One of the serious problems that young mothers face is the baby’s refusal to breast - the baby does not want to take breasts. This problem is especially acute for those who are set up for breastfeeding and do not plan to stop it. In this article we will tell you about the reasons why babies do not take breasts and help you find a way out of this difficult situation.
Baby refuses breast - reasons
Sometimes, right after the birth, the baby does not want to suck mother’s breasts, turns away, does not respond to all attempts to feed him. There may be several reasons:
- The child is not properly applied to the chest. In a good maternity hospital this should be done even in the maternity room. Nevertheless, it also happens that a woman is not even plainly explained how to properly attach a baby to her chest. It is important that when feeding, the mother and baby are in comfortable poses that allow them to relax. The head of the newborn should be slightly thrown back, and the lower lip should be turned out, the baby should rest its nose and chin on her mother’s chest.Make sure that the baby grips the nipple along with the areola, resting its nose and chin on your chest. We also read:How to breastfeed? How to apply a newborn baby to the breast?
- Nipples have a special shape. If they are flat, too large, or inverted, it is difficult for the crumb to grab them correctly. Workouts will help to solve the problem. Often put the baby to the chest or put on special nipples silicone pads.
- The child has a weak sucking reflex - this is typical for premature babies born into the world with low weight or as a result of difficult births. In this case, you need to feed the baby often and little by little so that he eats up, but does not get tired.
- The kid is used to bottles and dummies. If a woman had a difficult birth, she had a cesarean section, then she needs recovery. Therefore, the baby spends the first day of his life without a mother, and feed him from a bottle. Since it is easy to suck from it, later the crumb may not want to make an effort to suck a breast. To solve the problem, you need to completely discard bottles and as often as possible to put the baby to the chest.
- Mom's nipples swelled due to blockage of the ducts of the mammary glands. This happens when there is a lot of milk, but the baby sucks a little. He will not be able to properly capture swollen nipples. In such a situation, it is recommended to massage the breast under a warm shower and express milk.
- An excess of milk, due to which the baby is choked when trying to suckle a breast. Mom should express a little before each feeding, and also give the same breast several times in a row.
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If for any reason you need to feed your baby, give him expressed milk with a spoon, pipette or syringe without a needle. This will help to maintain the sucking reflex, so nothing will prevent you from continuing to breastfeed.
The grown up baby does not want to take breasts
Some children eat mother's milk normally from birth, but after a few months they suddenly begin to act up, turn away, do not want to suck. Various circumstances can cause this behavior:
- Stress in a child - This is the most common reason why children begin to give up breasts. Conflicts in the family, mood swings of the mother, long separation from her, moving, noisy home holidays, guests, trips can provoke him. To restore breastfeeding, mom needs to create a quiet, calm environment and constantly be with the baby. The ideal option is to shift all household chores to relatives, and go to bed with the baby for a couple of days. You can try wearing slingsthanks to which the baby is constantly at the chest. If he refuses to take the chest, you need to offer her more often, ignoring all the schedules and schedules. It is especially important to feed the baby at night.
- Feeding is uncomfortable - for example, bright light, loud sound, the presence of strangers in the room interferes. If this is the problem, try to make sure that nothing bothers or distracts the baby. Stay alone with him, close the door, slide the curtains and take a comfortable, relaxed posture (breastfeeding poses).
- The kid does not like the unusual taste or smell of milk. This happens when a mother uses perfumes or nipple creams, drinks pills or becomes pregnant during lactation. If cosmetics or drugs have affected breast milk, they should be discarded, and during pregnancy, the woman has no choice but to be patient and more often offer the baby a breast. You can try to feed the baby when he is napping - at such moments, his sensitivity to tastes and smells decreases.
- Teeth are cut. This process is accompanied by discomfort, pain in the gums, and therefore often leads to a rejection of the chest. To make the child feel better, lubricate the gums with Kalgel or a similar anesthetic in 15-20 minutes. before feeding (first aid for teething in a baby: TOP - 7 gels for gums).
- The kid got sick. With a runny nose, otitis media, thrush of the mouth babies become restless and begin to cry at the chest, they can’t grab the nipple and suck it properly. You need to contact a pediatrician. He will prescribe competent treatment, and after the child recovers, it will be possible to continue breastfeeding calmly.
- Kroha was offered bottles and dummies - they can discourage breastfeeding from a grown child. If you are going to continue lactation, feed and feed the child with a spoon or cup.
- The lactation crisis has come: mom suddenly disappears milk, which causes severe stress in the child. Having tried several times to suck an empty chest, he begins to cry, turns away and does not want to make new attempts. At the same time, sucking is the main way to cope with the crisis and resume lactation. To get milk back, a woman needs to drink more fluids, including lactogonous teas, take a hot bath, do massages of the breast and nipples, decant (how to restore lactation - 10 main recommendations). The baby should always stay with his mother. Therefore, feed on demand, wear slings, sleep with baby and avoid stressful situations.
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Very often it is the baby’s refusal of the breast that leads to the completion of breastfeeding. Not wanting to torment the child and herself anymore, the woman sees the only solution in switching to mixtures. Just know that in 99% lactation can be continued. The main thing is to be patient and solve the problem gradually.
We also read: The baby does not eat well - reasons and what to do
Why a newborn throws his chest and cries (Neonatologist Guzel Usmanova)
What to do when a baby refuses a breast?
Sometimes a child protests, or even throws a breast, and not everyone can cope with this task. This is why this video was made with my recommendations. After all, we coped with this task:
At the very beginning of lactation, when milk arrived in incredible quantities, I also had such a problem. A lot of milk arrived, the chest was like stone. The son could not normally grab her and turned away, cried. But I was very determined for the GV, I didn’t want to give the mixture categorically. Then she began to simply strain herself before each feeding, just the “front” milk was decanted) And things went smoothly, the baby began to suck willingly. As a result, GW lasted up to a year.
This is just my case ... For two days they did not bring me to feed my son, of course, they fed me in the infant through the nipple. And when they brought it, he refused to take breasts. What the doctors did not come up with in the maternity hospital, all to no avail. Then, at home, I had to pump out my milk for several months with breast pumps and bottle feed.