Nursing strike :-(. Please help.

[nearlytherenow]

DS2 is 6.5 months. For the last 3 days he has been truly appalled at any attempt by me to breastfeed him. At best he takes the nipple in his mouth and then laughs and blows raspberries instead of feeding; at worst he arches his back and screeches. The most I manage through the day is a few 30 second fussy feeds. He has refused his bedtime feed for the last 2 nights. He has taken a dreamfeed, but in his sleep. He has also had one feed in the middle of the night each night, but these have lasted 3 minutes max.

Until last week he was having almost 2 hourly night feeds (we have been working on cutting this down - rocking rather than feeding back to sleep etc). He was feeding every 3-4 hours through the day.

We started BLW about a month ago, and he is eating loads. I have wondered if his tummy is upset from all of the solids he is having, but I don't like to cut back while he's so enthusiastic (I just leave things on a tray in front of him and he eats what he likes).

He won't take a bottle, and is not great with a cup. I am pumping (for my own comfort mainly) and trying to give him what I express in a sippy cup, but it mostly ends up on the floor.

The only possible reason I can think of for him doing this is that he seems to be teething. Other than than he is well and happy. I had him weighed (routinely) last week, and because of this nursing strike had him weighed again today; he has put on 11 oz in a week, which would suggest a growth spurt - but he's hardly having any milk at all, just solids.

Surely he is far to young to self wean? Any advice at all? Should I be restricting solids? I am getting quite upset about this, and worry that his fluid intake can't be anywhere near what it should be, let alone his milk intake.

Watching with interest dd is doing the same she's 6 months today and started BLW this week.

Yes, that definitely sounds like a nursing strike.

There are a couple of recent threads on this - look on page 2 of this board.

There are ideas and links on Kellymom.

I'd get him checked out by a GP just in case to rule out problems e.g. ear infection.

DS went on strike at 13 months. It lasted for 12 days. He seemed perfectly well and cheerful, but someone on MN suggested I take him to the GP and it turned out he had a bad ear / chest infection which I hadn't even suspected. It took a course of antibiotics to sort it out. (He then went on to get a V&D bug, conjunctivitis and was cutting molars so it was generally unpleasant, poor lad.)

He did feed when going to sleep though, so 3 x a day instead of his usual 6 or 7 feeds. He's still happily feeding now at 22 m.o.

I don't know offhand what the recommendation about solids is in your situation but I'd be wary of giving too much. As a general rule, it's advisable to offer milk an hour before solids until 12 months to prevent solids replacing milk rather than solids being a complement to milk.

EBM in food can work well. EBM lollipops might help a teething baby. Syringes and doidy cups are often better at getting fluid into babies this age than sippy cups IME.

If your DS is filling up on solids and teething he may not have the urge to bf (appetite sated on solids and mouth uncomfy from teething). AngelDog has given some great tips with the ebm ice lollies!

Babies of 6-8 months don't need much in the way of complementary foods if they are bfing well (I know now your DS isn't) especially if the food is calorie dense (1kcal per gram so if you're typically offering things like avocado, buttered toast, eggs, bananas, potatoes, rice or pasta as a main part of his meals he doesn't need very much before he is taking more kcals from food than milk).

There is lots of info on how much solids to offer babies whqlibdoc.who.int/paho/2003/a85622.pdf] and here.

Also lots of info on getting babies to break their strikes here. It can take a while and a lot of very low key perseverance on your part but it can be done (veteran of numerous strikes here).

Good luck and keep us updated.

Thank you so much for your replies. That is really useful information. I'll need to print off and read the guidelines on complementary feeding properly, but v glad to have some guidance - have asked HV how much he should be getting, and she was very much of the opinion that he should be allowed to eat as much as he wants. TruthSweet the kind of things he's been having are very much the things that you list, so maybe he just doesn't feel he needs milk at the moment.

AngelDog I will also get him checked out by the GP on Monday if this hasn't resolved itself. I hadn't even thought of the possibility of an ear infection as he doesn't really seem ill, but now that you mention it I can't really rule it out - he is a very laid back baby and not prone to making a fuss, so nothing would surprise me.

I did think that things were getting a little better - he had a 5 minute feed in the night, and a little at about 6am this morning, but nothing since. Will keep persevering, glad to know thet other people have come through this.

Glad he's had a bit of milk at least. Hope he gets back to normal feeding soon.

Thank you so much for your advice, we're doing a little better now. Great bedtime feed last night, a dreamfeed, a shortish feed at 5am this morning, and then another 6-7 minute feed at 11 (that's OK for him, he's always been a quick feeder). Feel like we're getting back on track. He was up and down all night, so suspect there is something else going on too, teeth and/or illness wise. The Kellymom advice is great and very reassuring, reading it gave me the confidence not to try to force him. And the info re how much solids is really useful - I have struggled to get a straight answer from any health professional about this (I remember asking the same question with DS1, and being advised by my HV to basically feed him as much as I possibly could!). I cut back his solids a little (BLW so hard to tell how much, really - but I stopped offering food at a point where I think he'd still have eaten more) at tea time and this morning, so that may be making a difference.

I'm glad the strike is on it's way out. Sometimes the downing of pickets can be gradual rather than no bf one day then full complement the next so be patient and don't panic too much .

Are you bfing before offering solids? You can always offer another bf after solids too if what you have given him isn't enough to sate him fully. Really at 6m solids are for taste experiences and to introduce iron rich foods (meat/green veg) rather than to replace milk feeds.

I know when I looked at the jarred foods and even the 4m+ ones are huge compared to what I was offering my BLW child (a few par-boiled carrot sticks or a 1 egg omlette in strips or 1-2 broccoli 'trees' or a small helping of pasta bolognaise or a strip of beef or a chicken leg) and feeling that I should be giving more. Even with my first DD who was puree fed I couldn't get any where near a whole jar in her even a 1st size one as it was just too much for her.