Lately my 3 month old prefers bottles over nursing, but I want to keep nursing. What can I do?

Описание: You mentioned that you have a 3 month old little girl who has been taking both a bottle and nursing at the breast, and has been doing very well in the past, but recently she's had some episodes or times where she doesn't want to nurse. And of course, that leaves you concerned that she won't want to nurse in the future at all. A lot of mothers notice that their babies go through short periods of time where they don't want to nurse. Some people refer to it as a nipple strike, where some babies just won't take anything really well, they won't suck well at the breast, they won't take a bottle, they won't take a binky, they're just fussy. It lasts for a few days, and then things go back to normal. We don't necessarily know why babies do that every once in a while, but sometimes the cause can boil down to a few different things.

Like in your situation, you mentioned that your daughter often prefers the bottle over nursing, and this might be due to the fact that it's instant flow. Some babies are impatient, and when they're first latched on to the breast, they actually have to suck for, sometimes, a couple of minutes until the milk lets down. And then they get the flow, and they consistently suck, and do well, and they're happy and satisfied. But a bottle is instantaneous - the nipple goes in their mouth and they get it right away. So sometimes this is what can cause babies to become a little bit irritated or frustrated when they're put to the breast. You can try just pumping a little bit to see if this stimulates let-down, and then hurry and latch her on, and that will giver her the more instantaneous effect, because the pumping is what ultimately stimulated your body to let the milk down, and then she just gets to eat the milk after that.

Sometimes it just comes down to the fact that a baby is just more comfortable in certain positions. Maybe your baby prefers nursing on one side more than the other, and is more fussy when you nurse on one particular side. See if you can peg that down and see if that might be the case. Try different positions and see if that helps. There's the cross cradle hold, there's the football hold - those are alternates to just holding your baby like this [she mimics a standard holding position], and some babies do better when they're held in different positions.

Avoid latching your baby on when she's screaming, because babies are less-known to nurse well if they're really upset. So try to notice her nursing cues, feed her before she's going to get really hungry. You mentioned that, in the past, "Well, maybe I'll just let her sit there for a little while until she decides that she's hungry." And in theory, I can see why this might work, but actually, in real life, it doesn't. The more frustrated and hungry a baby is, usually, the worse they do at nursing. Always encourage the breast first if you're home with her, and if she's not doing well or she gets frustrated, in order to avoid making it a source of frustration for you both, just stop and give her a bottle. If that means pumping and giving her expressed breast milk, then that's great. She's still getting the benefits of breast milk.

Sometimes, the explanation for why a baby won't nurse isn't very complicated. Sometimes it just comes down to the fact that they're a little bit more fussy than usual because they're teething, or they've gotten a mild cold, or maybe their routine has just been disrupted a little bit, and this is how they're expressing their frustration. So stick with it if you notice that your baby has short periods of time, like a couple of days where she won't nurse, that's okay, continue to encourage it. Nurse her as often as she'll let you. The good news is you have a pretty good track record with nursing, and you've gotten her to 3 months. So if you can get her to 6 months and beyond, that's awesome. But if, at some point, she decides that she's done (and some babies do self-ween), then that's okay. Like I said before, you can continue to give her the benefits of breast milk by pumping, and if necessary, supplement with formula.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that she's happy, healthy, and gaining weight. So if you're ever concerned about anything, talk with your pediatrician, and they can help you decide if a change in plan is necessary. Always watch the number of wet and poopy diapers she's having, and as long as she's having about 6 wet diapers a day at least, and regular bowel movements, and she's gaining the appropriate amount of weight as outlined by the pediatrician, then she's getting enough, and whatever you're doing is working well. Good luck with everything, and if you have any other questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at   / intermountainmoms  , and recommend us to your friends and family too.