It's finally happening, boob is no longer the answer. What do I do???

Up until today, boob has always been the answer. Hungry? Boob. Tired? Boob. Upset? Boob. Teething? Definitely boob. But now they are no longer the magic answer.

My daughter started nursery today after having two settling in sessions last week. We had a really rough night last night, which I'd put down to teething because her top front tooth is coming through. She was a bit grumpy this morning and didn't sleep for very long, but she perked up around lunchtime, so I decided to take her in for a few hours.

Then, just as I was picking her up, a notification popped up on the nursery app saying Hand, Foot and Mouth is doing the rounds… and suddenly everything clicked into place.

The spots I'd noticed on her bum and legs this morning that I'd assumed were nappy rash, her poor appetite and, most importantly, her suddenly struggling to breastfeed when she's always been a very enthusiastic boob girl, I now suspect might actually be HFM. 😭 I'm guessing she may have picked it up during one of her settling in sessions last week.

Tonight has been rough. I've already been in to resettle her three times. I've given Calpol, Nurofen and Anbesol (not all at once, appropriately spaced out) and tried rocking, bum pats, shushing, cuddling… basically everything I can think of.

Nothing seems to be working.

She's clearly so uncomfortable. She wants to latch, but then doesn't seem able to settle into it. She's wriggling around on my lap trying to find a comfortable position, and I'm desperately trying to hold her while my arms are slowly giving up on me. 😂 Standing and swaying isn't working either.

She doesn't have a temperature, but she's been a little sweaty, so I've taken her out of her sleep sack and I'm just trying to keep her comfortable.

I can't boob my way out of this one. 😭 I've actually had to pump for the first time in ages because my boobs were getting so full while she's refusing to feed.

Has anyone else been through this with a breastfed baby? What helped your little one when HFM made breastfeeding uncomfortable? Did you find anything that made them more settled at night?

Because tonight I am officially out of ideas and desperately need some new ones. 😭❤️

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