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Thursday, December 09, 2010

Nursing Strike! And I don't mean medical nursing.

You know the sayings "Never say Never" or "Don't speak too soon."? Well, those apply to me at the moment. I was at a get-together with some friends a week ago and I mentioned the fact that for the most part I could be considered a Jersey Cow when it comes to my milk production. They all talked about their struggles with breastfeeding and I was grateful that I hadn't faced the same. Well, within that week I started to realize that only one side was easy for (4 month old) JJ to nurse on. The other was frustrating him. Like their wasn't enough milk. Well, he handled it for a few days. But two days ago he must have had enough of the struggle. Because he has started what is called a "Nursing Strike."

He screams any time I try to nurse him. He pushes away and refuses to nurse. LOVELY! Sometimes I can get him to nurse a little after a long struggle. But I finally broke down and pumped some milk. My right side takes at least 1 minute to even let down any milk. My left is readily available. I'm sure this is part of the problem.

So Last night, after a long struggle I finally got him to nurse enough holding him in the football hold to ease his hunger. He slept until 3:00AM. But this time he refused to nurse! So there I was pumping in the middle of the night as Leif was trying to calm a starving JJ. Leif fed him the milk and he slept until 7:00A. Refused, drank the last 2 ounces of milk in the bottle, was still hungry so he accepted nursing. 10:00A, strongly avoided nursing. But finally nursed enough to ease the hunger.

So... It's really no fun being so out of our routine. Don't ask me what the issue is completely. I have no answer. Only possibilities.

1. Difficult some of the time so he's frustrated.
2. Too congested to breath well enough.
3. Overactive gag reflex (he gags sometimes when he tries to latch on, it's a new thing.)

I'm an adamant breast milk mama. So just going to the bottle and formula isn't an option. So, I keep trying to nurse and pump along the way so he doesn't get too hungry.

Never say Never!

4 comments:

Janee said...

I went through a spell like this with Jadan when he was about 2 months old. He favored one side and the other side was producing slower and slower. I would nurse him on the dud for a few minutes when he was hungry to put demand on it then switch sides so he could actually eat. Then I would pump the dud. After a few weeks the other side caught up and he started nursing equally again. Don't know what was the cause but I'm grateful it resolved itself.

Anyway, I'm with ya on the breastfeeding. Formula was never an option for me either. Thankfully I produced a TON of milk with both kids and nursed them both for a long time. If I couldn't breastfeed, my next stop would be a breast milk bank. Seriously.

Sandra said...

All of my babies have favored one side to the other. I always felt lopsided. Good luck, it's frustrating.

Unknown said...

What exactly is wrong with using formula? I'm just curious

Lena Baron said...

This is Leif.
Nothing is wrong with formula. Science has done a lot to try to replicate breast milk. But when it comes down to it, breast milk is still healthier. As just an example, the baby recieves natural passive immunity to many diseases through the mothers antigens that are passed on to the baby. Another good reason to like breast milk is its free!!

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