Nursing strike....help!!

[Kazy]

Ok so I noticed my lo was not nursing as long. She was nursing 12-15 minutes per side then went down to 5 minutes each side and was getting frustrated. I called lactation and they said she may just be more efficient. That was last Thursday. The weekend was so so and only had issues with one or two feedings per day so we just stuck it out.plus she is happy.
Then yesterday she went all out strike! She will suck for a moment and if the let down starts right away she will eat 3 min max and then pop on and off on and off and get really frustrated. If I put her on the other side she sometimes eats a few minutes but mostly just cries. She is exclusively breastfed and rarely has bottles because I work from home. The only thing that has changed in my diet is I cut out sweet about 2 and a half weeks ago and cut out caffeine almost entirely w weeks ago. But I knowni am getting plenty of calories. I think my.milk supply may be low but what would cause it to decrease so drastically. I'll list below what I've tried to do to get her to eat and please let me know If anyone has suggestions. Oh and we went to Dr for well check today. He said she looks great but hasn't gained as much as they hoped. So we go back next week for weight check. But she did gain 13oz in 6 weeks. She's not 4 1/2 months old.

- tried pumpking until let down and then encouraging her to latch
- nursed with music
-nursed in a dark room and quiet
-nursed standing up and rocking her
- pumped in between nursing to encourage another let down
- tried nursing alternating sides a few times during one feeding


I'm trying to boost supply by pumping after feedings and at least once in between feedings (once per day that is).
She is mostly happy but today I noticed she doesn't have many wet diapers so I'm concerned. Anyone else experience this???

 

[_Meep_]

One's flow naturally slows around the 3-4 month mark I believe, which can frustrate some babies if they have become used to a faster flow and then have to work harder for their milk. It sounds like she rides the letdown ok and then maybe gets pissed off having to make more of an effort to continue?

You could try breast compressions to keep the milk coming when she starts to get angry. If the flow slowing is the issue, this might help.

She could also be starting to feel movement of her teeth in her gums and the vigorous sucking required to maintain the flow (after just swallowing when the letdown happens) may hurt.

Sadly I know all about nursing strikes as my first baby went on strike about 4 times from around 3 months until she was about 5 months old. I don't know exactly what happened to this day, but I believe teething was a factor as the strikes stopped after her first tooth came through at 5 months. She also had an undiagnosed tongue tie cut around the same time.

She wouldn't go near my breast at all when she was awake, so during an episode I used to feed her during naps and at night and kept her weight and nappies up that way until it passed, and pass it did - she is still breastfeeding at 3, so don't worry too much. It's highly unlikely this will be permanent. I know how upsetting it is though. Horrible.

 

[Kazy]

Thank you. I hope it's not permanent. She's my 5th and I nursed them all and never dealt with this before. I'm trying to relax and remind myself that she's mostly content so it's probably more just me stressing and I need to relax and see if it passes.
You are correct in that it seems she doesn't want to work at it. So far compressions don't make a difference. But I'm trying g to boost supply in hopes that will help.
I suspect teething too because last night she "bit" me. I don't feel the tooth yet but maybe soon.

 

[Smille24]

My lo went on several nursing strikes when she was teething and it's heartbreaking. I don't have much advice other than keep trying to nurse her. If she wont nurse then pump to keep up your supply. After a week or so of continuously trying to my lo to nurse again, she finally took to it again. I found that nursing her while she was sleepy helped a lot. It's frustrating, but it's probably only temporary.

 

[jessmke]

My DD went on a 2 week nursing strike when she was 8 weeks old, she would nurse fine at night, but during the day she would only feed if I took her in the bath with me, so she and I took 4-5 hot baths every day! Luckily she was a winter baby so I didn't mind, she was also my first child so I could dedicate a lot of time to bathing and nursing her. When she was 10 weeks old she went back to the breast no problem, not sure what caused the strike or what caused it to end, but we managed to get through it.

To boost your supply eat lots of oatmeal and make lactation cookies, they really helped me when I had some supply issues. These are the ones I like the best: https://blogs.mom365.com/lactation-cookies-recipe/

 

[justplay91]

Is there a chance you're about to get your period? My 5 month old just went on an all out nursing strike for 4 days because I had my period. It made my supply really low and I think he also didn't like the change in the milk's taste. It ended Sunday and he's been happily back to the breast since then.
He's been known to have other random strikes as well. It usually just takes a few days and then he's back to nursing like normal.