My son has decided that he has more important things to do than eat. It has been getting progressively worse. Now he refuses to nurse unless he is either almost asleep or just waking up. At night he wakes up every 2-3 hours and nurses while in a half-sleep kind of state.
He always latches on and works for a minute or two before figuring that he must be missing out on something. He sits up and looks for his Dad, the dog, or a sunbeam. If I don't help him sit up he complains. Loudly. Usually as soon as the milk comes down he is on to other more exciting things.
This evening I tried again with no success. I decided to make a bottle with formula and see how that would go. To my great surprise, he was thrilled and inhaled the two ounces I had prepared. He used to gag on formula...
Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do. Should I continue to try to nurse him? Am I trying to nurse him too often (every 3-4 hours)? Should I just pump and give him a bottle?
Advice welcome.
3 comments:
This is exactly the same time that I stopped nursing. I was very tired of fighting with my dear child just to get him to eat. He wanted NO PART of the bottle or formula until he reached this lovely age of wanting to look around, and making sure he wasn't missing out on anything. It was actually exactly on his 6 month birthday that he started taking a bottle, and I haven't looked back since. He has been a WAY different baby since. WAY HAPPIER! I am very pro nursing, but I'm also do what works for your baby. I'm not saying you should quite nursing, but I'm saying not to be too hard on yourself if that is what you decide. Good luck!
I've had great success and supportive advice from the La Leche League leaders in the city. They might be worth giving a call.
Newt was better at nursing than I was so I pumped until my confidence built up enough that I could nurse without worrying. And I always had a stash in the fridge (and at this stage your milk can be stored at room temp for a couple of hours) so that a bottle was handy if me or Kev needed it.
Good luck -- email me if you need to chat.
Lisa - it's good to hear that my situation isn't unique. Thanks for your support.
JP - can I get your email address? I'll look up LLL. Hadn't even thought about that idea. I am pumping to keep up my demand.
I did speak to a lactation consultant who told me that "nursing strikes" aren't uncommon.
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