Six Month Old Not Wanting to Nurse!

She is on a nursing strike, E.. You may find some help here
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html
You can also Google "Nursing Strike" and come up with alot of things to help. What worked for me was taking a bath with the baby and allowing her to nurse there, as well as starting with a bottle, and as she got sleepy, pulling it away and having the breast ready. It only lasted a couple of days. It will get better!

Her gums might be sore and she is teething more. Give here Origel or teething tablets and see if that helps. The teething tablets are also good for fussy babies. It has a natural ingredients to calm babies!! Hope this helps. Mother of three wonderful, beautiful girls. Krisi

Don't worry too much. You probably did scare her, but keep working with her. Hold her close and snuggle her. Keep putting her on....unless she just totally flat out refuses. All four of my kids did the biting. Just keep telling them they are not to bite. They are smart little darlings. They will catch on that it is ok to eat, but NOT ok to bite.

More than likely, she will come out of this scared phase, but just keep at it. I have four. I did the same thing with them all. Babies are going to try out their new teeth. I had to take mine off and tell them NOT to bite or they would not get any more to eat. They caught on after several times of doing this. I got to the point that if they even gummed too hard, I would pull them off and tell them to not bite.

One thing you might check on yourself is if you are scared when you put her on to latch. IF you are, they will recognize this. They are very perceptive to our every emotion. IF this is happening, push through it. Think of the joys that you have while she is feeding. I know that with my last one done, I will always treasure the moments of breastfeeding. Even though it has been less than a year, I miss it. These are very special moments between mom and baby.

Unless you are ready to, don’t give up. Keep giving to her and she will come around. Remember, these times go very quickly as you have already learned with your 2 ½ year old. With my first baby, I kept him latching on until he was almost 2. By that time, he was ready to be off. My eldest daughter dropped Mommy at 1 year and 4 months. My second daughter…1 year and around 2 months. My youngest son…who is still our baby at 1year and a half… dropped Mommy milk… literally one week after his birthday. I was so sad about that. I tried to put him on for several weeks when he would get fussy because of teeth and he just flat out refused. L

I hope that this helps and encourages you.

Enjoy your darlings!

Sincerely,

D. – wife to Terry for 19+ years, Mother of four—oldest 13 and youngest 1 ½ years, distributor of Goldshield Elite products for 19+ years. http://www.gselite.com/gsh/myelite/index.csp?DistId=73344

She might be teething, which would explain the bitting. It can cause pain during nursing. Also this is about the time when the world becomes very interesting, and food not as much. Give it time.

First of all, I am so impressed that you aren't giving up. So many women would just say "Okay, she doesn't want to do it anymore; I'll just give her formula." You are making the best decision for your daughter and her future. Keep at it, and she'll come through. The other ladies gave you great links to La Leche League (LLL)and Kelly Mom. They are great places to research. You might even find a local LLL group that you could contact. I encourage you to stay the course.

I agree that it's probably a nursing strike. Could very definitely be from teething pain.

I was told that when the baby bites you, press them in closer to your breast. They will automatically let go so they can breathe. If you do this every time, they will very quickly learn not to bite. I breastfed both my children for years, not months, and I can count the number of times they bit me on one hand. I know you reacted out of pain and shock, everyone does the first time, but try that little trick next time and see if it works for you.

A. :)

Just keep trying. Don't give up. Keep in mind, if she already has 2 teeth, she could be cutting more. Teething made all of my kids have a harder time nursing for some reason. And if she really is a little scared, she will soon get over it. Just try your best to be as positive as you can with her and she'll remember how great nursing with mommy really is. Speak very sweetly to her. Maybe try gently rubbing her cheeks as she latches on to reassure her that its ok. Hang in there. It really will get better.
A. K

E.,

I hope you've got this figured out by now but here's what happened to me and my daughter when she was about 11 months old. She bit off and on for months and up to that point nothing I did stopped her. On this one occasion she bit me and on reflex I flicked her. She moved though and I wound up flicking her in the eye! She pulled off that side with alarm but did go ahead and nurse the other side. Next time she was ready to nurse she nursed the right side but refused the left (the one she was flicked on). The time after that she refused both of them. I realized we had a nursing strike happening. Friends told me to just wean her because after all, she was almost a year old. That's not what I wanted to do so I began nursing her at night, several times all night. For three days I did this, her continuing to refuse to nurse in the daytime. Finally, I got out my La Leche League magazines and mentally reviewed the LLL meetings I'd been to and somewhere came upon the idea of apologizing to DD. Aplogize to an 11 month old? It seemed ridiculous but why not give it a try? I did tell her eventually that I was sorry for flicking her in the eye and that I wouldn't do it again. Guess what? She began nursing again right away! I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to me.

