Nursing strikes/self weaning in an 11 month old

[Ruth_Baldock]

This will be my 3rd post on here at the moment, which shows I am obsessed with this forum.

My baby is on his 8th day of not nursing. I am going insane, I LOVE nursing him, but he is not interested at all. I have been keeping hydrated, taking fenugreek, attempting to hand express and express with my medela and NADA. We've had tonnes of skin to skin and co-sleeping naps and all the rest but I have NOTHING. S doesn't seem to know how to latch anymore. I'm not engorged. S is totally disinterested, I can't even dreamfeed him anymore because he wakes up and screams bloody murder. I have tried and tried and tried to get him to relatch and to stimulate milk production...but the cuboard, so to speak, is bare.

I've had awful under-supply issues for about 8 months now, so I am wondering if this is the end of it all? It's all very well if he decides to come back to it in due course, but I'll have no milk for him. I can think of a few reasons he may have gone off my milk, one very clear one springs to mind.

Has anyone else experienced this? Just wanted some other's experience, really. The whole thing is really upsetting, he won't take formula so I am bricking myself about him getting enough calcium, but he does woolf down cheese/yoghurt. He'll drink loads of water from beakers too, so I think we're okay.

Bit gutted though :(

[Pickle]

My son self weaned at around the 11 month mark - I was in the early stages of pregnancy with #2, which I'm sure was the reason as my milk obviously changed (perhaps this rings true in your case?! ;-) ).

It all happened quite naturally, I never had problems with engorgement, but was very sad that it came to an end before I was ready! When no. 2 came along she more than made up for my sadness by refusing a bottle until she was 14 months!

[Ruth_Baldock]

I am wondering how early on in the pregnacy a baby would refuse milk? We're TTC at the moment, but by my calculations I'd only be about 10 days gone. Too early for baby baldock to tell, surely? Or maybe not, babies are so sensitive to any kind of change, aren't they?

[Pickle]

They are very sensitive to change. With hindsight C started to fuss and refuse milk before I knew I was pregnant, it would have been in the very early stages - I didn't realise I was pregnant until I was about 6 weeks at which point it all made sense (as did my NEED for sausage rolls and sudden dislike of red wine, very unusual for me!).

[Ruth_Baldock]

Oh god, the need to EAT lemons and the constant hankering for marmite makes sense!

Kidding. Well, no I'm not kidding, but I've always wanted to eat odd things, pregnant or not.

At least he is happy to swig down water from a sippy cup. I suppose I shall end up being obsessive about weighing him, again. (paranoid Mum moment...)

[sophiechristophy]

hey ruth - just noticed your mention about calcium, and thought you might like the info that we include in our childrens centre 'kids kitchen' sessions on alternative to dairy calcium sources:

Fruit and Vegetables:

Sweet potato

Spinach

Lemons

Garlic

Cauliflower

Turnip

Celery

Onion

Green beans

Cabbage

Carrots

Kale

Watercress

Oranges

Broccoli

Cherries

Avocado

Pineapple

Bananas

Aubergine

Tomatoes

Coriander

Beetroot

Parsley

Grapes

Asparagus

Green peas

Strawberries

Nuts and Seeds:

Almonds (ground for under 5s)

Sesame

Walnuts (ground for under 5s_

Tahini

Hazelnuts (ground for under 5s)

Poppy

Sunflower

Bean, Pulses and Grains:

Oats

Tofu

Brown rice

Chickpeas

Lentils

Quinoa

Wholewheat flour

Soybeans

Meat & Fish:

Sardines

Chicken

Turkey

P.S i am pretty sure my mum said that i self-weened at around 11 months when i was a baby, strange how some babies just do that when you think there will be more of a process involved.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Sophie, thanks v much!!! This is going on our fridge door, feel much better abou calcium alternatives now :)

[sunbob]

Hello Ruth

My daughter self weaned at 15 months when I wasn't expecting it. She had a couple of nasty mouth ulcers, meaning it hurt to feed for a couple of days, but then when they had healed up she wasn't interested any more. I was upset too, especially as her last experience of trying to feed was painful for her. Anyway, she seemed very sure of her decision and quite relaxed about it, so I'm sure it was just me who was upset. It didn't take long for me to cheer up, I hope you feel ok soon too.

[Helen GV]

could make it easier to conceive too... x

[dullified]

Have you tried giving him cow's milk - I know they say wait until 12 months but I'm pretty sure it can't harm at 11 months?

[Ruth_Baldock]

He'll drink cows milk fine as long as it's warm, but I'm still upset about losing our breastfeeding bond. Today I'm wearing a normal bra for th first time in a year and must admit it feels lovely...

[dullified]

Yeah I know how it feels about losing the breast feeding bond (plus the extra pain on giving up breast feeding of my boobs shrinking back to their normal (A) cup size). I had to return to work full-time at 6 months leaving my son in the care of his dad who is now his primary carer. One year on and despite spending more time with Daddy I'm still his absolute favourite. I found in the end the breast feeding bond was fortunately just a tiny part of a much bigger bond created during our first 6 months together when mummy had lovely c-cup breasts...ah how I miss them...