• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop ModernMom
  • Become An Insider

ModernMom

The premiere destination for moms

  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • ModernMom Monday Videos
  • Cooking
  • Living Healthy
    • Breast Cancer
    • Health & Fitness
    • Body after Baby
    • Beauty
    • Relationships
    • Love
  • Lifestyle
    • Crafts
    • At Home
    • Education
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Decorate
    • Money
    • Brooke Burke
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
      • Easter
      • Valentine’s Day
      • New Year’s
      • Christmas
      • Hanukah
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Birthdays
    • Parties
  • Must Have
  • Contests
  • Entertainment

Is Your Baby on a Breastfeeding Strike?

May 10, 2016 by Sara Chana Leave a Comment

Sometimes, seemingly randomly, babies decide to go on a nursing strike.  It usually happens so quickly, and out of the blue, that moms are a bit shocked.

“Everything was going so well, then little Jenny just rejected me,” is what a woman will proclaim. Nursing strikes are usually temporary but the mom needs to do some investigation work because there usually is a reason for the baby’s refusal of the breast.

Here are the steps to take if the baby is on a nursing strike:

1. Visit your pediatrician to rule out the possibility of your baby having an ear infection or fluid in her ear.  An ear infection can cause pressure in the baby’s ear, making it too painful to breastfeed.

2. Check to see if your baby has a stuffy nose. Since a baby’s mouth is entirely closed during breastfeeding, a stuffy nose can cause trouble breathing and create the uncomfortable sensation of suffocating while attempting to nurse.

3. Look inside your child’s mouth for cold sores – which can make breastfeeding very painful.

4. If your child recently bit you and you gave a startled, painful or angry reaction, as normal and reflexive as it might be, may have frightened your baby from repeating that experience.

5. If a baby had trouble breastfeeding, and rather than address any nursing issues directly, the baby was supplemented with more bottles, then this baby may want to choose the bottle over the breast.

Solutions:

1a. If the child has an ear infection or fluid in the ear, simply treating the ear problem should resolve the breastfeeding issue.

2a. If your child has a stuffy nose, try clearing the nose with saline solution, an antihistamine or an herbal antihistamine before you breastfeed.

3a. If your child has cold sores, they are the result of a virus that your doctor or natural practitioner can help you to address. While the sores are healing, you can maintain nutrition and hydration by giving your child breast milk that you have frozen into the form of soothing popsicles.

4a. If your child bites you and you scream, you should look your baby in the eyes, being firm and direct, and gently say that you hurt mommy when you bite, so let’s try it again without biting.

5a. If your baby stopped nursing due to an inability to breastfeed properly, then working with a breastfeeding expert is a good choice.  Using an SNS (supplemental nursing system) first on your finger to hydrate your baby, then putting the SNS on your breast may be the answer.

One very successful approach to getting the baby back on the breast after a nursing strike is taking a bath with your baby.

Taking a bath with your baby to get your baby to re-latch onto the breast is also called a re-birthing. There is something about you and the baby being in the water together that creates the environment that encourages the baby to breastfeed again.

So fill up the bath tub and get in, and then have someone hand you the baby.  Hold the baby so the baby’s head and face are always above the level of the water. Gently splash the baby with water. Offer the breast to the baby. Do not push the baby to breastfeed, just offer the breast.

Most babies will breastfeed after engaging in a re-birthing. Some babies breastfeed after one bath and some need to take three or four baths over a period of a few days, before they start nursing again.

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Baby, Parenting

About Sara Chana

Sara Chana, IBCLC, RH (AHG)  www.sarachana.com is a lactation consultant, classical homeopath, registered herbalist, doula and mother of seven children. She appears regularly doing health segments on CBS, NBC, ABC & FOX news shows. She has worked with over 10,000 new moms and babies.  You can view her videos on YouTube, follow her on Facebook Sara Chana and on Twitter @sarachanas.

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Search

Tell a friend

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ModernMom Boutique

ModernMom TV

Featured

Kissing Kids on the Lips: Fine or Not?

I recently read an article that says that parents should not … [Read More...] about Kissing Kids on the Lips: Fine or Not?

Must Have

STEM-related Toys to Include in Your Child’s Easter Basket This Year 

April has arrived which means it’s time to pull out the food … [Read More...] about STEM-related Toys to Include in Your Child’s Easter Basket This Year 

Did you know?

Dizziness in Pregnancy

Causes of Dizziness in Pregnancy

Advantages & Disadvantages for Children in a Single-Parent Family

strep throat symptoms in babies

Strep Throat Symptoms in Babies

How Early Can an Ultrasound Detect a Fetus?

How Early Can an Ultrasound Detect a Fetus?

Use Frozen Bananas for Baking

How to Use Frozen Bananas for Baking

How to Detect a Miscarriage

Cures & Remedies for Head Lice

Cures & Remedies for Head Lice

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact ModernMom
  • Advertise With Us
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors

Copyright © 2022 Modern Mom. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of this website only at the express permission of Mom, Inc.

The information provided on ModernMom is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.