Brief update, I don't know if it's the introduction of rice cereal (which she loves) but we seem to be doing a lot better, almost back to normal. I guess the Dr was right:-)
Like some of the babies below, my DD also went on milk strike for about 2 weeks.. I panicked and the only way I could trick her to have bottle feed was to trick her while she breastfed. Quietly removed my breast and sneaked the bottle. Sometimes I got caught, sometimes she would have the whole feed.
And then she got over it on her own and is back to her normal milk consumption. But I do agree that it is a sign that babies give out when they are ready for solids.
So go with the flow. As a mom you would want her to drink milk, so try and trick her or let her go hungry a little longer than you normally would. She will/should guzzle the milk when hungry.
could be teething pain or could just be developmental. Both my babies have stopped taking long feeds at around the 3 month mark and switched to small snacky feeds instead, they were just more interested in whats else is going on around them. They are/were breastfed so not sure if it makes a difference but I found feeding them when sleepy and in a dark quiet place helped.
Thanks ladies,
I don't think it's a flow issue as she's on size 3 teats but it did cross my mind to try the variable flow ones (i use Avent bottles) in case now that she's eating 210 ml (that is when she does finish her milk) she gets tired with the quantity and a faster flow might help.
I do think she's ready for solids and hopefully in a week's time we will have made good progress but she still needs her milk....tomorrow I will try to let her demand her milk instead of me trying so hard to convince her to have it, I'm pretty sure she won't starve herself, I just hope I have the nerve to stick to it!
My DD (4.5 months at the time) went on a milk strike. Over the course of 3 weeks or so it got progressively worse. Everyone just kept saying it was because of teething or its a phase. I was going insane with frustration! One day she completely refused to take a single drop of milk so I took her to the doc. Told doc that if he was to suggest it was teething or a phase that I would scratch his eyes out :D he just calmly smiled at me.
He examined her, took tests (blood and urine), felt her gums etc...
He told me that in his opinion my DD was ready for solids. I was not ready for that!!! The next day we started her on solids, and as instant as flicking a switch, her milk strike stopped! So I was fortunate that that was the answer to my DD's milk strike.
I hope that you find the answer you're looking for. Yes, it could be and hopefully is just a phase, but you know your baby and the one most important bit of advice I've ever been given about motherhood is to trust your gut instinct.
Milk strike! I've had it happen with my children, it's never lasted long. Just keep offering it, she'll take it when she's ready. If you think it might be because the milk is coming out too slowly then try a faster flow teat.
Hello ladies, I'm wondering if this has happened to any of you and how you managed.
My 5 month old is not having her milk as easily as she used it, in fact sometimes she refuses to have any or she'll have a little bit and then stop. Dr says she's probably ready for solids so I started giving her rice cereal yesterday and today she managed to swallow it and seemed to like it. Having said that, even if I reach the point of giving her a full feed of solids (which is probably a week away from happening) she still needs a significant quantity of milk and she's being so difficult with it that I wonder if it's just a phase and I should just wait for it to change or if there is something I can do about it....any suggestions? Many thanks!