Surviving a nursing (breastfeeding) strike.
A month before my son’s 1st birthday I was thinking about the
dreaded return to work and wondered - with him starting nursery and us being
apart for most of the day - if it was time to bring our breastfeeding journey
to a close. I didn’t dream that my baby would take the decision out of my hands
completely but he did. A few days later the little man staged a strike that
struck our booby world apart with apocalyptic force.
As with all of the breastfeeding problems we’ve faced in the past,
this one was down to teething. Usually when those pesky white buds are about to
make an appearance I can’t get him to stop feeding (or biting) but this was
different. I was faced with a baby who refused to feed. Every time I brought
him to my breast or tried to feed him in any way he would clench his little
jaw and pull back. The only liquids he accepted were tiny sips of milk or
water from his cup.
Frantic, I had him checked over by a medical professional.
When the nurse confirmed it was just his teeth I turned to Dr Google and
quickly discovered that my baby was staging a nursing strike. According
to the millions of articles I trawled through; a nursing strike differs from self-weaning because it’s sudden, an abrupt 'NO' as opposed to a gradual 'no booby thank
you mummy'. Most babies don’t wean until around 18 months but the suggestion on
some websites was that it might not be so easy to persuade a striking baby to
feed again. Apparently this was the reason many mothers chose to wean
their children early.
I must admit, I toyed with the idea of embracing the strike
as a weaning opportunity. I had been considering it after all – and the idea of
having a few glasses of wine without doing all the milky arithmetic was
appealing - but it just didn’t feel right. I envisioned weaning as a gradual
process, one we both felt ready for, but the suddenness of the strike, the
angst from my baby and the pain in my boobs told me that this was all wrong and
now was definitely not the time to stop breastfeeding. So I went on the offensive, determined to put
the smile on my baby's face. I took it back to basics with skin to skin, warm
baths together and milk on the mouth but nothing worked. We were both miserable
and I couldn’t leave the house because I was attached to the breast pump.
On the third day of the strike I resigned myself to fate, my
baba did not want to feed and I was delusional for trying to carry on. The websites said not to take it personally
though, ha! I’d never felt so rejected in my life, booby was everything to my
boy, a comfort, a drink, a teething ring and most of all a bond, something
which tied the two of us together in our little milky bubble. That night I went
to bed feeling heartbroken. I couldn’t even bring myself to have the wine that I was
suddenly allowed to drink. I knew there and then I would have gone teetotal
for another 10 years if it meant being able to feed my baby.
Miraculously the lil guy woke up the next morning looking
for one thing, booby! To say that I was overjoyed is an understatement - I was
cartwheeling around the house and haven’t stopped since. All thoughts of weaning are out of the window
too. I’m so happy to have my baby back, he can feed until he’s fifteen.
Just kidding!
If you have any nursing strike tips tweet me or
comment below.
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