Strike? BTDT moms come in

BabyE143 · October 2013

Not sure if there's a post on this already. I'm mobile so I am unable to search.

So Baby E is apparently going through a nursing strike? All of a sudden- out of the blue- she refuses to nurse. At first I thought it was gas but 2 days later I don't think that's the case. We've never had an issue with nursing like this, the girl loves to eat! Today she cried for an hour because she was hungry. Every time I put her into a nursing position (and I've tried changing it up) she cries, hard. I either have to give her a paci and when she's content (which isn't long) I have to switch it out with my breast or I have to be walking/ rocking her. She's had pee and poopy diapers so she is eating but she doesn't nurse as often and my supply is taking a hit. I still plan to call her pedi tomorrow to see if it's a more serious issue. But in the meantime...

Have any of you BTDT moms have experience with this? Any suggestions on what I should do? I'm at my wit's end.

*mobile

BellaOso · October 2013

I could have written this exact post. I will be interested to see what others say. It is breaking my heart.

I hope your LO starts to eat normally again soon!

BabyE143 · October 2013

@BellaOso I couldn't help but cry myself... it's been rough

BellaOso · October 2013

BabyE143 said:

@BellaOso I couldn't help but cry myself... it's been rough

I'm with you. I have been in tears on and off the last 2 days because I had to EP with my first. I really want to be successful this time. I am seeing a LC on Friday and my DD has surgery tomorrow.

I hope someone has some words of wisdom for us both!

Revez · October 2013

I'm sorry I don't have any helpful suggestions other than checking on a la Leche league website (the have some super helpful forums). But I really hope your LO goes back to normal soon, I'd be really upset too

bl190004 · October 2013

My LO would NOT eat from the left a couple weeks ago.. Would latch for a second then pull off screaming. He was fine on the right side. I was worried there was something wrong but I think it was a side effect of a growth spurt, because it stopped a couple days later. Are you around any growth spurt times, by chance? Is he nursing on one side but not the other? One of my GFs said her kids always preferred one breast and would barely nurse on the other side. They got enough milk that it wasn't a huge issue.

Hope she starts eating well again soon... I know how stressful that can be.

CourtJack · October 2013

I'm hoping AmyG sees this post. She always has great advice. As I don't have any - I'd suggest maybe hitting up the BF board? I'm sure you'll find some tips there. Hope the strike ends soon though. I can imagine how hard that must be on both of you

BabyE143 · October 2013

She does have a preference but at this point she doesn't want to nurse, period. Every time she needs to nurse now I hold my breath because I don't know if it will lead to her screaming.

BabyE143 · October 2013

CourtJack said:
I'm hoping AmyG sees this post. She always has great advice. As I don't have any - I'd suggest maybe hitting up the BF board? I'm sure you'll find some tips there. Hope the strike ends soon though. I can imagine how hard that must be on both of you

Good idea, I'll head over there to lurk. Thanks @CourtJack!

CourtJack · October 2013

No prob, chica! You'll have to report back if you find some good tips and they actually work!

Soleil3 · October 2013

Thrush, earaches, gas, those come to mind as reasons they would resist nursing. Def call the ped, get her checked out.

BabyE143 · October 2013

Soleil3 said:
Thrush, earaches, gas, those come to mind as reasons they would resist nursing. Def call the ped, get her checked out.

That's what I've been reading

poor baby! They say it can be change in milk flavor too due to hormones. AF's here and I started the mini pill last week so that could be it too. Bc once she's latched she's happy and content. I read that AF can hit your supply as well (had no idea).

Nonetheless, I will be calling her pedi tomorrow and will update.

LokiLahve · October 2013

I'm not BTDT but I've found this site to be very helpful with BFing issues I have had. This link should go right to the nursing strike section...but the whole site is a good read. I hope it gets better for you soon!

https://www.mobimotherhood.org/MM/article-refusal.aspx

CaliforniaDream87 · October 2013

@babye143 I'm digging your siggy pics. You're one hot momma!

BabyE143 · October 2013

@babye143 I'm digging your siggy pics. You're one hot momma!

Thanks Cali!

tanabeans · October 2013

Im sorry

There was a thread a few days ago . Someone suggested thrush or an ear infection. Both can make it hard painful for them. Second hand info...good luck

sfeebs13 · October 2013

LO is not on strike but thanks OP for posting. This is all very good information to have!

BabyE143 · October 2013

AmyG* said:

whenever there is a nursing strike you should check for ear infection, thrush, or other thing --when older teething is a common cause.
I would take baby to bed and spend all.the.time shirtless with baby hanging out on the chest. this kind of pushes them past their thought that the breast is a hostile place.
So issue doule be due to pain of the above type issues,
or due to getting extra gassy from chugging milk so they blame the boob
or oversupply making them feel like they are drowning and different positions make the flow slower so they cry, you get up and walk around and being in a different position makes things easier.
also the crying will usually get your milk to let down--so if it's a baby that doesn't want to wait or work for let down, they'll sometimes refuse to latch and cry to get your milk to let down faster, and then when you let down and they can smell the milk they relax and latch on and nurse.
For some moms the mini pill causes a huge drop in supply for some reason.
Your period can also cause a huge drop in supply--a calcium/magnesium supplement can work to help stabilize supply thru your cycle.
I would probably do the hang out at the breast thing for a day and offer to nurse BEFORE they show much signs of hunger, so they don't get a chance to get too worked up,
maybe pump til let down if they seem to be struggling with that.
try laid back nursing so they are in control of the latching more than you are,
up your water intake by 25 oz, eat more protein, fats, chug a gatorade in case you are a bit dehydrated, eat some oatmeal, and offer to nurse, repeat over and over

Thank you for a little bit more insight! I've been researching and have done / continue to do the skin to skin contact. I'm hoping it helps her warm back up to nursing and it's just easier bc if my shirt falls and causes her to break any latch she may have, it's hell from there.

I've also been nursing her before she wakes up and is still groggy. That seems to help, a lot!

I use different positions to nurse too and none of them are from the books but hey whatever works at this point. I literally held her vertically while swaying and she nursed that way. Smh, at least she was nursing.

I will definitely drink more. I can already tell my supply is lower and it's stressing me (which is like a catch 22).

I called her pedi she said as long as she's having poop and pee diapers (no change in poop), no temp, and is still feeding then to wait until Monday (her next scheduled appt) and she'll look her over.

I talked to my MW/ LC She said to obviously not refuse her when she's hungry and if she doesn't latch then to give her expressed milk or formula but to feed her from a cup or dropper bc a bottle will satisfy her need to suck and by feeding her the other way she'll miss nursing. Feeding her a little bit before hand will also curve her hunger pains and she will be more likely to latch.

She also said this can happen with FF babies too, just FYI.

I posted this in BF and a poster said that her LO went through this at 3 months and that it lasted for about a month, LO had nothing wrong with him. They're successfully nursing still and he's 1 yr so if you find yourself going through this with your LO you can get through it without weaning like many think you have to do.

That's all I've got so far ladies! FX this doesn't last long!

*fixed paragraph issue

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