Nursing strike help! Sorry so long.
rmm17
member
I think my 10.5 month old is having a nursing strike and its killing me! Starting on Christmas i was having trouble keeping him interested in nursing. I thought it was just that he was distracted with family and activities. He nursed well before bed but then slept through the night (which he has never done). Then he came down with a stomach bug on Monday and had diarrhea pretty bad until Tuesday morning. He is better now but i am still struggling to get him to nurse. He will either cry and push me away or latch for maybe 15 seconds and then come off. I have been able to nurse him down for naps and bed but he doesn't seem to be "eating" much. He also pushes me away but if i rock him until he's calm and them offer the breast he will eat. Before this he was nursing 6-7 short sessions a day (maybe 3-5 minutes). Every is telling me he is ready to wean. I was really hoping to nurse a lot long than this!!!
I've been trying skin-to-skin, nursing when he's sleepy or sleeping, nursing in a dark room and in different positions. I've been trying to pump to keep my supply up but i'm so stressed i'm having trouble getting a let down. Please give me some hope.
Re: Nursing strike help! Sorry so long.
There are some good articles on kellymom about strikes...
I'm no help, except maybe your let down is too fast because he's not nursing much? also, around that time I stopped feeling my letdown... so maybe you are letting down but not feeling it, adding to your stress.
Try to relax and spend some time in bed with him - that always helped when Lo was distracted. We would cuddle and play and after a while she would become interested in the boob.