Babies Refuse to Latch and Milk Supply Keeps Dropping

“My daughter is 5 days old. At the hospital she had a good latch and we were doing about 20 minute feeds each time. All of a sudden two nights ago whenever I go to feed she tries to latch, sucks for maybe a minute, then starts screaming. I’ve tried different positions, switching breasts, burping, trying to feed before a full meltdown and nothing works. I’ve had to supplement with formula since I haven’t been able to pump fast enough for extra feeds yet. Why is my daughter all of a sudden not taki”

“My LO was a good latcher and drinker - once on he got what he needed and fell asleep. Last night he suddenly started first refusing one boob completely, but after some trying he still latched. But then he suddenly stops and unlatches. He took the other one fine, but again, constantly unlatches. His poop also became frothy, possibly because of just getting foremilk instead of hindmilk due to this. What is happening? Any way to fix this? submitted by /u/amalia_8 [link] [comments]”

“Today, After so many tries, my LC suggested to stop trying latching my baby as it gives stress to the baby. Whenever we/I try to latch her she just screams on the breast. Is there really no other way? I am currently exclusively pumping, maintaining my milk hoping she would latch one day. But pumping every 3-4 hours is really exhausting. She had her tongue tie release at 2 month old. I am getting hopeless. I have never experience breastfeeding and I was hoping this time I could latch my baby but”

“I have a 4month old baby who was direct fed (with a shield) for the first 2 months, however nursing was never easy. He developed an extreme breast aversion and would only feed in a drowsy state. I tried so many things - tongue tie release, reflux meds, chiro, I cut dairy etc. but nothing helped his aversion. It is so bad that I can’t even lay him in a feeding position or he’ll scream bloody murder. So I switched to exclusively pumping and bottle feeding about a month ago and for a while I could”

“First time mom here. My baby is 6 weeks old and is mostly breastfed with formula only given overnight. I had problems with him latching the first 3 weeks until I purchased nipple shields and we havent had issues since.. until now. Yesterday aroind 2pm I tried to breastfeed him and he got so mad he was screaming. I had tried adding pumping to my routine and was relatively dehydrated yesterday so I had just assumed it was a supply issue and gave him my pumped milk. He was able to feed fine at arou”

“I really want to breastfeed but my goodness it’s been hard. In a nutshell: Baby wouldn’t latch so started on formula. Worked with every single NHS service going for lactation and feeding support and got all the generic stuff (skin to skin, CHIN, cradle and football hold) Nothing worked. One day someone mentioned a nipple shield. Baby latched- amazing. Few days later my nipples were getting sore. Tried different sizes and made sure to roll it on. It just got worse. Had to rest them a few days. Sa”

“So my baby is 14 weeks old. At first she had trouble to latch, so I naturally started to pump. Then I tried to breastfeed her, but she would bite me terribly. But now I try to nurse her again and we’re both happy about it. I don’t know how to fully switch to exclusively breastfeeding and then back to breastfeeding and pumping in October when I go back to work. I don’t know how to do this right, so my supply doesn’t drop. She sleeps through the night from the beginning. Sometimes 11-12h so I don’”

“And by experts I mean anyone but me! I have one boob that has a very strong letdown and flow, during the day I'm able to manage it but at night I have a bit longer stretches. My baby (6weeks) is choking, spitting up, crying at the flow during the night. He is so uncomfortable after a feed on my right side that he spends the next several hours grunting and spitting up in excess. I have a few ideas but even though this is my second baby, it's my first time exclusively breastfeeding success”

“So my baby is 14 weeks old. At first she had trouble to latch, so I naturally started to pump. Then I tried to breastfeed her, but she would bite me terribly. But now I try to nurse her again and we’re both happy about it. I don’t know how to fully switch to exclusively breastfeeding and then back to breastfeeding and pumping in October when I go back to work. I don’t know how to do this right, so my supply doesn’t drop. She sleeps through the night from the beginning. Sometimes 11-12h so I don’”

