argh! - nursing strike

~Roo'sMama~ wrote: Allie has not nursed since sometime in middle of the night on wednesday night. Needless to say I'm a little bit uncomfortable right now! I keep trying to nurse her but she just won't have it. I don't know what to do ~ she usually nurses quite a few times in a 24 hour period... I mean she's usually not very interested during the day (she'll nurse for 1 or 2 minute tops like 4 or 5 times throughout the day) but at night she wakes up every 2 hours and nurses for a good 5 minutes at a time. So yesterday when she wouldn't nurse all day I was sure that she would get back into it when she woke up at night, but each time she woke up I tried to nurse her and she wouldn't do it. This morning her diaper was so dry I got nervous about her not getting enough and gave her some formula in her cup, but she only drank about 3 oz of it. She drinks water and juice if I give it to her, but I know that's not enough. I've tried three times already to nurse her this morning and she won't do it. She MIGHT be getting some teeth finally, but I don't know if that's it or if she's just losing interest. I've been convinced for the last 2 months that she was teething, but she still doesn't have any so I'm not going to believe she's teething now until I actually see the toofers. I've been giving her teething tabs and orajel and tylenol hoping that it would help with the nursing though, but so far it hasn't.
Sorry this wasn't going to be a long post - I'm just getting so frustrated and worried.

lisar replied: Have you tried pumping and giving it to her that way? Sorry I dont know alot about nursing just trying to help.

A&A'smommy replied: I'm sure someone else will have some great advice!!

PrairieMom replied: ugh. Nursing strikes are the worst. Did she have some wet diapers after giving her the cup?

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
She's a little wet now, but not very. I haven't changed her since I gave her the cup - it was almost three hours ago. I've been offering the cup to her every so often and she takes a sip and then wants to play. I just tried to nurse her again too but she still won't.

PrairieMom replied:
When Al refused to drink I offered her liquids with a medicine dropper and she took it really well that way. Maybe that would work? just until she gets over it?

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I thought about that, but my pump is packed away somewhere with some baby stuff. If this keeps up I might try it - maybe she'd like that better than the formula. I've only given her formula once before and she didn't like it then, but I think that was partly because I was trying to give it to her in a bottle and she never did take a bottle for me.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
That might work - although it would take a long time to give her as much as she should probably have. I don't know if she would take any more that way than she did with the cup. I wish she would just drink the whole cup of formula! Maybe I should dig out my pump after all and try putting that in her cup. I don't know.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Do you have a LC at your ped's office? If so, I would call her. Wil had gone on a strike at about 7 months, assumed he wasn't interested. Wish I had called a LC. If you want to continue to BF, I would get suggestions from a LC. And if it were me, I would just keep offering it, but also give her water so that she doesn't get dehydrated. She may be teething, sick or just interested in other things right now...Is she going through any milestones? I have heard that nursing strikes are often related to a child being more focused on the new accomplishment in his/her life, like walking, but they will get back to it if you keep offering.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
She is learning to walk - she took her first steps a couple days before Christmas. She's walking a bit more every day. I also think she is teething, but I don't know if that's the problem. I don't think I want to call a LC - I was only planning on nursing a year and if she wanted to wean now at 10 1/2 months it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all. I just wish I knew if she was weaning herself, or if she's going to want to nurse again at some point. I don't want my milk supply to drop because she's not eating, and then not have enough if she decides to start again. I'm also worried because she's not interested in the formula either, so she's not getting either. Andrew started drinking whole milk when he was 11 months old because he just didn't want to nurse much, and she's not far away from that age - maybe she'd like that better than formula, I don't know.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Are you taking anything that is changing the taste of your milk? I also switched Wil to whole milk at 11 months, so I don't see anything wrong with switching early. But maybe wait a few days to see if it's just teething and then talk to her ped about it just to rule anything else out. I just thought of something...Wesley was ALL about nursing while he was teething, for the comfort. So I'm not sure what her little strike is all about. GL

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I don't know... Dh was wondering if it's because I missed too days of my medication, but I've missed a couple days here and there before and it didn't bother her. I've tried to think of something I've maybe eaten that she doesn't like, but I dont' think I've eaten anything lately that I haven't eaten before without any problems. I did try a little whole milk, and she didn't seem too crazy about it. Andrew wasn't at first either though ~ I suppose it tastes a little weird when you're used to breast milk. I kept trying to nurse her all day right up until I put her in bed, and she got mad at me every time. I don't think I've ever heard of a baby just stopping cold turkey on their own when they wean, it just seems so strange. I guess I'm going to just have to keep trying and see what happens. If in a few days she's not back to nursing and she still won't take either formula or milk, I'll call her ped like you said. I'm sure if I called now they'd just tell me to wait a few days.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Update! Allie finally nursed this morning at about a quarter to six. She went over 48 hours without it. Now she's still sleeping, so I'm curious to see if she'll nurse again when she wakes up. Hopefully whatever the problem was is gone now and she'll be fine.

I have to admit I was just a teensy bit hopeful that she was weaning. But mainly because I've been worried about the whole weaning process and her doing it herself would have been nice.