Nursing strike

[jemjabella]

Mums who've successfully beaten nursing strikes - please give me your stories, tips, reassurance etc.

Horrible isn't it - poor you!

I stayed at home more, reduced distractions, cuddled on sofa/bed skin-to-skin loads, offered lots but accepted rejection, fed her more at night, tried to latch her on as she was waking from sleep before properly awake.

How old is your DC? My DD was quite young (can't remember exactly) but all the above worked after a few days - v hard though.

Stayed at home, tried nursing in odd places in the house where would not normally, in odd positions like standing up, fed lots while sleeping and half sleeping. You will win but it might take time. About 3 weeks in our case. My ds was about 3/4 months.

Similar age - strike kicked in at 3 months. Had to feed when drowsy or asleep.DS had reflux though so very hard to overcome his fear of pain. Even once meds were sorted, it wasn't until he was a lot older that he fed properly again.

I spoke to BF counsellors a couple of times for moral support. I used a bottle occasionally for awkward times when we were out.

Important thing is not to get upset when they turn it down - baby will pick up on it. I was told that they do want boob but something is upsetting them so don't take it as rejection.

My DD is 10 months. Teething - 2 at once. She bit me 8 times in a row last night and STUPID me shouted out because I was tired and frustrated. She's refused to feed ever since (and this, the girl who normally nurses 4-5+ times a night).

She opens her mouth to latch on but as soon as her lips touch my boob she bites down then screams and pulls away.

Managed to express 3oz this morning which she's had from her sippy cup but she's desperate to nurse but won't. I can't get my left boob to let down for the pump so currently looking a bit like a one-sided Pamela Anderson.

Currently trying these suggestions...

www.iwantmymum.com/site/articles/breastfeeding/nursing-strikes-top-tips-on-overcoming-one/157

Re: biting - my DS did this. No wonder you shouted out - it bloody hurts. Don't blame yourself. HV advised me that if DS bit me again I should (calmly!) take him off the breast and put him away from me, even turn my back. Seemed a bit mean, but I had to stop him biting me. I did it once and he never bit me again.

Sorry about the strike. Hope it gets sorted soon. Horrible for you.

Have managed to get her feeding after skin to skin sleepy cuddles. Hoping this is it. It was only 12-13 hours without boob but by god it was hard work!

Spoke too soon - refusing boob again.

Don't worry - hard I know. I cried and stressed so much.

Just keep aiming to catch her drowsy or rock to sleep and pop on during a nap. Also try playing topless and occasionally have boob in reach of your DD. Let her go for it.
A thought - are you pregnant or due a period? Sometimes this can change your milk and make baby fuss and bite.

My 2 and a half month old is refusing the breast (since this am), starting to become engorged. After much screaming and many attempts/positions eventually got him off to sleep and he fed a little just now. Getting worried this may be a nursing strike.

He's on antibiotics 3 times a day for an ear infection, but he also has a cold (i have to give him the liquid in a syringe bit by bit) - i'm guessing that either the cold or the antibiotics may be causing the problem? Any one have any ideas?

Hope it's going better for you jemjabella.

FlowerBee - ear infections can make it very painful to suck so it may be this making your LO refuse to nurse.

Not pregnant (I bloody hope not); AF returned 2 weeks ago so not due on either.

I definitely think it's teething but nothing is touching the pain - bonjela, dentinox, calpol etc.

The pump and I are becoming intimately acquainted.

Flowerbee- have you tried expressing and using a cup or syringe? It might help calm him down a bit by taking the edge off his hunger and he could feed then. You need tp pump to keep your supply up anyway.

Hope it gets better for both of you soon.

jem you should take her down to the docs to rule out thrush and ear infection (babies might not always have cold symptoms or temp).

Also your BM can go funny when you ovulate so if your AF came two weeks ago, you could have ovulated around now. But your cycle might not be normal yet so as your hormones get sorted, it could be affecting your milk. My DS gets really fussy at certain times in my cycle. I'd also suggest you take a test just in case!

I know what thrush looks like but getting an app. with docs first thing as an emergency to rule out various things & will get doc to double check. Will also take a test to be on the safe side.

Just checking back in, I remembered I fed in motion too as others have suggested. It is awful but this too shall pass - hang in there!

Strikes are absolute nightmares, although we've not had a full out one related to teething, but I do remember it being a bumpy ride back to normal i.e. good feeds, bad feeds for about 3 days. Every time she's fussy now I start to panic a little bit, but we got there. Our proper full out strike was at 9 weeks(?) so a guess quite different, got her to feed whilst asleep/drowsy. Did write off the entire 3 days though in terms of doing anything else and we had aftershocks for a few days after those as well.

What about renting a double pump for a week/pump to help the other boob out?

Seems to be getting worse, not better. She's refusing to even try latching now. She's been all night with no boob - wouldn't try when she was sleepy. She slept better than ever before (as if it's some sort of consolation) and just wanted her back rubbed to go back to sleep.

I've got rock hard sore boobs and try as I might I just cannot bloody let down for the pump (tried at 2am and 6am to make the most of higher levels of hormones and all that junk). Going to have to try manual expressing again.

Fuuuuck.

Thank you for all the ideas/support. :)

sorry to hear things are still tough

you probably know this, but try not to force or encourage her to keep trying if she resists, as will prob cause a strike all of its own. Lots of positive encouragement if she even latches etc.

I have heard of a few strikes in older babies that have lasted a few weeks. Just trust that she will come back and treat your boobs to lots of TLC. Maybe some hand expressing in the bath?

oh and last post was suppose to be week/month.

I needed to get out everyday when LO striked purely for my sanity. Even if it meant holding a crying baby most of the time.

jem try giving NCT a ring. It's free and you dont have to be a member. They had loads of ideas that I hadn't thought of or found online. Plus they were great to provide emotional support. hardest bit was dialling but once you've done that it's fine. Number is 0300 330 0771. They open at 8am.

Also when you're expressing, try and relax. It's bloody hard - I used to imagine a river of milk when I was a bit wound up.

I'm going to call my LLL leader but got to wait for my doc to ring back first. Apparently a baby not feeding for nearly 48 hours is not urgent enough to get you a quick appointment...

Yes I had a similar experience when DS stopped feeding. The GPs were so blase about it, it was unreal. As his strike was linked to his reflux, I had to take DS in every week for four weeks until they took it seriously.

Doc was fairly useless. Checked her over and confirmed no ear infection / thrush etc but said to "just give her fruit juice". Yes, because that's going to do her the world of good.

Spoke to my new HV and told her about the problems. She gave me some advice (nothing I didn't already know) and gave me some numbers for a local lactation consultant/etc.

DD is willing to play with the boob/nipple so am hoping that's a good sign...

Useless. Well your LL leader will be more helpful at least.

And playing with the nip must be a good sign. DS used to ignore it - couldn't bring himself to look at it!

Managed to get a feed in while she was asleep last night - took about 20 minutes of rubbing my nipple on her lip and squeezing drops of BM into her mouth. No such luck since though.

Ended up having a hot bath at 4am to try and get my left boob to let down because it was huge and tender. Got an oz off which helped but it's back to the same state this morning.

Another sleep feed this morning - this time she woke up attached and came off smiling! Think we're heading in the right direction.