“Hello! I have an 11 month old that was born with a lot of tension. He wasn’t latching properly because of it, and once we started addressing the tension the latch got better but he’s never latched perfectly. Fast forward to 6 months we started offering solids and water. We STRUGGLED to find a cup that worked for him. Currently we are using a Zak straw cup with the skinny silicone straw from the HoneyBear cup stuck inside so he doesn’t have to bite the straw to get flow. I’m having two issues, he”

“I just really wanted to celebrate that we’ve made it one month breastfeeding, from the get go I had to use nipple shields as baby couldn’t latch. The journey has been difficult as I have flat nipples, really fibrosis tissue which made my breasts too tough and unfavourable nipple position for feeding (full setup is needed 😂). All I keep telling myself is just keep going one day at a time and one day baby will hopefully latch, hopefully we can keep going as long as possible 💚 Despite a traumatic”

“I’m exactly 1 week post partum and feeling so discouraged with breast feeding. Immediately after birth lactation consultants came in and tried getting my son to latch. It took a while to get him to figure it out, but eventually he did. I was induced at 39 weeks and 1 day and I had no milk supply at this point. Just little moisture droplets. They encouraged me to keep pumping and try nursing but I wasn’t producing anything. I had to start supplementing with formula. The morning after we took him”

“Hi all! my girl is 2 months old today! Since yesterday she’s been having moments through out the day, especially today, where she is really refusing to nurse. I go through all the things to calm her and eventually wind up giving her a bottle and pumping & she always takes the bottle easy! She nursed fine through out the night like normal. shes also just been really fussy more than usual as well, I’m assuming she must be going through a growth spurt or it’s part of her 2nd leap (I use the won”

“The last two weeks, my almost 3 month old has been refusing to drink from my left breast. I know that letdown can be a problem so I’ve tried hand expressing first. I know that supply issues could be a problem, but I know that milk comes out of there because he often sucks a little bit and starts squirming with the milk in his mouth. I will re-latch him and try to feed again, but he will unlatch and squirm again. I have tried using the football hold to try to “trick” him, but it doesn’t work whic”

“for background, we were not able to breast-feed from the start because of blood sugar issues. He was IUGR. We then had to fortify my breast milk for the first three months because of weight gain issues. He is now four months old.He will occasionally latch but 95% of the time he screams when I even attempt to bring him to the breast and I can’t calm him down. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to maybe get to the point of breast-feeding? My supply is more than sufficient submitted by &”

“LO was born at 31 weeks, EBF with a nipple shield from 2 weeks before term until 6 weeks adjusted (8 weeks total) when we had a tongue tie revised. After this she refused the breast for 8 weeks and first had bottles only, then an NG tube reinserted due to very poor weight gain. She’s been on the NG for 5 weeks now and we just started weaning, and are attempting to wean to breastfeeding. So we are now doing only BF + NG top ups. To my immense joy, after LOADS of work on making the breast a happy”

“So baby dodnt have a good latch after birth. I ended up giving her formula for a couple days until my milk came in and then we combo fed her. She gets nothing but breast milk now. She didn't like breastfeeding and wouldn't stay on long. We found out she had a lip and tongue tie. She had the surgery and is completely healed now. I thought breastfeeding was out the window. We use Dr. Browns narrow bottle and my nipples are way bigger than those lol. But today I decided to give it a try and”

“I am a full F cup and my little one is only 5 days old. While we were in the hospital, the nurses latched and helped me feed the baby, but once I was left alone, I couldn’t get her to go further and she only landed on my nipple. It eventually caused more pain and we went home with no idea what to do. I had to start pumping and giving her Avent bottles with 2 nipple (slow) that seem hard to suck. Today (day 5) I finally felt like my breasts are good and when I attempted to give her my nipple she”

“Ok second time mom due in 5 weeks and looking for tips/encouragement. First time couldn’t harvest any colostrum (I don’t even think I produced any if that is possible). Baby ended up peeing urine crystals he was so dehydrated until milk came in. We ended up in baby care unit and supplementing with formula right away. Milk finally comes in around day 4. I get mastitis at 6w2d pp not in a clogged duct but in my tissue. It was so bad I was in hospital for three nights with IV antibiotics/blood chec”

