My almost 13 month old son typically breastfeeds 4 times a day. Today though he only ate once when he woke up this morning and the other 3 times (including bedtime) bit me and refused to eat. He also only ate 3 times yesterday. I even tried a bottle of breastmilk which he refused. Is this a sign of weaning? I have no idea what to do! Help please!
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Could he be teething? That could cause a strike, especially if he wouldn't take the bottle either.
I would just keep offering... hope he stops refusing soon!
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@runsyellowlites: Someone else just told me the same thing, thanks so much for the feedback! Hopefully it will pass quickly.
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Keep offering. It will pass. Around that age I also started seeing much larger swings in appetite. One week she would eat a ton and the next hardly any.
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Do you recommend pumping to keep my supply up during this time?
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@chai728: You might want to pump if it lasts more than one day. It's common for a nursing strike around that time. My DS did the same thing for 4 days. I found that he would dream feed, so I just breast fed him when he was half asleep
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@junebugmama: Thank you! I pumped last night and this morning. The strike has been 24 hours now. I'll keep offering and see what happens. Interested to see how this plays out.
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@chai728: I agree that it sounds like a strike. Here's some general information (see the section on nursing strikes): http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/back-to-breast/#linksstrike It's very common to go through at some point. Depending on how much he is relying on nursing for food, at his age you could take a more relaxed approach with the pumping and only do so if you feel uncomfortable.
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@Mrs. Twine: Thank you so much for that link. He's eating plenty of food so I'm definitely not uncomfortable. I've never gone more than 12 hours from nursing or pumping so hopefully my body will adjust easily until the strike ends.
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@chai728: At 11 months my DS did this. I work out of the house from 7am to 5:30/6pm, so he was used to bottles since he was 7 weeks old (when I went back to work).
Eventually he went back to the bottles but had no interest in breastfeeding, even at night. That was the last session to drop. I had to fight him to nurse and he would get so upset.
Hope it passes for you! I'd just keep offering breast over bottle anytime you can.
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@rachiecakes: Thank you! I work from home 4 days a week and 1 day go to an office so he rarely gets bottles. I only tried a bottle yesterday when he refused breast multiple times just to see if it was by chance a supply issue? Sounds like he just has no interest in milk in any form at the moment.
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Just an update, heard from nanny that he took 3 oz in a bottle before his first nap. Hopefully he will nurse when I get home from the office today!
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Still no nursing. I read that they can last 2-4 days on average. Tomorrow morning will be 2 full days except for the 3 oz he drank from a bottle today. I read we should not use a bottle which can cause nipple confusion. Tonight I went to bf him before bed and he just smiled at me. I switched him to the other side and he basically laughed at me! Anything is better than biting though. I read that I need to find some ways to convince him to bf again, skin to skin, movement, etc. I'm still hopefully that he will come back, but it's making me sad at the same time!
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