Refusing the breast?????

[Nards]

Hi
Just wondering if anyone else has had problems with their bubs refusing to feed. My 6 mth old boy is not realy that keen, is quite out of routine, poos are quite hardish - like rabbit droppings, maybe his teeth are cutting? Scared that he is not getting enough fluids - he feeds sometimes for about 1 min then looks away and I cant get him back on. I feed 5 x breast feeds, 3 x solids(which includes approx 50mls of expressed milk at breakfast). Doesnt like taking more than a few gulps of water either. Is this just a stage?

[Ashleigh<3]

Chloe did this to me too. She'd gag at my milk.:thumbsdown:

[the_queen]

Try looking at http://www.kellymom.com (http://www.kellymom.com/) for some advice on "breast refusal" or "nursing strike".

I agree it might well be teeth. But the poo's are a bit of a concern, breastfed babies poo's should not look like that. Try lots of skin to skin contact, maybe a nice bath together (some babies will calm right down, and latch on to the boob in the bath) also let him feed to sleep (if he will) and after he's asleep, don't take him off the boob until he comes off by himself. Offer the boob pretty much all day long, whenever you are having a cuddle with him, offer the boob. Try some water-rich foods like chunks of watermelon (and if you put some in the freezer, this will feel great on his gums) or stonefruit (you just take a bite of the peach/plum/nectarine, and then offer it to his mouth, he'll lick and suck and slurp on it) - you could even freeze some breastmilk into an iceblock :)

I would keep an eye on him though, if those poo's don't change by tomorrow I'd get some medical advice.

[meme]

it sounds like you are worried about your bub getting enough milk.
it's good that you are checking his nappies to see if he is weeing and pooing, i agree the pebly poo's do sound like he is a bit constipated, at 6mths a lot of babies are still having mainly breastmilk, it is the most important part of the diet. perhaps you could cut back on the solids to see if his apetite for breastmilk increases.
there are lots of things that can be involved in breast refusal, this link may help
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/refusal.html
contacting an ABA counsellor is helpful too.

good luck.

[meme]

also let him feed to sleep
oh yeah, and offerring the boob on waking can 'trick' a bub into feeding too i think, and drinking enough water yourself and eating foods like apricots/pawpaw/prunes yourself may help too.

[Nards]

Thanks so much for the advice, I am doing a lot of feed to sleep business and have given him watermelon and stone fruit - he loves it, hes feedng better in these past few days, but poo still the same, will get this checked out