Family Forum / Pregnancy / Breastfeeding / November 2007

I also wanted to mention, she only had three barely wet diapers yesterday. I know she's not getting enough fluids. I try to give her a cup of breastmilk every chance I get, but its obviously not enough.... I don't know what to do..........

 Hi, I'm Julie, and I found out about this group through a search engine. My 9 month old baby girl is on a nursing strike. She has a cold, and the first day she had it she tried eating and couldn't breath. She ended up biting me really hard, and my mom had told me if she does that to say OUCH so she would know. Well, instead of it preventing her biting, she's not eating at all. She absolutely refuses to nurse, and throws a fit when I try. I could deal with that, but she is hardly drinking anything. She doesn't like bottles, and doesn't drink enough from a cup. She's been SO FUSSY for a couple days now, and I don't know how to get her to nurse again. Can anyone help????

 --
 JULIE WEST

I'm so sorry.  That must be really tough for both of you.

Have you tried nursing her when she is asleep?  Try to pick a time
when her nose is as clear as possible and see if you can latch her on
when she stirs.

She has a cold, and the first day she had it she tried eating and
couldn't breath. She ended up biting me really hard, and my mom had
told me if she does that to say OUCH so she would know. Well, instead
of it preventing her biting, she's not eating at all. She absolutely
refuses to nurse, and throws a fit when I try.

The OUCH thing seems to work well with some babies, but can be
traumatic for others.  Often they can't seem to help biting when they
are trying to nurse and have plugged up noses.  Babies often
understand more than we think.  Have you tried talking to her about
what happened, explaining that you didn't mean to upset her when you
said "ouch" and telling her that you are sorry and won't do it again?

Have you tried lots of skin to skin contact and cuddling without any
pressure to nurse?  If you can get her to feel calm and relaxed with
skin to skin contact and cuddling, it may help her to get over the
trauma and be ready to nurse again.

Are you able to get her nose clear enough for her to nurse if she
tries?

Some breastfed babies who won't take a bottle seem to do well with the
"Avent Magic Cup" with the softer white spout option.  If you try this
you can tell your daughter that it is OK for biting.

It sounds like you are pumping now, which is good.  If you don't have
a high quality pump, and she doesn't go back to nursing quickly, you
may want to rent a really good one.

--Betsy

don't worry that you saying OUCH is what has put her off, it will be the
cold, if you couldn't breath through your nose, you wouldn't want to
nurse. She's fussy because she's ill - there are no magic solutions to
this, you can help her to breath more easily, either by having her in a
steamy room, or by dropping saline in her nose to try and clear it up
before offering a feed. You can play with the times you offer her the
breast, offering when she's just waking up, or maybe even still asleep.
I'd be inclined to try a nice warm bath with her, both of you get in,
have some skin to skin contact, the steaminess should help her breath
more easily and she may initiate nursing. You should try and maintain
your supply by pumping, so it is available for her when she wants it -
my mum lost her supply when my sister had a severe cold at this age, she
had no advice or help about how to maintain a supply and encourage
nursing. Keep offering her the cup, but make sure it's one that doesn't
have a valve, if it does, the action will be very similar to bottle or
breast and she'll probably struggle. Chances are she'll be absolutely
fine, but do keep an eye on her, babies need help for simple illnesses
sooner than older children or healthy adults.

Cheers
Anne