Difficulty nursing at night

My almost five month old fought the her last evening nursing last
night. Before a couple of days ago I was building up a stash of
expressed milk in the freezer. As a result, I made more milk than she
needed. Now the freezer is full and I stopped pumping. My supply is
going back to just having enough for her. Last night she seemed
frustrated and wouldn't latch on for more than a few sips. I know that
she was also very tired. I interprete this as my milk not coming down
with as much force as she is used to (espcially for the last feeding,
which is usually when breasts are less full). Does this seem likely to
you? Any suggestions?

I would keep pumping but I cannot donate leftovers due to the meds I am
on. Seems a waste to dump the expressed milk. She only needs my frozen
stash on special occasions when she's babysat.

Erin

I wonder whether it's possible that there was too much
milk for her in your breasts. Being very tired, she may
have wanted just a tiny trickle of milk while falling asleep.
Or, you may be right that she wanted a larger amount.
If the milk sprays when she latches off, that may be a
sign that there was too much. I think it's still possible
it was too much even if it didn't spray.

You can hold her in your arms to nurse while you are
standing in a dark room, and use gentle swaying, rocking
or walking motions of your body to lull her to sleep
while she nurses. (You then have to figure out how
to transfer her to the bed without waking her, or
keep on holding her while she sleeps.) If the nursing
is not ideal in some way, (too much or too little,)
gentle rocking motions may help her accept it if
what she really wants is to go to sleep.

Just before nursing, (for that last
evening feeding) you can apply warmth to the breasts
(or cold, or warm and cold alternating) and gently
massage the breasts to get the milk starting to
flow. I think this can help whether you have too
much or too little milk. If too little, it helps
the milk start to flow so she doesn't have to work
as hard. If too much, the milk will be already
almost flowing so (hopefully) it won't start as suddenly.

You can play around with scheduling: maybe start
getting her to sleep at an earlier time. Baths can
be helpful in several ways: they keep baby awake
and entertained, if you want to delay nursing or
sleep, and also they tend to get baby feeling like
going to sleep afterwards, if you want to encourage
sleep. Something about body temperature, I think.
So a bath at a carefully chosen time can help
re-arrange baby's schedule.

Maybe she was uncomfortable for some reason: teething,
stomach ache or some other reason. For teething:
textured things to chew, cold things to chew (ice,
frozen teething rings), among other things, can help
reduce pain. For stomach aches: the "colic hold"
(a way of holding baby) can help, among other things.

If it's a case of too much milk, that will probably
correct itself soon. If it's too little: you can encourage
her to nurse more during the night to spread the
nursing out over the 24 hours; you can pump in
the mornings to help keep your supply up; you can
use some of your frozen stash in the evening.

These are just suggestions. I hope everything goes
well, whatever you decide to do.

"Erin" ) writes:
My almost five month old fought the her last evening nursing last
night. Before a couple of days ago I was building up a stash of
expressed milk in the freezer. As a result, I made more milk than she
needed. Now the freezer is full and I stopped pumping. My supply is
going back to just having enough for her. Last night she seemed
frustrated and wouldn't latch on for more than a few sips. I know that
she was also very tired. I interprete this as my milk not coming down
with as much force as she is used to (espcially for the last feeding,
which is usually when breasts are less full). Does this seem likely to
you? Any suggestions?

I would keep pumping but I cannot donate leftovers due to the meds I am
on. Seems a waste to dump the expressed milk. She only needs my frozen
stash on special occasions when she's babysat.

Erin

Well she hasn't repeated her refusal as seriously as the other night. I
think the positioning and massaging the breasts before feeding may help
if she does this again. Thank you for taking such care with a reply. I
really appreciate your help.

Erin
Catherine Woodgold wrote:
I wonder whether it's possible that there was too much
milk for her in your breasts. Being very tired, she may
have wanted just a tiny trickle of milk while falling asleep.
Or, you may be right that she wanted a larger amount.
If the milk sprays when she latches off, that may be a
sign that there was too much. I think it's still possible
it was too much even if it didn't spray.

You can hold her in your arms to nurse while you are
standing in a dark room, and use gentle swaying, rocking
or walking motions of your body to lull her to sleep
while she nurses. (You then have to figure out how
to transfer her to the bed without waking her, or
keep on holding her while she sleeps.) If the nursing
is not ideal in some way, (too much or too little,)
gentle rocking motions may help her accept it if
what she really wants is to go to sleep.

Just before nursing, (for that last
evening feeding) you can apply warmth to the breasts
(or cold, or warm and cold alternating) and gently
massage the breasts to get the milk starting to
flow. I think this can help whether you have too
much or too little milk. If too little, it helps
the milk start to flow so she doesn't have to work
as hard. If too much, the milk will be already
almost flowing so (hopefully) it won't start as suddenly.

You can play around with scheduling: maybe start
getting her to sleep at an earlier time. Baths can
be helpful in several ways: they keep baby awake
and entertained, if you want to delay nursing or
sleep, and also they tend to get baby feeling like
going to sleep afterwards, if you want to encourage
sleep. Something about body temperature, I think.
So a bath at a carefully chosen time can help
re-arrange baby's schedule.

Maybe she was uncomfortable for some reason: teething,
stomach ache or some other reason. For teething:
textured things to chew, cold things to chew (ice,
frozen teething rings), among other things, can help
reduce pain. For stomach aches: the "colic hold"
(a way of holding baby) can help, among other things.

If it's a case of too much milk, that will probably
correct itself soon. If it's too little: you can encourage
her to nurse more during the night to spread the
nursing out over the 24 hours; you can pump in
the mornings to help keep your supply up; you can
use some of your frozen stash in the evening.

These are just suggestions. I hope everything goes
well, whatever you decide to do.

"Erin" ) writes:
My almost five month old fought the her last evening nursing last
night. Before a couple of days ago I was building up a stash of
expressed milk in the freezer. As a result, I made more milk than she
needed. Now the freezer is full and I stopped pumping. My supply is
going back to just having enough for her. Last night she seemed
frustrated and wouldn't latch on for more than a few sips. I know that
she was also very tired. I interprete this as my milk not coming down
with as much force as she is used to (espcially for the last feeding,
which is usually when breasts are less full). Does this seem likely to
you? Any suggestions?

I would keep pumping but I cannot donate leftovers due to the meds I am
on. Seems a waste to dump the expressed milk. She only needs my frozen
stash on special occasions when she's babysat.

Erin