Rejecting breast at 5 months

My DS has shown very little interest in BF'ing in the past week other than bedtimes and naptimes (when it is more for comfort). Other times, when I know he's hungry, he constantly pulls off and it's a struggle to get him to nurse. After trying to nurse a few times, I've resorted to giving him a bottle of formula, which he takes without a problem. I could never pump very much so I gave up and didn't build up a stash. I now wish I kept at it! I've started to pump again so I can give him EBM rather than formula but that is slow-going and I'm afraid that my milk supply has already been jeopardized. I've had some issues in the past and the best cure was frequent nursing sessions w/DS. Now that's not happening. He isn't a large baby (maybe 15lbs now) and I want him to get all the nourishment he can, regardless of the source. If I continue giving him a few bottles of formula daily to supplement the nursing sessions, will that negate all the positive things that BF does for him? Also, does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be causing this and how to get my baby BF'ing exclusively again.

Thanks!
Lori
Mommy to Charlie, 5 months old!

[lizajane]

to be honest, i would stop the formula right away if you want to continue breastfeeding. it will only increase your problem.

you are experiencing a classic 5 month old thing- baby is too interested in everything going on around him to stop and nurse. go to a quiet place where there isn't anything to see or hear that would distract him. you may need to turn out the lights and close the door. and just KEEP AT IT. if you keep giving him a bottle, he will keep waiting for the bottle. but if you keep giving him the breast, he will figure it out and when he is hungry, he will eat.

just keep trying! good luck!

[asha]

Hi Lori,
I totally understand what you are going through. DS lost interest as soon as I went back to work (8weeks). He would nurse only in the middle of the night when he woke up. So, pumping was the only option. He was fine with the bottle. I never gave him formula. I initially had an avent isis pump. It was very hard for me to pump using that. Before I got back to work I got a medela traveller. Slowly got used to it. Supply actually increased after that.
Continued pumping till DS was about 9 months. Around 8 months supply started dropping drastically. At the same time, I changed jobs and at my new job it was harder for me to continue pumping. Lactation room was in a different building. Everything put together, we finally weaned at 9 months. I wanted to BF for at least 12 months, had to give up before that. I still feel guilty sometimes. DS turned 11 months today.
Don't use formula. This is my advice. Try a new pump. May be you could rent one from one of the hospitals clsoe by, just to try. You might have better luck.

Good luck & Dont give up!

~Asha
mom to Akshay
11/14/03

[KrisM]

My son pulls off a lot now, too. I've noticed that a nursing session has gotten much shorter in the past few weeks. He now takes only 3-4 min. to empty a breast. It's amazingly fast! Maybe Charlie has speeded things up?

Thank you for the gentle kick in the butt and encouragement. Charlie has been exclusively BF'ing for the past two days. Hopefully we're back on track. I can't help but feel guilty now for giving him formula...not from what anyone has said here but from some reading I did yesterday. All I can do though is move forward and continue BF'ing my sweet baby boy.

BTW, if any new moms are reading this, a good piece of advice I have is to give away the free samples of formula you receive. There's no reason to keep it in the house if you're BF'ing and if you're having issues/problems, it can be too easy to turn to.

Lori
mommy to Charlie, 5 months old!

[TahliasMom]

Wow. I'm so so glad I read this post. My DD is a little over 5 months and also around 15 lbs and having the same issues, especially the last 3 weeks. DD constantly pulls off and only feeds on each breast for 3-5 minutes tops except for the first am feeding when she's sleepy and hungry she goes for almost 20 total! Otherwise, I can only feed her in the nursery with the shades drawn or in the car with a blanket over her which she hates. Last week she started to scream after pulling off and would not latch back on so we started to give DD 3-4 oz of EBM which DD would guzzle down. At night we had to resort to formula because I'm running out of EBM and I thought she wasn't getting enough to eat. Plus the pump is not as efficient as DD and I only get 3-4 oz after 20 minutes of pumping! :( So out of the 5-6 feedings she gets 2-3 bottles at 6-8 oz each. We thought DD was weaning herself off the breast but this post gives us hope. I'm going to try to wean her off the bottles and back to breast.
have a blessed day
Katherine

[new_mommy25]

Ah yes, my DS was exactly the same at that age. I would just go lay in my room and nurse in the side lying position. It had the least amount of distractions and sometimes we would doze off together. Bliss..