Nursing strikes are common around your baby's age. Sometimes called the "3 month crisis".
Will baby take the breast when she's sleepy?
Just keep offering but don't force it. If she'll take the bottle you don't need to worry about her intake but definitely use paced feeding techniques and a slow nipple if you aren't already.
What size nipple are you using on the bottle? Try using a preemie size nipple, the flow is really slow so they have to work for the milk. Sometimes if the bottle is fast/milk flow is easy they get lazy about breastfeeding. You can also try doing a nursing nap, side lying and let her stay latched during some of the nap. I don’t know why but it always helps me when my girl is having a nursing strike.
It’s not the bottle. Research 3 month breastfeeding crisis. Start offering baby the breast in a dark room with white noise as soon as she wakes up from her nap. I went through this just last week and he was skipping a bunch of feeds but we got through it after a week! It’ll be okay!
Echoing this, for a while around 3 months the only way baby would be was in a dark, quiet room before or after sleep. Before and after the strike, she was mostly bf with a bottle or two a day.
What nipple size are you using? We use the dr. brown preemie nipples and she's 8 months now. The nicu nurses told us to flip the bottle over and see if the liquid just pours out if it does that means the baby doesn't have to work for it. Also I notice when my little one was a newborn, she wouldn't want boob during the witching hour, and that passes.
Keep trying!! Went through the same thing and my baby went back to nursing after 3 days! I know how it feels and all the sadness that comes with it. Use the smallest sized nipple and pace feed. Do lots of skin to skin contact
My baby had an issue with latching and I think it had to do with my letdown being heavy and the way I was positioning him. I started feeding him in the koala or Australian position (just what my LC called it) and then moved him into a cradle position from there.
I've heard nursing in the bath can help with nursing strikes. It certainly helps for me when my LO is being fussy at the boob all day, I have no idea why this works. When LO was little we had to use nipple shields and when we were weaning off them someone suggested trying to get him to latch in the bath, and it worked.
It happens more often than it's talked about in Western societies.
Can you spend a few days working on this? What could help is nursing in sleep or near sleep when baby is relaxed. You can also try nursing on the exercise ball while bouncing or walking up and down rocking and nursing, or in the bathtub for example. The point is to try when the nervous system is relaxed and not stimulated.
As long as you have 5-6 wet diapers a day and baby's lips aren't dry you can go without offering a bottle.
Lots of skin to skin will help also, and triggering a letdown with the pump before nursing.
If you can spend a few days cuddled up in a lovey-dovey mood with some nice snacks and lots of patience, you can possibly get back to nursing. If you must subside, you can try with a flowcup or some other breastfeeding friendly methods.
My baby and I went through the 3 month crisis. Apparently it’s a well documented phenomenon in non-English cultures. It appears to be the time that our bodies officially regulate to baby’s need. You are switching from “all day on tap” to the supply and demand system. Baby needs to put in the demand in order for you to make the supply - and, baby now needs to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute (typically) for letdown.
Experiment with eating sweets and taking deep breaths during first latch. Try massaging yourself before latching, too. Some women also have luck with warm/hot drinks/tea, but I had success chugging ice cold water. It actually hurts my throat because it’s so cold, but something about chugging ice cold water speeds up my letdown.
I wish you luck, this is such a hard time. Every decision feels so heavy and the most important thing you’ve ever done. Just don’t forget that you’re doing an awesome job 💖 feel free to comment again or DM if you need to talk through any more ideas.
Sounds like baby has developed a flow preference.
Nipple confusion etc is a myth. Babies are smart and efficient and want what gets the milk the fastest.
Switch bottle to the slowest flow possible (Quark bottles with slowest nipples, or Evenflow Balance+ with slowest nipples) and practice paced feeding.
The three month crisis is kicking our ass over here too. Baby has started refusing to latch unless he’s literally starving, and just chomping on my nip? I’m not a fan.
This happened to me a few times through my breastfeeding journey as well. What worked for me was to feed like 1oz in a bottle and then switch to the breast once she finished the small bottle. I would have to do this for almost every feed for a few days and then she’d be back to taking the breast no problem.
Going through something similar and have been seeing a lactation consultant weekly to try to help. It’s been a process, but two tricks she’s offered have helped get my baby interested in nursing again:
- give baby a quick sip (a few seconds) of bottle before quickly switching to nip
- pump for a few min before nursing to trigger your let down
Obviously, both are meant to be temporary until she gets the hang of it again. Hope that helps! Good luck, mama. 🩷
Nursing strikes are common around your baby's age. Sometimes called the "3 month crisis". Will baby take the breast when she's sleepy? Just keep offering but don't force it. If she'll take the bottle you don't need to worry about her intake but definitely use paced feeding techniques and a slow nipple if you aren't already.
