18 mo old and the super nursing strike! Help!

[nukuspot]

X posted in breastfeeding;

Hi! My DD is 18 mo and up until 48 hours ago she was a happy little nurser. As a matter of fact for about the last month she was honestly a little addicted. Her favorite word was "nurse". She would nurse every 20 minutes for a half hour all day and all night if I let her. She made me nurse all her toys and even frequently asked me to nurse the dog (which of course I did not do!)

Fast forward to 2 days ago. She's been getting her first 2 molars in for a while but I think they are really getting painful now as she's drooling like a bulldog. Then she came down with the worst stuffy nose/cold that she's had so far. For the last 2 days she will not nurse and violently reacts when I offer it. She yells "NO!" And pushes my breast away. She will nurse deep in the night when she is totally asleep, but because she is so congested she normally can't breathe well enough to get a let down.

So I'm here wondering how long this is going to go on? Will my supply dry up? Will I get mastitis? I'm super super uncomfortable, and I miss my breastfeeding relationship with my DD. You all might be thinking "well, just pump" but I'm one of those women who has a terrible time pumping. Last night I tried for an hour and got ONE OUNCE. I have a good quality medela double electric pump...I think it's just something I can't do well.

Any advice? Any BTDT and it will get better soon?

[sosurreal09]

have not btdt with a toddler...but DD is 12 m/o and has been SICK oh gee is she stuffed and has teeth coming so i feel you're pain somewhat.

sooo firstly do you use humidifier? when she gets real bad i will have it on all day even in the living room. also is she blowing her nose yet? have you tried saline at all?

she will only take that one feed in the night time period? she doesnt nurse to sleep?

i suck at pumping myself so i know what you mean there. if she doesnt get over strike soon i would be afraid that you're supply may diminish greatly or dry up.
have you discussed this with her? maybe explain that if she doesnt drink her milk it will go bye bye forever? perhaps she wont really understand though...
i know when DD is really distracted while nursing i will tell her milk is going bye bye unless you drink it and she usually will start up if not i put it away.

the hope would be that she gets over it and starts nursing again very soon. *hugs* i hope it goes that way for you too.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I would try helping with the breathing first. You can put some breastmilk in her nose and that will help clear it up a bit.

Personally though, I love essential oils for stuffy noses. They do WONDERS. Try two drops each of eucalyptus, tea tree, and lavender oils either in a bowl of boiling water by the bed, a diffuser, or in a tablespoon of sweet almond oil (or vegetable oil if that's all you have around). If you do the sweet almond oil you can rub it on her chest and on your breasts (not nipples) so that while she's nursing in the night she can breath better. This same mixture does amazing things for coughing too, so they are good oils to have on hand for any kind of cold symptoms.

[nukuspot]

Well it's day 4 and she's still not nursing. Her cold is getting better and she's less stuffy, but still not nursing. I'm feeling really sad about it all. Maybe it's her teeth? Maybe she will start again? Or is this the end of nursing?