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UPDATED PLEASE HELP! I am going crazy!!!

890 views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  mom2threenurslings 
#1 ·
DD is 18 months old and I do not want to stop nursing, but dd and I are having some problems. She has pretty much stopped nursing for the milk, and comfort nurses mostly. About a month ago she cut her daytime nursings in half, and I have way less milk now. She still nurses whenever she wakes up at night, which is anywhere from 0-4 times and it is the worst at night because she is sleepy. I really don't want to night wean though. Ok, let me stop rambling and get to the point. She has started to only half-latch and it is driving me CRAZY! She puts her mouth around my areola like shes supposed to but then she just kind of slurps and I know she is sucking air because I can hear it. The slurping is getting REALLY OLD, REALLY FAST.

What can I do to fix this? would increasing my milk supply help, so she would need to latch on well to get the milk? I really don't want to night wean, because I'm afraid she'll wean sooner overall that way. The slurpy thing is really irritating and I am really not enjoying nursing anymore because of it.

Please help, I don't know how much more I can stand. sorry if it's rambling I'm having a hard time thinking because i've been crying.
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I just nursed Fiona to sleep this afternoon and I noticed that she is doing the slurpy thing after my milk lets down. So I wondered if there was some reason that she didn't want the milk. My milk tastes like salty Dial soap (yes, I tasted it). It was pretty yucky. I just had a period on the 25th of dec. and I REALLY don't think I could be the P word. Does your milk change taste right before your period? I know I just had one two weeks ago, but my periods are crazy! Now I'm kind of worried. please tell me what you think.

Oh, I'm sorry if this post didn't turn out right, I'm new at this
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#2 ·
I'm not sure if this will help but my ds has always been a lazy latcher, and I will unlatch him and let him try again if he is doing it in a way that hurts me.

Have you changed anything about her diet lately, a sudden drop in nursing suggests some outside influence, is it possible that she is eating so much solid food or drinking so much cow's milk or juice that it is filling her up so that she is not as interested in mama's milk?

Has she been teething? Or had a stuffy nose? I know when ds has mouth pain or a cold he will latch on just like you described.

I'm sure other mamas will come along with more ideas. I know if my ds showed any signs of nursing strike behavior like that before he'd turned 2, I'd definitely work at getting him back to nursing normally again.

Here's a site you can explore for ideas...

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

I think that page is geared towards younger babies but may have some hints that could be useful to you, as well as the rest of the site.
 
#3 ·
I used to nurse primarily on one side, and my milk tasted really nasty on the rarely-used side.. I believe this is b/c my milk was drying up like I was weaning dd, & everything becomes much more concentrated & salty... I was having supply issues, so I started expressing milk from my unused side whenever I thought of it, & offering it to dd whenever she was hungry enough, and gradually that saltiness went away, & now they are the same on both sides... we still only nurse on that side 1-2x/day.

I think you may need to pump, sort of get that milk out of there, stimulate your supply, etc... once you do that, it'll probably taste better to your dd and she'll nurse more IF that is the problem...
 
#4 ·
It sounds like it's time for some nursing ground rules...nursing manners, if you'd like. You can simply explain to her that the slurping kind of nursing isn't acceptable (hurts mama, bothers mama, makes mama's breasts sore, whatever) and that if she's going to nurse, she needs to nurse properly. You can simply de-latch her and ask her to try again. You are not interfering with her nursing...you are improving her latch and your nursing relationship. (Just as you would correct a newborn's latch if they were slurping, clicking thier tongue or otherwise had improper latch.)
 
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