[cc_mama]

My 4 1/2 month old dd only wants to nurse in our bed. She will sometimes nurse in the van if we are out. But at home she will cry until we go lay down and nurse. I just got a nursing necklace and am hoping that will help. I started wearing it when she nursed last. Any other ideas?

 

[Llyra]

I've got one of those, too, and it makes me nuts. I have too much to do to go lying down in bed every time DD2 wants to nurse, which is often (she's just four months.) But I haven't managed to find a solution yet. I think for her it's all about she gets a faster letdown and better quality of attention from me when I'm relaxed and not distracted by my other kids, and so she demands that I go and lie down before she'll eat.

Smart kid.

I have found that she'll sometimes nurse if I walk around with her, so I'm trying that sometimes. It's hard, because she's getting kinda big to carry around like that, but I'll do whatever works at this point.

 

[lurve]

my five month old will only do a good nursing in bed. she is just so easily distracted. it is frustrating knowing that she won't really eat when we go out (she will "nibble" if you will). so i do limit the time i am out. she will sometimes breastfeed in a mai tei (and i just had my friend make me a special mai tei that has a higher body and has a hood that comes out so that i can keep her from being so distracted).

 

[Charming Opal]

My daughter has always seemed to nurse better in bed, I think it has to do with you being more comfortable and her being less distracted, and feeling safe and secure. Support is key, a couple of good pillows help (one behind your back, a couple underneath the arm you use to prop her up with). Also, I ask family members to not engage me in conversation when DD is eating. That seems to help.

 

[cc_mama]

For those of you also facing this. The nursing necklace has helped already, she nursed this am in the rocking chair. She seems to really like the necklace - pulling and grabbing and looking at it. She still wanted to nurse in bed for nap time though. Hopefully the necklace will work other times too. We are going to Mall of America tomorrow and she'll have to nurse while we're there.

I'll let you know.

I got my necklace at http://mommynecklaces.com/ My 8 year old dd loves her matching one.

 

[wifeandmom]

My 6.5 month old simply will *not* nurse other than lying down in our bed. Alone. With no interruptions. Which is so not practical with twin 5 year olds and a 4 year old in the family as well.

In the last two weeks, I have resorted to pumping and bottle feeding her when we can't lie down. She had not gained much weight (9 oz between 4-6 months), and I simply wasn't willing to continue with a suck here and a suck there as her only nutrition during the day.

Now, our routine looks like this:

Nurse first thing in the morning
6-8 ounces pumped milk mid-morning
6-8 ounces pumped milk around lunch time
Nurse mid-afternoon (big kids have rest time in their rooms)
6-8 ounces pumped milk early evening
Nurse at bedtime (just after putting big kids to bed)

Sometimes she'll wake up again to nurse around 10-midnight, and sometimes she'll wake up between 4-6am and nurse. It's far more common for her to eat again around 10pm or so, maybe 3-4 nights per week I'd say.

I've also just started giving her a few nibbles of avocado (loves it), banana (hates it), and peas (loves loves loves them). I usually do that at dinner time, just before bath, for obvious reasons.

If you're dealing with older children that can't be left alone while you lie in bed with the baby, it's really hard. We fought this battle from about 4 months til I started pumping and feeding. Thankfully I have a really fast let down and my milk sprays her in the face, so nursing is at least *as* easy as bottle feeding for her, so I don't worry about her refusing the breast cause it's more work.

Really though, if it came down to it, I'd just pump and feed her from a bottle. Lying down in bed for every feeding just is not an option unfortunately. Pumping then feeding is a PITA, but at least she's eating, and I have a really easy time pumping too, so that helps.

 

[cc_mama]

Well, our trip out to MOA didn't go well. She screamed for an hour in the parking lot before she would latch on and eat - after I tried just about every position I could think off - including trying to lay down in the back seat. She will now snack someplace other than the bed - sometimes. But today was bad. I was really looking forward to going to the DaiperFree baby meeting but she wouldn't eat and we both ended up in tears in a parking lot on the way there. So I turned around and we went home, where she promptly nursed once I laid down in our bed.

How can I get her to nurse somewhere else? she also won't take a bottle, but that would be a whole different thread. I let her fuss and cry for a couple of minutes while trying different places, but letting her get too upset doesn't help either of us. Could it just be a phase?

All ideas would be appreciated.

 

[cc_mama]

Good news, this seems to have been a phase which lasted 2-3 weeks. Now she's doing well nursing in other rooms at home and out and about. She still gets distracted easy but will nurse without throwing a big fit first.