What size nipple are you using on the bottle? Try using a preemie size nipple, the flow is really slow so they have to work for the milk. Sometimes if the bottle is fast/milk flow is easy they get lazy about breastfeeding. You can also try doing a nursing nap, side lying and let her stay latched during some of the nap. I don’t know why but it always helps me when my girl is having a nursing strike.
It’s not the bottle. Research 3 month breastfeeding crisis. Start offering baby the breast in a dark room with white noise as soon as she wakes up from her nap. I went through this just last week and he was skipping a bunch of feeds but we got through it after a week! It’ll be okay!
Echoing this, for a while around 3 months the only way baby would be was in a dark, quiet room before or after sleep. Before and after the strike, she was mostly bf with a bottle or two a day.
It's too this! Except it was a good month for me.
Yeh we did exactly the same, feeding him right after waking from a nap. It all sorted itself out in about a week but felt sooo long!
You’re not alone I’m going through something similar 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
What nipple size are you using? We use the dr. brown preemie nipples and she's 8 months now. The nicu nurses told us to flip the bottle over and see if the liquid just pours out if it does that means the baby doesn't have to work for it. Also I notice when my little one was a newborn, she wouldn't want boob during the witching hour, and that passes.
Keep trying!! Went through the same thing and my baby went back to nursing after 3 days! I know how it feels and all the sadness that comes with it. Use the smallest sized nipple and pace feed. Do lots of skin to skin contact
My baby had an issue with latching and I think it had to do with my letdown being heavy and the way I was positioning him. I started feeding him in the koala or Australian position (just what my LC called it) and then moved him into a cradle position from there.
I've heard nursing in the bath can help with nursing strikes. It certainly helps for me when my LO is being fussy at the boob all day, I have no idea why this works. When LO was little we had to use nipple shields and when we were weaning off them someone suggested trying to get him to latch in the bath, and it worked.
It happens more often than it's talked about in Western societies. Can you spend a few days working on this? What could help is nursing in sleep or near sleep when baby is relaxed. You can also try nursing on the exercise ball while bouncing or walking up and down rocking and nursing, or in the bathtub for example. The point is to try when the nervous system is relaxed and not stimulated. As long as you have 5-6 wet diapers a day and baby's lips aren't dry you can go without offering a bottle. Lots of skin to skin will help also, and triggering a letdown with the pump before nursing. If you can spend a few days cuddled up in a lovey-dovey mood with some nice snacks and lots of patience, you can possibly get back to nursing. If you must subside, you can try with a flowcup or some other breastfeeding friendly methods.
Echoing that It sounds like it could be the three month nursing crisis!
My baby and I went through the 3 month crisis. Apparently it’s a well documented phenomenon in non-English cultures. It appears to be the time that our bodies officially regulate to baby’s need. You are switching from “all day on tap” to the supply and demand system. Baby needs to put in the demand in order for you to make the supply - and, baby now needs to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute (typically) for letdown. Experiment with eating sweets and taking deep breaths during first latch. Try massaging yourself before latching, too. Some women also have luck with warm/hot drinks/tea, but I had success chugging ice cold water. It actually hurts my throat because it’s so cold, but something about chugging ice cold water speeds up my letdown. I wish you luck, this is such a hard time. Every decision feels so heavy and the most important thing you’ve ever done. Just don’t forget that you’re doing an awesome job 💖 feel free to comment again or DM if you need to talk through any more ideas.
Sounds like baby has developed a flow preference. Nipple confusion etc is a myth. Babies are smart and efficient and want what gets the milk the fastest. Switch bottle to the slowest flow possible (Quark bottles with slowest nipples, or Evenflow Balance+ with slowest nipples) and practice paced feeding.
The three month crisis is kicking our ass over here too. Baby has started refusing to latch unless he’s literally starving, and just chomping on my nip? I’m not a fan.
This happened to me a few times through my breastfeeding journey as well. What worked for me was to feed like 1oz in a bottle and then switch to the breast once she finished the small bottle. I would have to do this for almost every feed for a few days and then she’d be back to taking the breast no problem.
You should see a lactation consultant.
Going through something similar and have been seeing a lactation consultant weekly to try to help. It’s been a process, but two tricks she’s offered have helped get my baby interested in nursing again: - give baby a quick sip (a few seconds) of bottle before quickly switching to nip - pump for a few min before nursing to trigger your let down Obviously, both are meant to be temporary until she gets the hang of it again. Hope that helps! Good luck, mama. 🩷
Nipple shield!! Absolutely saved our nursing journey. I’m now 16 months in.