“my gal is 6 weeks old, breastfeeding has been going well i thought, but i always worried her latch wasn’t the deep latch you hear about but she had been gaining weight well and it has never been painful for me, save the first few days. she does click and sometimes choke on my fast let down. my concern was she wasn’t latching well and didn’t have to use her tongue properly due to the milk flowing and making it easy for her. i worry about long term milk supply and whether she will be able to conti”

“This is extremely specific, but I figure if anyone knows it will be you ladies! For 10 months my baby was EBF. One of my nipples is lower and harder to feed on but I *thought* I was feeding equally on each side. She went on nursing strike last month so I have been pumping and realized that the good side has a MUCH larger supply than the bad side. I've been pumping exactly the same on both sides for a month and nothing has changed. Does anyone know if maybe it's just natural for one side”

“Looking for reassurance as so close to giving in with breastfeeding and swapping to formula. Baby is coming up to 5 weeks old, we have had latch issues causing pain/nipple trauma since day one. We have seen lactation consultant and tried all the different positions and techniques but nothing helps. We have now resorted to pumping/bottles for most of the time, occasional breastfeeding so she doesn’t forget completely. I have noticed with bottle feeding she still clicks and losing suction when swa”

“I'm starting to wonder if I'm losing my mind. My baby is almost 7 weeks old. We had latching issues from birth, but after weeks of practice he finally started latching well. I thought we were past the hardest part. But for the last 2 weeks, every single breastfeeding session has become a battle. He gets to my breast and immediately starts fighting with his hands, pushing against me, flailing, rooting, crying, and screaming while trying to latch. It often takes several attempts before he”

“Breastfeeding has been a long journey, with a bad latch in the beginning, cracking and bleeding nipples, vasospasms, bruising, and insufficient supply. I believe we’ve overcome all of those, although my supply is still really low and we’ve still been supplementing a little bit along with power pumping and the whole process. Things were going pretty well for the past few days until yesterday. She suddenly just would not latch and if I tried to get her to she would cry harder and harder. I eventua”

“New mom here, got told several conflicting things at hospital about how long to feed. Which is most common? -15-20 minutes then remove her and move to other boob. 15 to 20 on other boob -25- 30 minutes then remove her and move to other boob. Similar on other boob -go as long as she’ll go on first boob and the second as “dessert” Also, she takes little pauses between sucking, does that mean she’s swallowing? Thank you in advance! submitted by /u/Lmp523 [link] [comments]”

“I am two weeks postpartum today, and breastfeeding has been rough. One nipple got so injured that it scabbed over and is still trying to heal and looks like a chunk was taken out of it… the other nipple is raw now too and so sensitive. Baby has issues latching, wont latch at all if they have any degree of fussiness, and if they do latch then unlatch, getting them back on is a huge hassle and they put their hands in the way and fight my nipples. Sometimes we will go 3 hours between feedings buy y”

“I known I've read after 6 months, breastfeeding can change again but wanted others' experiences too I got heavy let downs on the other breast when bubs was born, probably could have filled a few bags for freezer per day, it eased as she got older I used to sleep without bra and just on a towel, and cover other side to catch the letdown, but have noticed at 6 months i'm not getting anything! I assumed it was due to my period bevause I noticed in the week before, but period has come an”

“While I do pump and my partner and other family have feed him bottles somewhat regularly (he has no issue), most of my LO’s feedings are direct breastfeeding. He had a curved palette at birth so they suggested a nipple shield and I still end up having to use it much of the time. LO will often start nursing without it, but he gets tired or frustrated or something part of the way through and flails about and cries. We try a couple more times to latch and he usually will, but then pops right back o”

“First time mom with an almost 4 week old. I’m trying to exclusively breastfeed, but there is a crack on my nipple at the base and every single time he latches, because it stretches the nipple, it cracks and re-cracks at the base. Every. Single. Time. Will it ever actually heal or get callused or whatever people say it does?! Or am I just doomed to recrack this every single time I breast feed? I can’t tell if I’m just looking for reassurance or hope, or if it’s doomed I should just stop. But that”

“I am a little over a month into exclusively nursing, I pumped for the first 2 months.. after we switched to full time nursing I still have to pump at least in the morning the side he didn’t nurse on since one side is enough for him, it doesn’t get uncomfortable during the day usually, just after a longer stretch at night. I don’t mind it too much since it’s better than always being on the pumps, but how do I keep my supply where it’s enough for him but I don’t have to pump? Im scared to not pump”

