7 month old not nursing well---help?

[houndrat]

Hi there-

My 7 month old hasn't been nursing well lately. I think it started due to teething issues. Unfortunately, I've always fought her poor latch, and whenever she acts likes she's having teething issues (it's those bottom two), she starts latching poorly again.

She did this thing about 4 weeks ago where she would only nurse some milk, and then stop. My supply dropped before I realized what was going on, so then we had to spend a week nursing, then bottle feeding (to top her off), then pumping.

Somehow, it improved, but now she's at it again. Only this time, she's likely to refuse the bottle, too. I'm worried that she's losing weight---she rarely nurses more than one or two ounces first thing in the morning, if that (that's her worst time, for whatever reason). She also has an ugly-looking blood blister on her upper lip now (different than the normal little flakey blister I remember my son having when he nursed). I feel like it might be causing her pain and interfering even more with nursing, but I'm not sure what to do.

I'm thinking about maybe trying to use lanolin to decrease friction, and also maybe cup feed her part of the time, to help her blister heal.

I'm just freaking out a bit, because she was probably taking in upwards of 35 oz a day, and now I'm lucky if we get over 20.

Other than that, she's pretty happy. Although now she's starting to night-wake sometimes (probably bc she's hungry) and she's been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks old!

I sort of think she's never had a good latch, but we got around it because my supply was always huge. Now, I'm afraid to work on it too much, because I'm afraid to have her stop nursing altogether.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Debra

[RedheadbyChoice]

You keep mentioning how many ounces she's getting; are you solely bottle feeding her? I'm not understanding how you can say that she only takes 1-2 ounces, when she nurses in the morning; if you're nursing, you cannot be completely sure of how much she's getting. How are the diapers? Are you getting at least 5-6 in 24 hours?


Are you treating the teething? Teething tablets or motrin or the like? That can make a big big difference as well.

Have you seen an LC, to help with that latch?

[houndrat]

Hi again-

No, you're right---I don't know exactly how much she's been getting. But I'm a pretty good estimator (based on times when I've had her weighed pre and post-feed), and I know she's getting less because she's nursing for shorter times and at the same time my supply has gone down. She's also taking less supplement from a bottle.

Up until these issues, she only got about 1-2 bottles per week.

Teething tabs don't work for her (I think they work better for fussy babies to calm then, than they do for pain). I gave her ibuprofen a couple of times and it seemed to help a little bit. I'm not big into meds, though, and I don't feel comfortable dosing her continuously.

Yes, we've seen a lactation consultant off and on. I'm going back on Wed. She already gives up so easily right now, though, that I'm afraid jacking with her latch is just going to frustrate her more. It's sort of a Catch-22. Sigh.

I'll get her weighed again on Wed, but I have a feeling her weight gain has stalled out.

Anyone have an opinion on whether or not it would be a bad thing to introduce solids at this point?

Regards,
Debra

[RedheadbyChoice]

Is she ready for solids?

linky: is my baby ready for solids? (http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html)

Solids, though, aren't going to help you with the weight issues (if there is one) or with the latch issues. Since breastmilk is to be the mainstay of her diet until she's a year old (solids are just for fun and experimentation), we need to work on getting more breastmilk into her.

I'm off for bed now, though, the DH is finally home from checking cows, so I'll think on it and get back to this tomorrow. Also, there will be more replies tomorrow as well; weekends can be slow on the boards. ;)

~ginger

[DecemberBaby]

I know you dislike medication but what if you tried it. Maybe every morning for a few days to see if it makes a difference. (I can't find where I think you said mornings are her worste????) So you are not necessarily giving her a lot of drugs throughout the day....

I hope it gets better. :hug:

[RedheadbyChoice]

Has she changed the way she sucks, because of the blister? I'd be getting that looked at/treated as I'm sure being in pain isn't helping matters at all for her.

[Nipple_nectar]

Red, my babies all got those blood blisters, it seems to be associated with an improper latch, it didn't seem to cause my babies any pain, I wouldn't worry about that.

Let me first say that it is very typical for babies this age to experience a stall in weight gain, for the same reason many babies begin to wake frequently at night when they didn't before~ they have alot going on: reaching a milestone, teething issues, separation anxiety, even introduction to solids can create disturbances in sleep patterns.

Besides the fact that the world is a very exciting place to be and there is too much to discover to be sitting in your lap for too long nursing! Distractibility can be a serious issue for some babies and that is where I recommend a nursing necklace.

Make sure you are nursing in a place with minimal distractions and not alot of traffic. I had to restrict myself to my bedroom for nursing with the TV muted in order to get a good session from my 14 month old.

Lastly, keep in mind that most babies have developed quite an effective latch by now and it is possible that she is getting more than enough in under five minutes of nursing!

At seven months I wouldn't be encouraging a bottle, how is she at the cup? I would not introduce solids when you are having issues with nursing, that needs to be pretty stable when you consider introducing anything new that may upset her routine.

You mentioned teething tabs, are you referring to Hylands teething tabs? Make sure if so, that you are using the full recommended dosage. We rarely need it but you can give up to four tabs initially and then four more, once an hour, for the next four hours.

After I nurse my DD to bed, if she wakes within two hours, I do give motrin in addition to the teething tabs and this always seems to be a good combination.