8 month old nursing aversion

[@llli*midwestmama2010]

My 8 month old got 6 teeth in A WEEK!! They're all through the gums, but that's it. Now, they will be working their way through the rest of the way.

I had been hoping that teething would drive her to nurse more, but it has not. She has regressed a little bit because of it.

Her weight gain has slowed down. But I know that it will anyway as she gets older. I just worry that I'm not getting enough calories into her to compensate for all her army crawling and pulling up and playing *and* the nursing aversion.

I still get 8 nursings in, but sometimes they are short ones where my breast hasn't softened completely. Or it still just has that slightly heavy full feeling. Not engorged at all.

Her diapers are decent. Not off the charts. Or super heavy. Her nighttime diapers are GREAT. Very wet. She poops once a day but I know you ladies have told me poopy ones don't tell us much about how much milk a baby is getting after about 6 weeks.

She won't eat any purees. She *will* kinda "eat" things that are soft that I give to her, meaning I will see her poop change a little bit, but most of the food ends up on her chest still. I *wish* she would eat!!

In 4 weeks, she gained 7 ounces. This last week, she didn't gain anything. I'm just worried that as she continues to get more mobile and burn more calories I will be struggling to keep her gaining.

She won't take a bottle or a sippy yet.

She is army crawling, but only pushes off one foot and not the other. I'm talking to a phys therapist about this because her older sister had low muscle tone. BUT, she is a little bit ahead for her development according to the PT. She is pulling to stand now. So I know these are good things to see that she's meeting milestones ontime and even some, early.

Any ideas??? On what I can do different?? Or how I might be able to get her to eat some food? I know that food is just for fun and textures and experimentation and that breastmilk should make up their nutritional needs for the 1st 12 months, but in a baby that's not taking in enough milk, or maybe just barely enough, there must be something I can do...???

We go to the pedi tomorrow to get a referral for a full eval from the PT. I'm sure they will weigh her then. I'm been weighing her on my baby homescale.

ETA: Do you think I should pump after those seemingly mini-feedings? Or is this just part of the natural course of things since milk becomes more concentrated the longer we nurse?

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

To me, all this sounds normal, except for the not wanting to nurse (I know how hard that is for you). Try to not worry. It sounds like she is doing OK.

[@llli*ryanandjoshsmom]

Hey mama! Wish it was as easy as just adding in another nursing session, huh? I know how hard you fight just to get those 8 in as it is. I do know that it can be completely normal, even for an avid nurser, to fluctuate with weight gain....gain for one week and then no gain for another. As long as the overall pattern looks good, then no worries (easier said than done, I know!). FWIW, my now 6 year old who weaned when he was 3 was only eating cheerios broken into 1/4 pieces when he was 10 months old and never took a full "meal" of solids until he was 2. That made me into a firm believer that breast milk packs a huge calorie punch. Maybe you could make some "momcicles"....freeze some of your breastmilk onto a popcicle stick and let her try that? Maybe with the hot weather, she'll find it a nice treat! I've been doing breast compressions when dd gets past the let-down phase and into the comfort nursing, I find that really helps empty out the breast when she normally wouldn't on her own. I just have to be extra careful not to overdo it and cause her to pop off, but I really think it helps "empty" out the breast.

((((One thing I've noticed about my striking dd is that if I can get her latched when groggy and not in a deep sleep, she will sometimes gag like someone is sticking a finger down her throat...even before the let-down happens. I have to wonder if strong gag reflux + OALD= severe nursing aversion. I remember you posting a few weeks ago about your dd having a strong gag reflux when trying solids. Just wanted to add that to my post as it seems like our situation has so many similarities (almost scary, huh?))))))


I have to ask, and you can PM me so it doesn't take over your post, but is your dd still accepting feeds while awake??? How is that going???