Milk before solids...easier said than done

[wendibird22]

When you have an independent, distractible 8mo! I swear lately nursing is like Survivor: outwit, outplay, outlast. For a few weeks now, maybe even a month, DD2 (who will be 8mos next week) is just not into nursing during the day. She's great during the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning (lucky me), but during the daytime, forget it. She screams, arches her back, pushes away with her arms and legs. It's like she's being tortured. And yet I know she's hungry because if this happens just before lunch or dinner she inhale at least a 4oz jar of purees and often more. It's so frustrating. Tonight for example, I got home from work at 4pm. Her last bottle of EBM was at 2:15. I tried nursing her at 4:30 and at 5:00 and it was a battle royale. I tried nursing her in several different locations and positions and she'll latch on, suck a few times and the scream and kick like she's being murdered. I'll sit her up on my lap and then she cries and tugs at my shirt, so I try again. Wash, rinse, repeat. So I gave up and we had dinner. She ate 4oz of squash in a blink of an eye.

She's teething (two top teeth are coming in), she just learned to crawl on Sunday, and she's super curious about everything. I read and reread Kellymom advice on distractible nursing, teething, etc. Just not sure what to do next. I would gather she's nursing (or bottles during weekdays) 5-6x's in 24hrs (today for example was 3 sessions and 3 bottles). That seems adequate so should I just go with it? Is this just a passing phase? I don't recall having this much trouble with DD1.

[daisymommy]

Oh yeah. I remember that at this age--at about 9 months, (and just went through it again with Andrew), that I started nursing at wake up time, and before each nap and bedtime, as well as once during the night (sigh...not joking here). But they started refusing to nurse at any other time. I just gave up trying. It still equated to 5x a day, so not too bad. But if they weren't going to sleep and they were hungry, I fed table food.

I think with other babies who weren't nursing to sleep, this was a doctor's way of making sure they were getting plenty of milk. But with my babes, they were still getting in the same amount of nursing sessions.

[wendibird22]

Thanks Amy. DH and I are starting to call her a velociraptor because of the horrid screaming she does. Even this morning she put up a terrible fight as I was trying to nurse her before running out the door at 7:45am for work. But once she stopped fighting me she nursed for a good 5-10mins and drifted off to sleep. Yet the 5:15am session (you know, the one where she wakes me up 45mins before I have to get up!) was easy peasy.

[njs]

when my LO is teething, he sometimes will refuse the bottle (and cry/scream) b/c the sucking hurts his teeth/gums.

Sounds like she is hungry from the reaction to the purees though. Maybe just try to give the purees when she doesn't want to BF?

My DS goes through phases of whether he'll eat purees or not and when he likes the bottle and when he doesn't. I chalk up just about everything these days to a phase! lol

[Wondermom]

When you have an independent, distractible 8mo! I swear lately nursing is like Survivor: outwit, outplay, outlast. For a few weeks now, maybe even a month, DD2 (who will be 8mos next week) is just not into nursing during the day. She's great during the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning (lucky me), but during the daytime, forget it. She screams, arches her back, pushes away with her arms and legs. It's like she's being tortured. And yet I know she's hungry because if this happens just before lunch or dinner she inhale at least a 4oz jar of purees and often more. It's so frustrating. Tonight for example, I got home from work at 4pm. Her last bottle of EBM was at 2:15. I tried nursing her at 4:30 and at 5:00 and it was a battle royale. I tried nursing her in several different locations and positions and she'll latch on, suck a few times and the scream and kick like she's being murdered. I'll sit her up on my lap and then she cries and tugs at my shirt, so I try again. Wash, rinse, repeat. So I gave up and we had dinner. She ate 4oz of squash in a blink of an eye.

She's teething (two top teeth are coming in), she just learned to crawl on Sunday, and she's super curious about everything. I read and reread Kellymom advice on distractible nursing, teething, etc. Just not sure what to do next. I would gather she's nursing (or bottles during weekdays) 5-6x's in 24hrs (today for example was 3 sessions and 3 bottles). That seems adequate so should I just go with it? Is this just a passing phase? I don't recall having this much trouble with DD1.


:yeahthat: OMG! You might as well be writing about my DS2. He's just 7 months, but doing the same thing. What worries me a bit, is that his milk consumption has really dropped. He THANKFULLY sleeps through the night most nights, but we're not making up his lost milk intake even in the middle of the night. He normally nurses to sleep. Fought most of that last night, so ate less than he normally would. Slept 11 hours. Woke up, and REFUSED to eat this morning. I tried multiple ways. He'd half sucked a few times, left me spraying milk all over my work clothes, then just refuesd. I finally gave up and sent him on his way to day care.

PLEASE tell me this is just a phase and will, too, pass!

[Rainbows&Roses]

They (PT, OT and ST) tried to tell me at my preemie's 8 month developmental check-up at the hospital this week that this was abnormal behavior (distracted nursing) and indicates a developmental problem so I am glad to hear that it happens often. I tried to tell them I thought it was normal, but they looked at me like I was crazy.

[craftysierra]

They (PT, OT and ST) tried to tell me at my preemie's 8 month developmental check-up at the hospital this week that this was abnormal behavior (distracted nursing) and indicates a developmental problem so I am glad to hear that it happens often. I tried to tell them I thought it was normal, but they looked at me like I was crazy.

What is crazy is being the Mama during the crazy gymnastic distracted nursing stage! Trying to nurse without soaking yourself or flashing the world :) All my kids have gone through something like this. It will pass!

Sierra