Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Strike

So, Elleanor has not nursed since yesterday afternoon. And, during those nursings, she began biting. She'd bite, look up at me, smile, and then bite again. I told her no. And then, last night, she wouldn't nurse. Would scream when I tried to nurse, it was horrible She nursed last night, in her sleep, but then this morning, wouldn't have any of it. All day she had pumped milk at daycare and then, when I got home and all night long, she screamed when I try to nurse. From everything I've read, she's on a nursing strike. Why? I think she has some back teeth coming in? Because we traveled this weekend? Because I didn't nurse her as much this weekend as I normally do? Because I'm a bad mom? One thing I know for sure, from everything I read, babies don't normally wean before 18 - 24 months. So, I'm fairly confident that it is a strike and that hopefully, in a few days, she'll return to my happy nursing baby. If not, I'll just have to pump?
This is totally sad and I am not ok with it. It's bad enough that Elle's walking, motoring around the house, and way too busy to be baby, but she needs to nurse. That was my last hold on her being a baby. Ok, I'm off to cry.

3 comments:

  1. hi, i found you through my friend autumn's blog. this happened to me too, not to long ago. don't cry!! it sounds like a strike. did she cry when you told her not to bite you? linc did, i think that i scared him and then he didn't want to nurse. just keep trying, he did it again after about a day of not. also, dr. sears suggests pulling the baby in closer to you when they bite. that way your boob blocks they're nose and they have to open their mouth and pull back to get a breath. that helped me so that i didn't scare him when i pulled him of and yelled no. hope that helps and you have a happy nurser again soon :)

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  2. Thanks Cara! Yes, she did cry when I told her no. I know better now not to do that.
    I'll try your suggestions tonight. I'm also planning on taking a bath with her and lots of skin to skin. She nursed at night last night but as soon as she was awake enough this morning she wanted nothing to do with it again. So, today is day 2 of the strike.
    Thanks for your support!

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  3. it's so heartbreaking when they get scared because of something that we do. but so hard not to react that way, because it hurts so bad! skin to skin is great, we had lots of breastfeeding problems and that is definitely one of the things that helped the most. i totally feel your frustration. good luck! i'm sure you'll be back to normal in no time.

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