Breastfeeding FAQ, Common Concerns

My daughter pinches me and pulls my hair when she’s nursing. How can I stop this?

A sturdy long necklace with interesting beads for her to fiddle with her free hand can keep her focused.

My daughter fusses and cries when I nurse her- it seems that she doesn’t like it anymore. Now I’m pumping exclusively for her since she appears to like the bottle much more. What is wrong with her?

She most likely has nipple confusion. She prefers the instantaneous flow of milk (and faster flow) she gets from the bottle. At your breast she has to suckle for a while to elicit a letdown. There are a few things you can go to get her back to nursing at your breast: lots of skin-to-skin time, nursing in bed in the dark, in the bath tub, waking her to nurse, nursing whenever she stirs from sleep, massaging your breasts to elicit a letdown prior to latching her on, carrying her next to your skin in a soft baby carrier, and offering your breast to her frequently, well before she cries to nurse because of hunger.

Is my nine month old self-weaning?

It’s very rare for a child under 12 months to self-wean. When it appears that a baby this age is ‘self-weaning’ it is usually because nursing has been replaced by solids or a pacifier. Breastmilk should provide nearly 100% of your baby’s nutritional needs (aside from some iron-rich foods) until 12 months. In fact, it appears that a child doesn’t typically self-wean under three years, and any weaning done earlier than that is typically the result of the mother unwittingly weaning her little one through distraction, a pacifier, and not slowly and gradually introducing solids. When children are mothered at the breast day and night and solids are introduced at the child’s pace most children wean sometime between three and five years of age.

My baby hasn’t had a bowel movement in five days. Is he constipated?

Breastmilk is very easily digested so there is not much waste. After several weeks your baby’s digestive system will have matured a bit and not having a bowel movement for several days is normal- even going up to two weeks without one is fine. True constipation involves stools that are hard, dark, small pellets. All babies grunt, turn red, fuss, and can be gassy when having a bowel movement. This is normal and not a sign of constipation.