This is a second post about breastfeeding Mavrick written in October of 2010, 1 month after my previous breastfeeding post.
Not so long ago, I blogged how I had mixed feelings about nursing and thinking of slowly weaning Mavi onto formula. I decided to stick with nursing though because it was quick (Mavi was a quick drinker), didn’t require any prepping and I liked the bonding. I pumped what I could and tried to keep an inventory. I couldn’t pump more than 2.5 oz at a time, but I did it.
Then the strike happened…
I didn’t know what was going on and I’d never read anything about it, but Mavi didn’t want boobie anymore. I didn’t say breastmilk because he still wanted that and lots of it…. but in a bottle. He just didn’t want boob, and that my friends is what’s called the Nursing Strike. They say nursing strikes can last several days, even weeks and its causes can include teething, low milk supply, a change in the taste of the milk, etc.
I would present him my left breast (because he refused to drink from the right, and I was barely producing because of it) and he would simply pull a fit, start crying, push himself and unlatch. I tried to express milk to help him. I tried different positions but it didn’t cut it either. So I would give up and give him a bottle of expressed milk instead. He only refused the breast one or two times a day at first, but the issue with that was my little milk inventory diminished rather quickly and pumping couldn’t keep up with the demand. So I had no choice but to give Mavrick formula when he was a little over 3 months.
Wanting to wean him myself was one thing because it was under my control. But now that Mavi was refusing to breastfeed, which made it seem as if he was self-weaning, it tore me up. How strange is that? Plus the fact that I had to give him some formula killed me because after considering quitting breastfeeding, I had finally accepted that I would breastfeed for as long as I could. But my plans changed rather quickly and it wasn’t in my control. Don’t get me wrong, I think formula is great… but emotionally the switch was hard.
The strike lasted a good 3 weeks, and my supply (from 1 breast let’s not forget) went from okay to non-existent, so even if he had interest in breastfeeding, I’m not sure we would have made a comeback. By his 4 month birthday, Mavrick was a full on formula-fed baby. Honestly, I believe that my milk was 1) simply not enough to satisfy his hunger, and 2) the flow was too slow compared to a bottle.
I remember when the strike started happening I had no idea what was going on, and I was frustrated and clueless. Hopefully if it happens to you, you’ll know that you aren’t alone and that most people can move past the strike and go back to full on breastfeeding.
Did your little one have a nursing strike? Where you able to continue breastfeeding or was it the end of that journey like it was with Mavrick?
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
God I LOVE your pictures so much! They all have this dreamy quality to them. This comment had nothing to do with your post, but I blame you for distracting me with your adorable kids and amazing photos.
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
@Mrs. High Heels: Haha! thanks. I have to thank iphone + instagram. No credit really
persimmon / 1233 posts
My son was born on a nursing strike! It was really hard because I had high hopes for a good and long breastfeeding relationship, but after 7 weeks of screaming every time I offered the boob, trying to force it into his mouth, and ending up giving formula in tears and frustration, we switched to formula. We used to say to him, “LO, you have to have the will to live!” Well, he didn’t. Giving up nursing was so, so hard emotionally but he instantly became much happier and so did I (eventually). If we have another baby, I hope he/she likes BFing more!
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
@hummusgirl: From experience, I can say breastfeeding is different the second time around. Here I am past the 9 months mark and still breastfeeding sienna. i will blog about that shortly.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
I have always called DS a lazy eater since he would rather comfort nurse than actually eat. Now that he’s in daycare and is fed breast milk in bottles, it’s made it worse because the bottle is so much faster. I regularly pump 4-6 oz total each time I pump and he takes 4 oz bottles so I know I’m producing enough. The only time it’s not a struggle to BF him is if he wakes in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. When I get home from work, he just wants to comfort nurse. If I have to exclusively pump except for the first morning feed, I think I can do that for awhile.
coffee bean / 27 posts
@Mrs. Sunglasses, I am eager to hear about your second time with breastfeeding. I had low supply and latch issues with my son and we are now expecting our 2nd and I have high hopes that it will work out better this time around.
guest
both of my kiddos went through nursing strikes. I don’t remember their exact age but it was after 6 months–maybe even around 9. I continued to nurse but it was a gradual weaning..by around 9 and 10 months I mostly nursed around naptime, early morning and bedtime.
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
@MUI831: Wow you are definitely better then me. I am not really interested in pumping. I do it if I feel engorged but thats about it. Hence when i go back to work im not pumping, just giving morning and night feedings.
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
@lawt09: lets just say every baby is different. So it’s important not to go into it discouraged.
guest
I went through one heck of a nursing strike. LO has never been a good nurser to begin with. My milk took 6 days to come in, so his first week of life was almost exclusively formula and bottles. I tried nursing him for 4 weeks after that, but all he did was scream and scream. So instead, I pumped every 2-3 hours and gave him everything I could and supplemented with formula. A few lactation consultant visits later, I was finally successful in getting him to latch for more than a minute. Slowly, we worked up to him being EBF and me only pumping once a day to maintain my supply. Like you, I also have a slacker b@@b…my left side gets barely half of what my right side produce (probably due to plugged ducts during week 1 and my subsequent preference to feed him on the right side due to the pain). Everything was finally going good until he hit 4 months. Nursing strike! The only way I could get him to eat is if he was half asleep or tightly swaddled…and even then, it was only for 2 minutes. Hubs asked why I didn’t offer a bottle (I’m pretty sure he thought I was torturing our baby), but I was so scared that he would realize there was another way to get food, that I refused. This went on for around 5 weeks until his feedings gradually became longer. I *think* we are finally over it, but the supply on my left side took a major hit. I’m trying to build it back up, but I’m not sure that it’s working. LO will be 6 months tomorrow, and I am determined to make it to a year if at all possible.
guest
My son went on a nursing strike 2 days before his first birthday. It came as a total shock considering we called him “nursey head” as a joke because he nursed so often. It’s been 6 weeks and he’s still not returned to the breast. I offer, but he has no interest, so I am continuing to pump.