Expert: ruth kraft - 4/27/2009

Question
QUESTION: My baby is now 12 weeks old and until 9 weeks was fully breastfed. He caught a cold and had trouble sucking so i gave him bottle and breast to ensure he was getting enough.
But now i have the problem of he does not want the breast only the bottle and my milk is becomming quite low. Is there a way to get him back onto breast and hiw do i do it? Please help.....

ANSWER: only offer him the breast. no bottles.  When he is hungry he should be nursing not taking a bottle. if you ever decided to give a bottle again, you need to pump at every missed feeding so your milk doesnt diminish. and always nurse through colds, flu's anything.... that is when he needs to nurse the most to build his immune system. by not doing that you deprive him of good antibodies that will help him get better quicker.  You can also start pumping every few hours to build your  milk back up too...

Good luck!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much, i took your advice and it worked he is now back on the breast and only breast. The only problem is that he sucks for 3 minutes then cries. Does this mean i dont have enough milk for him? and if that is the case what can i do? i have an electric pump and fenugreek capsual 550mg. kelly.

Answer
Its more likely that he is frustrated that the milk isnt coming out as fast as it would a bottle. When he gets milk from a bottle its instant and easy. when breastfeeding he has to work. Just don't give in, the more he nurses, the more milk he will get and the more he will realize that is the only way to get milk :) Your having to retrain him that nursing is a good thing :)

Wish you well!