Nursing strike?

[Clisby Williams]

Tatjana Farkin wrote:

>"H Schinske" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
>
>
wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>She last nursed for nap time on Friday and refused the
>>>breast Friday night - kicked it away and said the equivalent to
>>>
>>>
>"yuck".
>
>
>>>She refused any nursing at all after Friday night. The problem is
>>>
>>>
>that R
>
>
>>>can't soothe herself to sleep w/o nursing, cries for 3+ hours every
>>>night and is refusing to go down for nap time although visibly tired.
>>>
>>>
>>I don't want to freak you out, but sometimes breast problems can cause
>>
>>
>the
>
>
>>child to refuse the breast. I think your friend should go get checked
>>
>>
>out
>
>
>>(mammogram or whatever).
>>
>>
>
>That's a scary thought indeed! I'll see whether there's any more
>improvement tomorrow morning (she managed to nurse R twice during her
>sleep now tonight), but otherwise I'll mention it.
>
>
>
>>Also, is there any possibility the child is sick,
>>e.g., ear infection?
>>
>>
>
>My friend took R to the ped this morning (who bf'ed two children until
>self-weaning) and had her checked out. Apparently, there are no oral
>problems (be it teeth, soreness, thrush whatever), no ear infection or
>anything else. She seems perfectly healthy, except for atopic eczema
>which has gotten worse since she stopped nursing.
>
>--
>Tatjana
>PCOS - TTC #1 for 2 years
>
>
>
>
I don't know - ear infection was my best guess, because my 11-month-old
went from 9-10 nursings a
day to barely one when both his ears were infected.

It doesn't really sound like self-weaning to me though. I'd expect
that to happen more gradually.

Clisby

[Tatjana Farkin]

Hi,

I'm posting for a German friend who needs as much advice as she can get
:-/ I had asked Sarajoyo to post on my behalf earlier today because I
didn't have access to mkbf while at my friend, but I don't see her post
now, so I'm sorry if this comes up twice.

My friend's nursing her nearly 21 months old daughter R who is (or used
to be) a very avid nurser - easily 10+ times a day and lengthy sessions
for nap/bed time. She last nursed for nap time on Friday and refused the
breast Friday night - kicked it away and said the equivalent to "yuck".
She refused any nursing at all after Friday night. The problem is that R
can't soothe herself to sleep w/o nursing, cries for 3+ hours every
night and is refusing to go down for nap time although visibly tired.
My friend immediately assumed that R had self-weaned and tried to get
her milk to dry up. She didn't tell me until today, but luckily her milk
is still going strong, and I got her to talk to an LLL bf counsellor
this afternoon - who confessed to not having a lot of experience with
nursing 21 month olds but contacted a more experienced leader. In my
layperson's opinion, it seems more like a nursing strike to me because R
is so obviously not content and stopped so suddenly (from 10+ times to
zero). We went through the literature, and we can't find any explanation
for a nursing strike (friend is definitely not pg etc., the only
remotely interesting data point is R's second MMR shot a week before the
strike began and she had been behaving weirdly ever since the shot), but
my friend is devastated and clings to any ideas.

Everyone seems to say "cudos for making it so long, but this is
self-weaning, accept it". My friend, though devastated at the sudden
end, can accept self-weaning, but it seems like R is so distressed.
She's hardly slept since Friday, avoids all typical nursing situations
(like sitting on the sofa), is restless and keeps herself awake. I spent
the whole day with them today, and R refused to go down for nap time
although she confirmed that she was tired. Finally, around 5.30pm she
did fall asleep - while standing. She immediately fell down to the floor
which woke her again and prompted her to run to the nearest wall, stand
facing the wall and scream piercingly whenever somebody touched her.
This is definitely not her normal behaviour.

UPDATE: I just got a call from my friend that R nursed for a few sucks
in her sleep, for the first time since Friday. Is this a good sign,
making it more likely that it's "just" a nursing strike?

Sorry for such a lengthy post, but I'd really like to help my friend.
Any and all suggestions appreciated!

--
Tatjana
PCOS - TTC #1 for 2 years

[H Schinske]

wrote:

> She last nursed for nap time on Friday and refused the
>breast Friday night - kicked it away and said the equivalent to "yuck".
>She refused any nursing at all after Friday night. The problem is that R
>can't soothe herself to sleep w/o nursing, cries for 3+ hours every
>night and is refusing to go down for nap time although visibly tired.

I don't want to freak you out, but sometimes breast problems can cause the
child to refuse the breast. I think your friend should go get checked out
(mammogram or whatever). Also, is there any possibility the child is sick,
e.g., ear infection?

--Helen

[Tatjana Farkin]

"H Schinske" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
> wrote:
>
> > She last nursed for nap time on Friday and refused the
> >breast Friday night - kicked it away and said the equivalent to
"yuck".
> >She refused any nursing at all after Friday night. The problem is
that R
> >can't soothe herself to sleep w/o nursing, cries for 3+ hours every
> >night and is refusing to go down for nap time although visibly tired.
>
> I don't want to freak you out, but sometimes breast problems can cause
the
> child to refuse the breast. I think your friend should go get checked
out
> (mammogram or whatever).

That's a scary thought indeed! I'll see whether there's any more
improvement tomorrow morning (she managed to nurse R twice during her
sleep now tonight), but otherwise I'll mention it.

> Also, is there any possibility the child is sick,
> e.g., ear infection?

My friend took R to the ped this morning (who bf'ed two children until
self-weaning) and had her checked out. Apparently, there are no oral
problems (be it teeth, soreness, thrush whatever), no ear infection or
anything else. She seems perfectly healthy, except for atopic eczema
which has gotten worse since she stopped nursing.

--
Tatjana
PCOS - TTC #1 for 2 years