Overcoming a nursing strike - Tarryn

When my baby was 10 months old he had his adenoids removed. On the day of surgery, things were fine and I was still breastfeeding my baby as normal. When we got home after being discharged from the hospital, my son refused to breastfeed. It bothered me, but I thought I would give him time and that he was probably still in pain from surgery. I gave him pain meds, but still he did not want to nurse. A few days passed, and we were still having the same problem of baby not wanting to breastfeed or take a bottle.

I contacted a LLL leader because I needed help and explained my situation to her. She was very helpful and said that my baby is going through a “nursing strike” and that I should continue with skin- to-skin and lots of cuddles with baby and eventually he would get back to breastfeeding again. I’d never heard of a nursing strike before, and at the time I messaged the LLL leader, I was already feeling extremely hopeless because all I wanted to do was comfort my baby the best way I knew how and unfortunately that was not working.

Every time I tried to breastfeed my baby, I was very frustrated and upset that he wouldn’t latch properly, not knowing that baby was picking up on my emotions. After chatting to the LLL leader and learning that this is a nursing strike and things could change quickly, I immediately decided to be calmer and more relaxed and positive when trying to breastfeed my baby again. I thought what help am I to my baby if I’m always frustrated when trying to nurse him. I gave him lots and lots of cuddles when we were together and continued pumping during this time to keep my milk supply up.

Eventually after a week of no breastfeeding, baby finally latched perfectly. There is no other feeling I’ve had greater than this; I was so happy the strike was finally over. My baby and I went back to breastfeeding as though the nursing strike had never happened.

I can only say thank you to LLL because without them I would surely have given up breastfeeding; they have really been with me through my journey with my baby.

Written by Tarryn Anderson - August 2019