The past two days E has been crying when I try to get her latched to eat. She used to never have an issue and this has seemed to come out of no where. I have to trick her by putting the pacifier by her mouth and then pulling it away, and then she will latch. I'm not sure if she is preferring the pacifier over the breast but it seems odd to be all the sudden. She is giving signs of being hungry and even skipped a feeding yesterday because she refused to eat. Does anyone have any idea what's going on or what I could be doing wrong?
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@Bao: Did you eat anything unusual like something really spicy or acidic? Or lots of dairy like ice cream? Also, is LO stuffed at all? M would struggle to latch when she couldn't breath very well through her nose.
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@MamaMoose: she seems to be able to breath ok! I've had dairy but nothing more than normal, nothing spicy.
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@Bao: my lo (16 weeks) has just started doing this the past few days and I do the same trick you do with the pacifier. It seems to be a problem when she's tired and actually needs to nap. I just try to remember she'll eat when she's hungry. I'm also attributing it to a 4 mo growth spurt (is that a thing?) since she seems fussier in general and hasn't been napping as well as she used to.
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@Bao: hhhmhhh. I'm out of ideas then. M went through phases here and there of refusing the breast. When all else failed for some reason she would always nurse if I would get in the bath and cuddle her in there. But I know that's harder for you with A around!
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@gotkimchi: it's good to know someone else has experienced this as well! I guess yesterday when she skipped an entire feeding and I had to pump it worries me!
@MamaMoose: it is difficult but I could try that tonight after I get A down! -
@Bao: could your LO be teething? Alexis went on a partial strike at four months and I could usually get her to feed lying down and right before and after naps (before she realised what she was doing!)
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@Bao: @Kemma: I was wondering about teeth too because besides the nursing thing she's been extra drooly and chewing on things but I didn't feel/see anything in her mouth.. But babies are weird so who knows! It is nice to know this stuff happens to other people and seems normal
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We went through a phase of this too. I did the same pacifier trick! Eventually, it just passed. Occasionally DS will go through phases (were in one right now) that he'll be super fussy during his last evening nursing session and I'll have to walk around, bounce and shush him to get him to finally latch and stay latched. Usually, it's just that he's exhausted, doesn't want to wait for letdowns all while fighting to stay awake (Our last nursing session of the day I nurse him to sleep) so once he finally closes his eye he'll stay latched.
Hopefully it will pass soon! There's nothing harder/emotionally exhausting than a fussy baby while nursing!
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@Kemma: @gotkimchi: she's been SO drooly and chewing on her hands so maybe? But she seems awfully young. A didn't get her first tooth til 11 months! @walnutems: I'm glad to hear it passed for you!!
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We went through this at almost exactly 4 months. It passed after a week or two. I have no idea what it was! It freaked me out at the time but since getting over it we haven't had any other issues. Hopefully it passes quickly for you too!
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I've been dealing with this type of thing for the past 3-4 days now. She's 4 months today. Not every feed, but most. She'll be super fussy and latch on and off and impatient I think. She did a really good session after one of her naps today though. I kept the curtains shut in her room and tried to minimize distractions. It doesn't work every time though. Sometimes I'll give her gripe water and DH will walk her around. It's really exhausting, so I know how you feel!
Edit: if my LO starts getting fussy and crying, I take her off and sit her up and sing Slippery Fish to her, haha. I just try to get her to calm down and we try again. I switch sides too. Basically, anything and everything! Lol
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P.S I remember that she'd still eat really well if she was still partially asleep during that stage. Sooo like before bed I'd put her to sleep with her paci first and then essentially do a dream feed...take her paci out and latch her. She'd have a really good nursing session! I'd do the same thing before naps.
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Mine is 16 weeks old and doing this too. Teeth? Growing? No idea but I hope it's over soon for all of us!
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@Bao: we're going thru the se thing at ten weeks. I've had to pump several times over the past two days. It's very frustrating. If I find a miracle cure, I'll let you know'
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It's so weird that so many babies go through this around the same age, I wonder what it is? Thanks everyone for chiming in now I'm not as worried about it
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@walnutems: we had this exact same issue around 4-5 months. My DD was just so tired and hungry before bed, she got super impatient and needed the pacifier to calm herself a bit before she could nurse. She also had a couple of mini nursing strikes where it was just easier to pump a bottle than try to get her to nurse -- they usually lasted a day or two and she went back to her normal routine.
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