6 month old refuses to nurse??

My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

This sounds like a nursing strike to me, although it is a little early
for even that. I suggest persisting with the nursing, especially at
bed and nap time, and to limit the solids.

Good luck,
Larry

isturby writes:
: My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
: She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
: starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
: cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
: nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
: before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
: when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
: formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
: milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
: serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
: only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
: fix"....

: Does anyone have any suggestions?

: Thanks.

"isturby" wrote in message
oups.com...
My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....



Do you nurse prior to giving her solids? If not, make sure you do this. If
she's not interested, try after she's had her meal - it may have made her
thirsty. You're right that expressing and using bottles, while she's past
the age for nipple confusion, is not likely to help. It will just consume a
lot of your time and there's no guarantee that she'll take it.

Rest assured that a six month old baby -will not- starve itself. As long as
you're making it available, there isn't a problem. However, if she isn't
drinking sufficient during the day, she will keep you up more at night. Keep
in mind that breastmilk should still make up virtually all of her calorie
requirements - it is much richer in calories and nutrients than any other
food, and solids at this age are just experimentation.

It's not impossible that she's experiencing a nursing strike, but she is on
the young side for one - the most likely scenario is that it's just a
developmental phase. There is more to see and do than ever, she's beginning
to think about exploring her environment even if crawling is a long way
off...simply put, there just isn't enough time in the day for everything she
wants to do and discover, and rather than not being interested in you or
breastfeeding, she's just interested in -everything- which makes her easily
distracted.

This is where those lessons you learnt early on to do with parental patience
get reinforced ;-) Take her to bed with you, pull a blanket over the side of
her face so that her vision is blinkered - and yes, she will attempt to play
with that too - and just enjoy plenty of snuggle time and skin-to-skin
contact away from noise and distractions. It's impossible to create a
'distraction-free' environment - I remember my daughter was even distracted
by the pinex ceiling tiles at one point - but you can reduce the stimulants
with low or no lighting etc.
And it will pass - pretty soon chances are she'll be experiencing separation
anxiety, and will turn to nursing for comfort.

Good luck - oh, and welcome to MKB, I hope you keep posting here :-)


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

What Amy said.

-- Anita --


Mum of Two wrote:

"isturby" wrote in message
oups.com...

My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....




Do you nurse prior to giving her solids? If not, make sure you do this. If
she's not interested, try after she's had her meal - it may have made her
thirsty. You're right that expressing and using bottles, while she's past
the age for nipple confusion, is not likely to help. It will just consume a
lot of your time and there's no guarantee that she'll take it.

Rest assured that a six month old baby -will not- starve itself. As long as
you're making it available, there isn't a problem. However, if she isn't
drinking sufficient during the day, she will keep you up more at night. Keep
in mind that breastmilk should still make up virtually all of her calorie
requirements - it is much richer in calories and nutrients than any other
food, and solids at this age are just experimentation.

It's not impossible that she's experiencing a nursing strike, but she is on
the young side for one - the most likely scenario is that it's just a
developmental phase. There is more to see and do than ever, she's beginning
to think about exploring her environment even if crawling is a long way
off...simply put, there just isn't enough time in the day for everything she
wants to do and discover, and rather than not being interested in you or
breastfeeding, she's just interested in -everything- which makes her easily
distracted.

This is where those lessons you learnt early on to do with parental patience
get reinforced ;-) Take her to bed with you, pull a blanket over the side of
her face so that her vision is blinkered - and yes, she will attempt to play
with that too - and just enjoy plenty of snuggle time and skin-to-skin
contact away from noise and distractions. It's impossible to create a
'distraction-free' environment - I remember my daughter was even distracted
by the pinex ceiling tiles at one point - but you can reduce the stimulants
with low or no lighting etc.
And it will pass - pretty soon chances are she'll be experiencing separation
anxiety, and will turn to nursing for comfort.

Good luck - oh, and welcome to MKB, I hope you keep posting here :-)

isturby wrote:
My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

My 5 month old dd is like this. Incredibly happy to see me, cries if I
go away, but if I try and nurse her, which I know she wants, she'll
nurse for 2 seconds, then pop off and look around. Really maddening!
And she nurses for much shorter sessions, and doesn't seem all that
interested in actually eating. But like they said, she won't starve
herself. I don't think at this age, they're actually thinking of food
as something fulfilling, it's just a fascinating new activity. Nursing
will still be her main food source.

Keep up the patience and good work!

Stasya

Does anyone have any suggestions?

do nothing, don't give her expressed milk in any shape or form, nor formula,
continue to feed solids at the same frequency and in a few days she will
almost certainly be back at the breast, she may be teething, or have a mild
ear infection and be finding breastfeeding uncomfortable, but if you give
her an alternative she may decide she prefers that and you'll be stuck.

Anne

"isturby" wrote in message
oups.com...
My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

I'll give you my standard answer for this, have her checked for an ear
infection. Often the only sign of an ear infection in a baby is refusal to
nurse.

New York Jen wrote:
"isturby" wrote in message
oups.com...
My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I am also thinking that this is
a "phase" and hope that it will pass soon! Frankly, I'm not ready to
give up nursing... Anyhow, today I tried to let her go a good 4 hours
after a feed (ie. breakfast) and she nursed for about 3
minutes....youpee! I tried again after lunch, thinking that I was on
to something....nah. In any case, she nursed well before going to bed
tonight. We'll see what tomorrow, and much patience, does.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Is.

I'll give you my standard answer for this, have her checked for an ear
infection. Often the only sign of an ear infection in a baby is refusal to
nurse.

My 5 1/2 month old is doing the same thing now too. I had him checked
out at the Ped Dr today. No ear infection, a bit of a sore throat, no
strep. Hopefully, this is the reason for the strike with my son.

Otherwise, I'm exhausted and fustrated.

Hang in there...

- maureen


isturby wrote:
My daughter is 6 months old and started solid food a few weeks ago.
She had been starting to show a lack of interest in nursing prior to
starting the food, and I was advised to begin the
cereal/veggies....Anyhow, she currently does anything possible to avoid
nursing during the day. The only time that I am successful is just
before bedtime and during the night (once). She only uses a pacifier
when it is time to nap/sleep or in the car. I would rather not start
formula, however I don't think that I can pump a sufficient supply of
milk for her for the day. This brings me to my next topic....how do I
serve expressed milk? Do I use a bottle? I've heard that this could
only increase her dislike for nursing since she can get a "quick
fix"....

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

"New York Jen" wrote in message
...


I'll give you my standard answer for this, have her checked for an ear
infection. Often the only sign of an ear infection in a baby is refusal
to nurse.

Oh, good point...I forgot that one!


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/