Breast milk strike...any experience?

[KBN]

My daughter is 8 months and an avid breastfeeder, so much so that she has never taken a bottle. Over the last 2 days she has refused 3 of her 4 daily feeds (only the early morning one goes in), and this morning, that was a struggle.

I don't think she is starting to self-wean, as she seems upset at not being able to get milk - she goes to latch on and then clamps her mouth closed and cries. It is all quite upsetting for me!

She is defninitely teething- tooth one is through and no 2 coming, and possibly has the remains of a cold, tho she seems fine in herself apart from teething grumpiness. She is eating well, and I'm offering lots of water at meal times, but wondered whether anyone has experienced anything similar. How long did it last? Any strategies? or hints....Do I just keep expressing to keep supply up?

Thank you!

K

[lorraineliyanage]

That definitely sounds like teething. My daughter used to really grumble at the boob when she was cutting a new tooth and also bit me quite a bit. If you are worried about milk supply dwindling, then keep expressing but I'm sure once the teething pain passes (for the current tooth, at least) she will latch back on happily.

Try an amber necklace for the teething pain.

[Billy]

My baby is 4 months and has been on a bf strike for the last few days. He is solely breast fed and he had refused all of his feeds for 2 days. Tonight he finally fed properly again hooray. I went to the doctor and wailed this afternoon - he was not very sympathetic and told me to pull myself together and stop being so silly. Hopefully he is right. Hope it gets better for you. X

[Pickle]

I had similar with both of my children, and teething was the cause in both cases. Try rubbing your baby's gums with some teething gel before a feed (or even sometimes just rubbing with your finger helps a bit), and I second the recommendation for an amber necklace - my daughter has been wearing one for a few months now (she's 19 months) and it's made a huge difference to her during the difficult period of getting her molars. I wish I'd got one earlier!

Try not to worry too much, things will settle down again. Try offering milk at different times to "normal" during the day, maybe when she's sleepy it might be easier? Express if you can, although if you've been breastfeeding for 8 months a few days won't make a difference to your milk supply.

Good luck x

[iaineasy]

err sorry to sound stupid but why an amber necklace?

[Belle]

it's a teething remedy - the amber is meant to be a natural painkiller I think, something to do with what happens when worn against the skin. It may sound hokey but it's something lots of people swear by - we only stopped with our,s as he kept trying to pull it off, and will def be trying it again when more teeth start. They're v popular in countries like France I think.

[Pickle]

I'd always been very sceptical about amber necklaces, bought one as a last resort for M and it really was a bit of a miracle... within a day of wearing it she seemed a lot happier and a couple of teeth popped through that I didn't even realise were on their way. May just be a fluke, but I'm sticking with it :)

She gets very excited every morning when I put it on, at 19 months she's getting very aware of what she wears etc., and looks in the mirror at her necklace and says "pretty"!

[coopercat]

Might be worth getting his ears checked just in case