What to do if baby suddenly refuses to breastfeed?

Babies have to rely on their mothers from the moment they are born, so mothers must pay special attention to any changes in their babies. Breast milk is the baby's favorite thing, but when the baby is a few months old, he or she suddenly doesn't like to drink breast milk. This makes mothers particularly worried. What's wrong with the baby? Is the baby sick? What should they do? Today, let's take a look at the problem of babies suddenly not wanting to breastfeed.

1. Physiological factors: When the baby is unwilling to drink milk, the first thing to do is to observe whether it is caused by physical discomfort. If you also have symptoms such as vomiting, constipation, abdominal distension, diarrhea, fever, etc., you should seek medical treatment immediately.

2. Psychological factors: Since the baby drinks the same food every day since birth, he may develop a dislike for drinking milk after a period of time. This is also the baby's way of reminding his parents that it is time to feed him something different. If you give your baby liquid food at the right time, his appetite will gradually recover. If the baby is active and in good spirits, but just has a slightly poor appetite, parents don't need to worry too much.

When the baby is 4 to 6 months old, his curiosity grows day by day. Because the muscle tension in his neck is better, he begins to feel novel about the things around him, which will distract him from eating. This is the common period of milk aversion. The reaction of spitting out things when the tongue touches them will also disappear. If no appropriate complementary food is added and the baby is not fed with a small spoon to train the baby's oral coordination function, the baby may only drink milk and not want to eat solid food in the future, and will have obvious anorexia and unbalanced nutrition. For breastfeeding mothers, when their babies show aversion to milk, they should never stop breastfeeding. As long as they provide soft liquid complementary foods at the same time, breastfeeding can continue until the baby is 2 years old.

Identification method: Growth curve chart from 0 to 18 years old. After the baby enters the milk aversion period, the most obvious symptom is that the amount of milk consumed is reduced. Therefore, the amount of milk the baby drinks every day can be calculated. If it is lower than the required amount of milk, the baby is not sick or has a fever, and the baby is 4 to 6 months old, the baby may have entered the milk aversion period. Generally speaking, for babies under 4 months old, the formula for calculating the amount of milk is based on the baby's weight and the number of meals per day.

The first way to deal with this is to not use force. Many parents worry that their babies will not grow up if they drink too little, so they use force. However, this approach will make the baby afraid of eating. In fact, as long as the baby's height, weight and other development conditions are within an acceptable range, there is no need to force him to drink milk. During this period, parents should think about how to help the baby accept semi-liquid complementary foods rather than forcing him to drink milk.

Tip 2: Change the feeding method. When the baby shows signs of aversion to milk, parents can start by improving the feeding method and adopt a more casual approach without having to follow a schedule. The principle is to feed small meals frequently and wait for your baby to eat when he wants to. You can consume your baby's physical energy through games, such as massage, physical activities, etc. When he is exhausted and feels hungry, his eating conditions will also improve.

The third tip is to create a dining environment that is as soft and quiet as possible. Because babies at this stage begin to be curious about the outside world, if someone teases him while he is eating, or there are many toys and sounds that can attract his attention, the baby will think that these things are more interesting than eating, and naturally he will not want to eat.

Tip 4: The nipple hole should be of appropriate size. Sometimes babies drink less milk, it may be because the hole in the nipple of the bottle is too small, making it difficult for the baby to suck smoothly, so the amount they drink is reduced. First turn the bottle upside down and check the hole of the nipple to see if the milk can flow out smoothly. Usually the best speed is 1 drop per second. If the milk does not drip out or drips too fast, it is not good for the baby.

Tip 5: Don’t change milk powder too often. If you see that your baby doesn’t like to drink milk, parents can change to other milk powders, but the speed of change should not be too frequent, or the baby will not have time to adapt. If you want to change to a new brand, don't change all of them at once. It is best to mix it with other brands of milk powder and observe the bowel movements for a week. If the bowel movements are normal, it means the baby has adapted well, and then you can change to a new brand of milk powder.

After entering the milk aversion period, changing the brand of milk powder has limited effect. If there is no improvement after trying once or twice, you can give up using this method.

Tip 6: Add complementary foods at the right time: Babies around 4 months old should still be fed mainly with breast milk or formula milk. Complementary foods are only needed for one or two meals, so when the baby gets bored, give him something new to try. Start with rice flour or diluted fruit juice, then gradually add vegetable and fruit purees. But remember to follow the principle of adding one ingredient at a time, starting with 1 teaspoon and then slowly increasing the amount. Each complementary food can be tried for 3 to 5 days first, and the baby's condition can be observed.

If your child does not like it or develops skin rashes or loose stools, it is recommended that you hold off on adding this complementary food and try again after a while. If there is a family history of allergies, it is recommended to feed breast milk or partially hydrolyzed milk powder until the baby is 6 months old, and then add complementary foods. The added complementary foods should preferably be hypoallergenic.

Tip 7: Treat milk aversion with ease: The mood and stress of the person taking care of the baby will be directly transmitted to the baby. When the caregiver is anxious or forces the baby to drink milk, the baby can feel it and thus resist. As long as the baby is healthy and normal in all aspects and is not sick, parents can relax and face the baby's milk aversion period with a natural attitude, and do not engage in a painful tug-of-war with the baby for food.

According to the above statement, we know that the baby starts to refuse to drink milk because of the changes in the baby's taste buds. This is why we need to use the above methods to help the baby through this transition. We must try our best to let the baby eat some complementary foods, and let the baby drink some milk to see which method the baby prefers. This requires the mother's carefulness, and I hope the baby can grow up healthily.