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December 2011 Moms
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Nursing strike

RicolaRicola member
in December 2011 Moms

:-( 

Alex is on a nursing strike. He had his first feeding just fine, but has refused every feeding since then. DH ended up giving him a bottle of pumped milk while I pumped. He just starts screaming as soon as I lift up my shirt and tries to roll away from me. It is frustrating and hurts my feelings :'-(

He is teething (top two front teeth are coming in) and has a slight cold, but he can breathe just fine.

Any tips, encouragement or hugs would be nice. I googled and it sounds like it is usually over within 4 days or so. Let's hope he is back to nursing as usual by tomorrow! 

DS born 12/2011
DD born 03/2014

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Re: Nursing strike

  • sweetie41305sweetie41305 member

    I'm very sorry! I wish I could offer some advice or tips but my DS would never latch.  I tried for 2 months when he was born to get him to latch, so I can understand the frustration and hurt feelings. 

    T&Ps and hugs are being sent your way.  I hope Alex feels better and starts nursing normally again soon!

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  • ccip82ccip82 member
    Hugs Ricola! We are teething right now too and also have a slight cold.  E did this before and it lasted a little over a day.  She was really congested from teething at the time.  Hang in there momma, I hope he goes back to the boob soon for you :)

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  • brookie9brookie9
    Hugs Ricola! I think it would definitely hurt my feelings too. Do you give Alex any Ibuprofen? You could try giving him some an hour before trying to nurse, and maybe express a little so the milk flow right away if you can even get him to attempt to latch.

    Hang in there! He'll get back to his momma as soon as those teeth come through I bet!
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  • rockychryslerb2010rockychryslerb2010 member

    I'm so sorry you are going through this, we went through something similar about a month ago.  I took it very personally and it felt like a huge rejection.  

    There is hope, we made it through just fine.  It sounds like you've done your research, so just keep pumping to keep up your supply so that when he does come back, you are there for him.

    I tried to make sure he was as comfortable as possible before trying to nurse - gave him ice cubes in mesh feeder, cold washcloth, anything to numb his gums.  To be honest, I don't think that really worked at all.  He started his strike on a Saturday afternoon, by Tuesday evening I was very distraught and in tears pumping - I thought our nursing relationship was over.

    Wednesday morning I did about an hr of skin to skin with him in the morning.  At first, he wouldn't even go near my nipple.  Slowly, he would start looking like he wanted to latch.  I had to go to work before he started nursing again, but I did another hr of skin to skin in the evening, and he latched after about 45 min.  I'm not sure what caused it, but the skin to skin did it for us.  I think my reaction to his first bite down and pull away scared him, which made him not want to go anywhere near my nipple.  We also had his lovey with us during skin to skin, and I would say things like, 'lovey wants milk' and pretend to nurse the lovey.  Who knows if it worked, but I think it made him comfortable with nursing again. 

    Good luck, you will get through this!  Feel free to PM if you have any questions, I've been there and it sucks, but this doesn't have to be the end.

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  • JammieJkJammieJk member

    First, just want to reassure you... it will be OK.

    Some tips from when I went through it with DS when he top two front teeth were coming in... I played with him before I offered, made it like a game and then would gradually get him into the nursing position... sometimes he would latch from one side, other times not. 

    Try different nursing positions... maybe even nurse him so he's sitting up?  It was kind of weird to set him on my lap straddling me, but the surprise of it for him inspired him to nurse a couple of times (desperate times, desperate measures).

     I gave Tylenol about 1/2 hour before I wanted him to nurse, that helped some.

    I was sneaky and would pull him out of his crib at night to nurse... a dreamfeed?

    DS didn't even want to take milk from the bottle, so I just pumped and froze it.

    I think the biggest thing, and the hardest thing, was that it was so important to act like his refusal was no big deal and not to take it personally.  These LOs are very adept at reading our body language.

    Oh, and I pumped to keep my supply up.

     I'm sorry you're going through this, but the good news is, you can make it through.  :)


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  • RicolaRicola member
    Thank you all so much! He refused all night (and we had a terrible night, too), but then nursed this morning! Since then he has nursed two more times, so I hope that the strike is over. It is crazy how rejected and helpless you can feel because of something like this!

    Thanks again for all of your tips and comforting words, I appreciate it!

    DS born 12/2011
    DD born 03/2014

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  • kwinkle1980kwinkle1980 member

    I bet it is the teeth! They don't like sucking because it pulls at their sore gums. I hope the strick is over. That would make me feel bad, too.

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