Baby rejecting breast while teething

[JennyWren87]

My daughter (5 months) is usually exclusively breast fed but has refused the boob for two days now. She's teething quite badly and has had a temperature and teething rash. I've resorted to expressing but even with the bottle I have to hold it to her lips while she cries and she eventually has it.

Has anyone had a baby go on a nursing strike and successful reintroduced the boob?

You need to be stealthy, get her topped up with painkillers (Calpol first) and get you phone charger, drinks bottle/snacks, then wait till she is sleepy, lie down together somewhere dark and quiet, both topless if possible and hopefully she'll find her way to the breast, she can feed in her sleep if you keep close.

Thank you for your reply! I haven't sleep fed before but I will definitely try it now. Since she's been teething she's waking more in the night so there's plenty of opportunity.

Hi @JennyWren87 , we had our first nursing strike recently, at 17/18 weeks. It was not fun, but DC is back breastfeeding now.

In our case it seemed to be triggered by a blocked duct causing some frustration. DC got very angry with the breasts and then started refusing them. We've been primarily breastfeeding but with formula top-ups - during the strike we offered breast milk, then expressed milk if we had any, then formula. DH would give the formula and I would express to keep up supply.

After a few days, DC seemed to forgive the breasts for whatever they'd done and now they're back to being DC's favourite things again! (possibly second to her cat, but that's ok)

Somewhat different circumstances, but I hope that reassures you a bit that a strike doesn't need to mean the end of breastfeeding?

That's lovely to hear! Glad your DC and the breast are getting on again :)

So I've actually had some success this afternoon. I waited until my DC was really sleepy and just stroked the nipple past her mouth. She eventually latched, fed and napped. Hallelujah!

Hoping tomorrow we can continue this journey!

Agree with painkillers although ibruprofen is much better for dental pain. Have you tried a teething gel like Dentinox too?

If you call one of the BFing Helplines a BFC should be able to give you some information and support on Nursing Strikes too