When breastfeeding is suddenly hard
Recently I had a parent of an 8 month old reach out. Baby had been breastfed since birth, no bottles, feeding wasn’t hard (although parent reported the first 3 months were “tough”), started solids at 6 months and now “suddenly” at 8 months baby is refusing the breast. Parent was shocked and didn’t want to stop breastfeeding.
After taking a detailed history I met with the parent and baby, in a virtual consult. I had the parent send me videos of baby- their mouth, and doing different things like crawling, sitting, sleep position, even an older video of them nursing, etc. What I saw was not a surprise. This baby has very obvious asymmetry, was not crawling or sitting evenly. Baby slept awkwardly, eating solids and swallowing was difficult. Baby was struggling to move, eat, drink and just be comfortable. Refusing the breast in this case wasn’t a surprise to be, but more expected with how hard breastfeeding was.
What the parent didn’t know was how much baby had been compensating since birth. Breastfeeding was “tough for a few months” as the parent said, but baby struggled. Weight gain was very slow (and not adequate), baby was medicated for reflux, tho it didn’t seem to help. Baby had seen PT for the torticollis and got a helmet for head asymmetry. Around 5-6 months things seemed easier. This parent always had a robust supply and fast let downs.
Unfortunately this is common. This parent had some trouble but was constantly told it was fine, and sent with with a prescription and not helpful physical therapy appointment. No one was really looking at the baby, how baby moved, ate and breathed.
We worked together to increase baby’s oral function, using food and games to make it fun. We got skilled bodywork and baby started crawling symmetrically! We supported baby’s reflux (without meds) and worked towards a release. Even tho baby was 9 months old at time of release, we were able to get back to the breast and both parent and baby were happy and comfortable.
I love working with older babies, and parents of older babies! This isn’t that common in lactation though, so finding someone skilled to help with a baby over 6 months can be challenging.