7 Month Old Losing Interest in Nursing?

Updated on January 01, 2007
C.K. asks from Minneapolis, MN
3 answers

Hi everyone,
I have noticed lately that my son, who is 7 months old, seems to pull off the breast several times during some feedings to look around or fuss. Can it be that I'm nursing him too often and he's just not hungry? Or I'm paranoid? How many times a day should a 7 month old nurse? And for how long? He used to take a half hour and now he seems done in about 5-8 minutes. We feed him a healthy portion of solids once in late morning and again around our dinner time. I work full-time and have been pumping for 3 months at work, so keeping my supply up has been a constant struggle. I also worry that when he fusses at the breast he his getting frustrated that I'm not a bottle. He has never tried formula and I'd like to keep it that way since I've come this far. His weight has always been above the 50th percentile, but has gone from 90th at birth to about 70th at 6 months. Thanks!

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C.A.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son is the same way. He will fight and get very frustrated if my milk doesn't let down immediately. This just causes the milk not to let down, because he's not sucking on the breast long enough to trigger it. This just gets us both very frustrated and I've thought about ditching it many times. Now her rarely has a bottle, and will often times refuse it if we try to give him one. So I don't think he's wishing you were a bottle.

I think that this time is a key point for a lot of babies. I only have mine for experience, but my second baby was the same way. She fought and complained if the milk didn't come. I finally gave up with her and decided if it's not enjoyable for either of us, then no reason to fight it. That started about 7 months as well.

I don't have alot of great advice to give you, just to let you know that your not alone and your son does not wish you were a bottle.

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C.C.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi C., I'm a Lactation Consultant and mother of four. What you are describing is not uncommon in children that age. Sometimes its about teething or becoming interested in other things going on around him. You mentioned nursing him too often, he may be nursing more frequently because he is a more efficient nurser but likes and needs to touch base frequently, in other words you don't need to worry about what the right number of times he "should" nurse. Little ones go through phases, just like we do! Feel free to call and talk. There are lots of very normal reasons your child is nursing more.C. Clark ###-###-####

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L.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

My advice: don't worry about it unless he starts losing weight or showing obvious signs of dehydration.

My child also became antsy when nursing around that age b/c he'd suddenly become so much more aware of the world around. So be it. He also became expressive enough to let me know when he wanted to nurse, so I started to pay attention to those signs, too. Finally, sometimes I just needed to wrap him tightly in my arms and hold him near the nipple for a second and he reorganized and latched back on. If that didn't work, I just let him crawl away.

He's now, once again, much more persistent when nursing. Just a phase, I guess, like so many things.

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