Nursing Strike

I feel it's time to share a battle that Reesa and I have been going through.

Have you heard of such a phrase as a "Nursing Strike"? Well apparently it exists and Reesa and I have been suffering through this together for the last month. Tiring, frustrating, sad, and clueless are the words I use to describe such an ordeal.

A month ago I was putting Reesa down for the night and I don't think she was very hungry. Her way of telling me was by giving me a little bite! Yikes!! That's exactly how I reacted. I didn't see it coming and I didn't know that by giving a yelp I would startle Reesa and she would then cry. I tried to compose myself and give it another go. The same thing happened. I laid Reesa down and she went to sleep for the night.

The next morning she refused to eat. For three days the only way she would eat was before bed. huh? I had to pump and give her rice cereal with milk to try and compensate for her lack of eating. I would have given her a bottle except that she stopped taking a bottle at 5 months and I didn't think it was a big issue at the time.

Finally after multiple attempts I discovered that Reesa would nurse right after a nap before she fully awoke and was exposed to stimulation. Ok, we have a solution. Not a fun one, but a start. As long as she was eating 3 times a day we were in good shape.

Then she stopped doing that and she would only nurse while she was asleep, so I had to get her to take a nap, wake her, feed her, and hope she would go back to sleep. I've driven her on short drives to get her to sleep so that I could feed her. A little strange but I'm sure every mom has their own version of driving to sleep stories.

I spoke with our lactation lady and she told me that this does happen and you just have to keep offering. Some babies go back and others never do. I asked her what happens if she doesn't and she doesn't drink from a bottle? She said we will talk about that when we get there. She reassured me that I was doing well and that you just have to stay calm and relaxed.

Another week passes and then....

On Monday night I was getting Reesa ready for bed and she was calm and I was calm so I decided I have nothing to lose and gave nursing a go while she was still awake. Yahoo.....we had a successful nurse and she went to bed full and slept the entire night. Wow!! Since Monday we have been back to normal and it has been a huge relief. I'm not sure how long it will last but I'm enjoying every minute that I have a full and content baby and I don't have to scheme how I'm going to feed her or plan out her afternoon nap.

This has been the biggest struggle with Reesa thus far and I'm sure we will have more feeding battles. It's hard when you are trying to keep your baby healthy and they ultimately have the final say.

Reesa you are an independent baby and I love you for it!!