It's very common. Go to www.kellymom.com for more tips

[~member~]

Even 1/4 of a raw banana can cause serious consipation in such a little baby.

Is her baby having wet diapers, stools? I would pay attention to that first.

[sommermommy]

Thanks! She hasn't had any other nipples of any kind, so probably not nipple confusion. Wet and dirty diapers still the same too, even though she isn't getting much milk. Baby hasn't had any bananas (she only had a few spoon fulls last week, so she isn't missing it ;) ) or other milk since strike started either.
alegna, thanks for the reminder to tell her to go topless as much as possible, I had forgotten that one.

[MaryJaneLouise]

Nursing strikes:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

Warm baths are :) too.

Is baby teething? Try Hyland's teething tablets or Tylenol if she's comfortable with that. It sounds like she wants to nurse but maybe it's hurting her.

[CuckooMamma]

Could the baby have coxsaccy (sp?) virus? My dd who was older and verbal at the time, stopped nursing for 4 days when she had it. It causes pain in the mouth and sometimes sores. I never saw sores in dd's mouth, but she was definitely unhappy and couldn't nurse. HTH!

[Dido]

CuckooMama, thanks for bringing up this possibility - my 6 month old DD has this virus right now! It's also called herpangina. (I posted about it in the main BF forum but got no responses.) Very possibly this is what the OP's friend's baby has. It's very common in the summer, apparently. She should check the baby's temperature and check the baby's skin - fever and rash are both symptoms. We too are having a lot of problems with refusal of nursing and too many dry diapers - in case there are any tips here for the OP's friend, here is what we are doing to try to make sure DD does not get dehydrated:

- nursing while she is asleep so it's more automatic for her
- give her baths because she likes to suck on a washcloth and it's at least a little fluid for her to take in
- put a breastmilk ice cube in a mesh feeder for her to play with (every once in a while a few drops end up in her mouth)
- pump and give her some BM in a regular cup (not a sippy)

CuckooMama, I would appreciate hearing anything else that might have helped your DD when she had this. We are really struggling. Sorry to hijack this thread, but maybe there will be ideas for the OP also...? Thanks!!!

[CuckooMamma]

Hi BrklynMama (used to live in Brooklyn),

Sorry to hear that you guys are dealing with that now. In all honesty, I didn't realize just what we'd had until it was pretty much over. DD had a slight fever and wouldn't sit without me. She was 2 at the time and very verbal and yet, we figured it out once she started nursing and once everyone else, including company visiting from Italy, came down with it :-)

I remember being mystified that she wouldn't nurse since she always nursed when she was sick. I tried getting her to drink juice (we don't usually have juice) and offered frozen fruit bars. Obviously, I wouldn't suggest either for your dd at her age :-) Offering frozen bm might work, though. I know that I do that for teething and spoon it into dd's mouth and that numbs her gums - might help numb an aching mouth.

I was very concerned by the 4th-5th day. Then dd's appetite picked up and she started nursing again. As you mentioned, I remember her nursing a little at night when she slept. It sounds like you have a bunch of great suggestions. Hopefully, you'll be done with it soon!

[Dido]

Thanks, CuckooMama! I am relieved to hear it didn't last more than a few days for you. I hope it'll be the same here. So sorry to hear you all got sick...

I like the idea of spooning in some frozen breast milk. I don't know why I never thought of that, I guess because we haven't started solids yet I just don't think in terms of spoons for DD. We'll give it a shot tomorrow (can you tell by the time of my post we're having a tough night?)

Sending out nursey vibes to all the striking babes out there!

[Ccow3699]

This baby should be checked for reflux. GERD often gets worse at around 6 months of age. My son did the same thing. he didn't want to eat because it hurt.