“I so desperately want to breastfeed as I didn't have the confidence with my first baby as he was in the NICU and dropped weight when EBF at home (NICU would always top up with formula after BF) and felt pressured to give formula. This time my supply remains good like last time and i thought it was going well but my second baby wasn't gaining weight very well so once again advised for formula top ups... We limited this and I reached out to a lactation consultant as his latch was good at t”

“sometimes my baby does one breast and sometimes does both (i always offer both) i also added in a 10 minute pumping session into the afternoon. i usually pump in the morning as well between 2am and 6am. im able get out 1-2.5oz, and once in a while 3oz. her output has been way above what my pediatrician recommends! what do i do when she only takes one breast? should i offer the most full one at the next feeding even if i used it on the previous feeding or offer the opposite one i did to help keep”

“So my 4 lbs 1 oz IUGR babe was born 10 days ago and was able to latch with a shield about 12 hours after birth, although due to her being tired, she really didn't take off with BFing full time until day 7 (once she got discharged from the NICU). She's been latching and transferring milk beautifully with the sheild. Tonight I decided to try and she easily latched without the shield 🥳🥳🥳 . She's my 5th but having a preemie and such a small baby is all new to me, is it okay to just dr”

“My little girl is breast fed we have rarely done bottles we have had a fairly good run so far. Yesterday after she came back from Kmart with her dad she won’t breast feed. Usually she’s dying to see me after a couple hours away and loves a breast feed but she just bit me. I said OW, no biting! And continued on with what I was doing, so far I’ve tried again and again at everytime she usually has a feed and she just bites me everytime. I thought night would solve it because she loves waking up 3 t”

“My LO is a month old. Breast-feeding wasn’t too hard the first two weeks, but it has become way too difficult now. He cries on my boob all the time and he’ll eat for only like one to two minutes and not calm down. He has to be fed with a bottle after (pumped milk). I honestly have a lot of help at home since I have a nanny. Like I know I shouldn’t be too tired, but I am exhausted. Breast-feeding is not fun. I don’t like it and I just want to stop. It’s so stressful that I have a headache all the”

“I breast-fed my baby for the first week of his life then switched to exclusively pumping because it was so painful now my baby is three months and I decided to try again he will latch with a nipple shield but how do I know when he’s full and how long should I be feeding him on each side I usually get 3 ounces from one side and 2 1/2 from the other pumping if that makes a difference. submitted by /u/Available_Cherry5651 [link] [comments]”

“Hello! I am currently 7 months postpartum with my son. We had a tough start. After reflux issues, daily projectile spit up, slow weight gain, breast refusal, endless chiro appointments and lactation appointments, and a tongue tie that we ended up getting corrected, and so many tears, it wasn’t until about month 5 that we finally hit our stride with breastfeeding. I am so proud of me and my baby for how far we have come in our journey and that I didn’t give up. That said, husband and I are consid”

“Breast reduction may of 2024. I'm guessing my glands were severed pretty bad. Lactation consultant said I'd most likely always struggle with supply. I've been pumping around the clock every 3 hours for 12 days, no increase. He can't latch due to mishaped nipples because of the surgery. I'm so, so tired and considering switching to formula. We've been supplementing but I want to take one of the night pumps away. Someone tell me it's okay to put away the pump for a nigh”

“Looking for advice and hopefully some success stories on how I can increase my supply after unintentionally stopping breastfeeding. This is my 2nd baby. When I had my first 9 years ago I had a great milk supply, was able to freeze quite a bit and EBF (I also had a very unhelpful husband at the time who didn’t care to feed or help with the baby so EBF was the easiest option) Flash forward to this baby, she was born in April and from the beginning my supply seemed a bit lower. Was not able to free”

“My little boy is 2 weeks old and I'm trying to exclusively breastfeed. They gave me a nipple shield at the hospital to help latch and it's been working super well, but now I'm trying to get him off of it and I'm not sure how. I've done some research and I've tried the "bait and switch" method where I start him on the shield then take it away. He never seems to latch for more than a few seconds and then he comes off and is usually too frustrated to latch again wi”