I dare say if I tried that with either of my boys it wouldn't have worked.

K.

Hi! Hope u find this helpful. I could never nurse, because of my reduction, although i hear this is part of being a woman and nourshing to the infant, but if she is not latchn on well, go ahead and just do bottle only, every other one add a little ceral to it. Having teeth and nursing has to be very painful for u. I would not try this anymore after teeth. She will get all she need from a bottle. Pumping will be good or store enfamil or some type. U may have stopped producing much as u use too. Take care. Ask ur peds dr. For more advice.

Hi E.,

Good for you for wanting to continue nursing. My son had a nursing strike when his first tooth came in but it lasted only a day or two and all was back to normal. Just putting the baby to the breast and I think your daughter will go back to nursing.

She may be teething and the top of her gums are swollen and hurting so when she latches on the suction hurts her gums so she can't continue. This will probably ease up in a day or two or you could try some baby orajel or teething tablets. That could be the reason she bit you as well.

Good Luck!

You did the right thing to yell out when she bit you. I would have put my finger in her cheek and broken the latch and pulled away, rather than "flicking" her. She probably is afraid, but will nurse again when hungry. Put on soothing music, and sing to her gently with a very soothing voice and she will recover from the little trauma. I would not be feeding her any solids, as it is really quite early for that anyway, and the solids and the bottle will take away from your milk supply and nipple confuse her.
Sincerely,
B. S. RN CCM (former lactation consultant)

I agree with your decision to not offer the bottle. That will only worsen the situation. I know it sounds silly but maybe smiling at her when you are trying to get her to latch on and talking softly or singing would help. Just keep reassuring her that all is well and eventually I believe she will respond. But next time she bites simply take the beast away and resist the urge to retaliate. Good luck.

You have great advise here - just wanted to say DON"T GIVE UP! You will get through this in a day or two and be so glad for the extra months of nursing.

Hi E.,
Take a breath...inhale...exhale...okay let's look at the positive. She is still nursing a little, much less than normal, but still taking your breast. Let me reassure you - you did not scare her off the breast! You did the RIGHT thing to 'flick' her cheek and yell out when she bit you - we mom's have to teach our little one's they cannot bite momma! You did startle her I am sure, but hopefully she will remember the lesson and not bite you again. A nursing mom has to be firm when little ones bite and your reaction was EXACTLY what I did to both of my boy's when they bit me and it stopped. I breastfed my first for 18 months and my 2nd for 22 months. GOOD FOR YOU FOR BREASTFEEDING HER E.!! You are giving her such a precious gift! My guess is she is not afraid to breastfeed, her mouth is hurting from her teeth coming in. I would try giving her some Tylenol and rubbing her gums with your finger gently. You could also try giving her a little massage on her gums with a cool washcloth - dip it in water and place in the frige for a little while until nice and cool, wrap it around your finger and start massaging - I use to sing to mine when I did this to get their eye attention and help them focus on me and not the pain. Teething hurts little ones, and both my boys were not keen on nursing when a new tooth was moving under those gums and causing pain. You will get through this and many of us mom's have been right where you are...Good Luck and please let us know how it goes!

Keep offering her the breast. Do not bottle feed. She will take from you as a comfort when she is hungry enough. Still offer it to her throughout the day. Sometimes are stress can be put on our children. Keep it up, be persistent and she will come around.

I think I accidentally sent this while my baby squirmed on my lap :)

It's a very common situation and is easily resolved. Check out the la Leche League International website (llli.org, I'm pretty sure). Sleep nursing is definitely easier; they take it better through a nursing strike (which is what this is). They will have more tips on the website. Try the forum, for one thing.

You guys will be fine in just a day or two. Keep at it! Meanwhile, for constipation, give her a little water after every meal or snack that includes solids. Need to do that, anyway.

Oh, here's an idea: try screaming a little, playfully, in various fun situations.

Keep at it. I'm sure you're doing a great job. Don't worry, it will pass. CHeck out that website!

L.

It is possible she is cutting more teeth. even babies on the bottle will stop taking it with a sore mouth, sore throat.
they also bite more often at this time. I've got marks and I'm the grandma. good luck