When you are pregnant you are sure that you will breastfeed your baby when she is born: Breast milk is the best gift you can give.
However, with your baby in your arms, you find that breastfeeding is not the path of roses you imagined. Your little one rejects the chest. You feel guilty, desperate, thinking that you are doing something wrong. Error! The reasons why the child can refuse breastfeeding from one or both breasts are varied. And you are not to blame.
The first thing to do is discover what causes the problem to solve it and enjoy breastfeeding.
Causes that cause your refusal to breastfeed
The baby can avoid breastfeeding from one breast to both, either at the beginning of breastfeeding and even when it was already well established (between eight months and one year, normally).
Comments Alba Padró, lactation consultant for Alba Breastfeeding and IBCLC, in Latapp, that:
“If the baby rejects the breast at that age, we can consider that this reaction is more like a 'pause' than at the end of breastfeeding since natural weaning usually occurs after two and a half years, and not so soon . Therefore, we could talk about 'breastfeeding strike' and we need to know why the baby has started a strike at this age. ”
Pilar Martínez, a pharmacist, lactation consultant, IBCLC and author of several books on breastfeeding, lists some of the causes that may be behind the rejection of mom's tit:
Why The mother is suffering from mastitis. With the infection, the milk changes flavor, becomes more salty, and there are babies who like it.
When your mom takes a strong perfume that day or a body cream, to which the child is not accustomed, shun those smells.
Yes the little one has sores (canker sores) in the mouth He is not able to grab his chest because of the pain, until they heal. In addition, breast milk, full of antibacterial components, falls on wounds. The baby feels an annoying itching that causes him to reject the breast.
Happens that if you suffer from otitis in one ear (or in those) he refuses to breastfeed because the movement he must make to suck is very painful.
A baby breathes and breast at the same time, so with a stuffy nose, He does not breathe easily and in despair he can reject the chest.
You can also have your preferences and Decide to breastfeed only from one breast. The two are never the same, nor the nipples have the same shape, and can be more comfortable clinging to one or the other.
The child stops breastfeeding for no apparent physical reason. It may be due to major changes in your life: a move, the beginning to the nursery school or the return to work of the mother, which can cause her to react with contempt when the mother returns and does not want to breastfeed. It is a totally temporary strike that lasts a few days and then the child returns to breastfeeding.
Some children wean themselves, before Mom decides. It is not usually very frequent before the year, but it can happen if you are being offered, for example, a bottle supplement. For them it is more comfortable and they can end up opting for the nipple to the detriment of mom's nipple.
When the mother becomes pregnant again. Biology gives priority to the survival of the child that grows within a mother, so she will start producing colostrum from the second trimester of pregnancy. This means a change in taste and texture in milk that the older brother does not always accept.
In very, very specific cases, it has been given that the baby stopped breastfeeding for no apparent reason. And over time it was discovered that the mother had a tumor in the chest.
What to do to fix it
The lactation consultant, Pilar Martínez, wants to reassure all mothers, pointing out that This animosity towards mom's chest is almost always temporary. Knowing the problem, the solution is sought and milk production is the usual again most of the time: cure mastitis, mouth sores, change perfume ...
It should be made clear that:
"You can't force a baby to breastfeed if he doesn't want to, no matter how hard you try, so it's best to be patient and offer it until he accepts it.""While your chest rejection lasts, you have to empty the breasts so as not to have them very congested and not decrease milk production, adds Pilar.
Nor does anything happen if you decide to feed only on one breast, because you will get everything you need from it. Of course, in these cases it is advisable for the mother to try to take the milk from the breast she does not want, so that the difference in breast size is not an aesthetic problem and engorgement.
According to Alba Padró, from Latapp,
“You should never leave the baby without eating, because that will not make her breastfeed again. The breast is an option for babies, not an obligation. Therefore, we must deploy the weapons of seduction that all women have and fall in love with the baby, looking for their laughter and proximity to the chest. ”
In this regard, the IBCLC Pilar Martínez says that the best advice is patience and continue to breastfeed in favorable, pleasant situations: like after the bath, when he is more relaxed, or lying mom and baby in bed, alone and without noise ... What is clear is that he will never relate while watching TV, with everyone talking around.
And, above all, don't forget that strikes can be long and you have to be very patient, because they can last up to a month. But luckily, most of them end up with the baby surrendered back to your chest.
Until that time comes, you can consult with the midwife or pediatrician or go to a breastfeeding support group, where other mothers who have already gone through a strike can advise and reassure you.
Photos iStock
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