“My daughter nursed like a champ from birth until 6 weeks ago (around 2 months old) when she started screaming and refusing to nurse for more than 2 minutes at a time. She was struggling to gain weight and had some other symptoms so we've started her on reflux medicine and I've cut out dairy and soy from my diet. I'm also playing around with other foods since she still seems to be reacting to something in my milk (mucus in stool and eczema). I've been pumping quite a bit since thi”

I’m a FTM and my baby just turned 3 months last week. She has been breastfed and bottle fed with exclusively breastmilk since about 2 weeks old. She usually only has 1-2…

“my baby is 12 weeks of age now. he used to breastfeed, latches for a very short time e.g. 5 mins now also but cries and unlatches after that. long story short - early days we added formula to supplement and he drifted away to bottle fully, had done few attempts (one at 5 weeks, second at 7 weeks and third at 10 weeks) to stop the bottle for a day and keep offering the breast and hoped that he will breastfeed but he didn't, he just cried and cried and rejected the breast and no results really”

“my baby is 12 weeks of age now. he used to breastfeed, latches for a very short time e.g. 5 mins now also but cries and unlatches after that. long story short - early days we added formula to supplement and he drifted away to bottle fully, had done few attempts (one at 5 weeks, second at 7 weeks and third at 10 weeks) to stop the bottle for a day and keep offering the breast and hoped that he will breastfeed but he didn't, he just cried and cried and rejected the breast and no results really”

“I’m 2m pp, and I find that breast feeding got easier for me around the 5 week mark. But just yesterday I developed mastitis and caught a fever, I thought I had COVID again I was so sick. It made me spiral out thinking my baby could get sick, but then I went to the drs and I was told I have mastitis and now I’m on antibiotics. I’m back in the phase of thinking, “is he latching properly?”, and “am I doing something wrong?” Because everything got so easy prior to this. Yesterday I felt so crappy I”

“Hi, i’ve had a rollercoaster of a ride breastfeeding and I need to wean for my mental health. He is 10weeks old. We’ve had issues from day 1, shallow latch that no one can help me fix (no ties, he has a recessed chin and short tongue). Nipple wounds, vasospasms, mastitis 2x. I’ve been working with 2 IBCLCs and 2 NPs with breastfeeding specialty. I’m heartbroken, I breastfed my other 2 babies for 1 year each and this is my last baby. I’ve been pumping every 3 hours during the day and breastfeedin”

“Hi everyone, I’m a first-time mum and I’m 2 weeks postpartum with my little boy. I’m feeling quite overwhelmed with breastfeeding and would really appreciate some advice from anyone who’s been in a similar situation. A bit of background: I had a breast reduction several years ago with nipple reattachment. I had an emergency C-section after a traumatic labour, so I know that can delay milk coming in too. I have flat nipples, so I’m using nipple shields, otherwise my baby struggles to latch. I don”

“I’m looking for some encouragement or success stories. My baby is 6 weeks old and I’ve been triple feeding for 5 of those weeks. At about a week PP, I noticed he wasn’t satisfied after nursing (not cluster feeding, like truly ravenous). We got an appointment with an IBCLC, did a weighted feed, and she had me start triple feeding and reach out to a pediatric dentist. He was diagnosed with a tongue tie which was released at 3 weeks. He’s also quite tight, so we’ve done a few sessions with a baby m”

“My baby is 3 months old and has very different moods... sometimes, he latches perfectly, but on other days, he refuses to latch most of the time. If he refuses to nurse, we supplement with formula and I pump. Unfortunately, my body doesn't respond to the pump very well, so I always get much less milk pumped than he drinks formula. I'm worried that my supply will drop if I only pump so little milk on some days and that I won't be able to keep up for the days he nurses well. Any recomm”

“Im a FTM and my son is almost 6 weeks old. I’ve tried to breastfeed him since he was born, but he wouldn’t latch or even take a bottle. Thankfully, I had been collecting colostrum since 30 weeks (I know that isn’t the brightest idea) and that fed him for the first few days. My breastmilk took about 4 days to come in, but I never got much. I still tried to get him to latch and he eventually did, but it was incredibly shallow and he would get frustrated really fast. So I started pumping. It went w”

