Baby don't want to feed from breast:(

My LOis 2 weeks old today. Since past 3 days i have been giving him EBM combined with formula milk ( as he has lost weight since birth and mw suggested to top up with FM). I used to BF him when he was born but suddenly he has gone all grumpy and starts to cry when i put him on my breast. He hits his head on the brest and when he has taken mouthful of my breast hardly sucks one or two times then leaves it and starts crying and then again tries to take my breast into his mouth and cycle goes on. I feel such a failure as i can't get him on my breast even after trying everyday. At first i thought my method of latching is wrong but mw said it is good the problem is with haby not taking it. What really concerns me is that he was all fine from birth but has suddenly stopped taking milk frim my breast.

Just to add my nipples are very cracked and sore as in the beginnging my positioning was wrong. But it is all fine now. I thought this could be the reason but mw said no it isn't.

Sorry for long post but any help/advice would be very appreciated.

6 Replies

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  • Try not to be too hard on yourself. I was told that sometimes babies 'forget' how to feed and the only way is to persevere. As long as you are expressing milk your body will respond to the demand so don't panic that you don't have milk, its just that baby needs to remember what to do and might be confused if you are using a bottle, perhaps try using a cup? If your nipples are sore what you put on them might not taste nice and when latching on I find it really helps to put baby to the breast and hold them there, especially when they're small.

    My little one was 2.5kg born, lost 100g in three days then by 13 days weighed in at 2.9kg, the expectation is that babies should be back to their birth weight by 2 weeks. I feed him on demand and for as long as he wants (so he gets the rich hind milk), if he is lazy feeding I stroke his jaw and rub his back. For my breasts I'm using weleda nursing oil (which is really soothing but LO doesn't like the taste of fennel much) and lanolin for my sore nipples. Because he's small getting a good latch is difficult (especially when the let down reflex sets in and he messes about) but we keep trying and we're getting there. He's gaining weight and I also know that in time it will get a lot easier.

    Remember that by providing for baby you need to look after yourself, that means eating and drinking well and resting when you can. I would strongly suggest you see if there is a breastfeeding support group in your area as they have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Good luck I hope this helps :)

  • Why not call the Breastfeeding line 0300 330 0700, they are brilliant.

  • I was going to say, get hold of your health visitor, they may have a breastfeeding expert in the team. They will help you through this. xx

  • Hiya my little girl used to do this all the time - latch on but then get impatient & come off again after a couple of sucks. I found it helped to express a little bit of milk off the breast before putting her on as it made my nipple easier to latch onto & meant that she got milk as soon as she latched, as I think otherwise she was not getting it straight away. She's now 3 weeks & 5 days and it's getting easier, started to pick up around the 3 week point.

  • Does your baby take ok frm a bottle? Have u got a nipple guard? I seen one when I was in hospital & thy looked like the mimicked a bottle while still bf.

  • Thank you all do much for taking time to reply.

    I'll be going this tuesday to bf support group. Haven't met HV yet. I have been expressing milk plus ffing my LO. He has stsrted to suck but hardly 5-6 times but still it has given me hope.

    Once again thank you all. :)

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