“Hi all - Im really struggling with how to breastfeed my 1 m/o. He is able to latch just fine, but my let down is just too much for him. He can only last a few seconds to a minute before gulping, choking and then screaming. Ive heard nipple shields can help? Im exclusively pumping and feeding via bottle (except when I try to breastfeed). He already stuggles with reflux, and I don't want to make it worse. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated 🫶🏻 submitted by /u/Mindless_Pen75”

“Baby is 4 days old(unplanned c section). We are on day 2 of being home and I cannot get the baby to latch consistently. My milk is in. I am allergic to dairy so none in my milk. I am trying to keep up with his hunger signs, but when I put him to my nipple he starts struggling, bobbing and gets his arms/hands in his way. Then he gets so frustrated, crying and fussing He was so sleepy in the hospital and is slightly more active, has wet diapers, has pooped 2 times today. The iblc I saw at the hosp”

“I’m 4 days PP with my beautiful baby, but all I can think about is how disappointing our feeding journey has been so far. He was born at 37w2d (I was induced because of mild pre-e) and wouldn’t take to the breast at all in the first 24 hours. He also had very little interest in eating. I began hand expressing and was told I had to supplement with donor milk or formula in the hospital. We are now home and he is basically formula fed, though I attempt to BF at every feeding and have been pumping a”

“I’m 11 days postpartum and I’m honestly feeling so defeated. On paper, it seems like everything should be working. My baby seems to have a good latch when we actually get him on, he’s healthy, interested in nursing, and I have a great milk supply. The biggest hurdle is that after birth he spent 48 hours in the NICU, so bottles were introduced very early. I truly think he’s developed a preference for the faster flow of the bottle. I’ve hired an IBCLC, my midwives have helped me, my doula has help”

“My baby 5m has gotten to the point where she wants to stay latched basically the entire night. If I unlatch her or try to transfer her, she wakes up almost immediately and cries until she’s back on the breast. I’m barely sleeping anymore because I can’t stay asleep while she’s latched, and I’m exhausted. She nurses well during the day too, so I don’t think it’s just hunger. Has anyone else gone through this? Was it just a phase? Did anything help your baby sleep without needing to be attached to”

“I am 10 days post partum, apparently my baby is an amazing feeder and I have perfect breasts and nipples to breastfeed according to every single nurse and the IBCLC we hired. She has a great latch, good vacuum, good position…. Blablabla whatever. I hate breastfeeding, it hurts. It’s annoying, she’s on me all the time, I am overstimulated by her sucking. I am gonna keep breastfeeding, I just can’t stand it. Am I the only one? submitted by /u/Adventurous-Wash3201 [link] [comments”

“I’m 16 days post partum. I had a c section and milk came in around day 4. Due to improper latching, I had severe nipple fissures and had to stop feeding and depend on formula. I was hand expressing during that time. Around 12 days post partum, i was able to restart breastfeeding, but my supply seems to be swindling now. 2 days ago, i was leaking at night but not having enough supply in the morning. Day before yesterday, I was able to pump 90ml early in the morning,which was my highest. After tha”

“Hi! I’m pregnant with my second baby who will be here very soon. My first didn’t latch and I was very uninformed on how to pump last time- I’m looking to change that. I only produced about an ounce every pump last time and I would love to produce more this time. What’s a good pumping schedule to get my body to produce more milk? The current schedule I have written down is- 8AM: Power pump 11AM 1PM 3PM 5PM 7PM 9PM 1AM 5AM Is this good or bad? Is this enough time to sleep? Any advice please!”

“Hi everyone! I’m looking for advice from anyone who has successfully induced lactation. My wife is being induced this coming Tuesday, and I’ve been inducing lactation so I can help breastfeed our daughter. I started the Newman-Goldfarb protocol in January with birth control and dom, then stopped the birth control at the end of May, stayed on the Dom, and started pumping on June 1. By the time our daughter is born, I’ll have been pumping for about 6 weeks. Right now I’m producing around 5 oz (150”