My 8.5 month old wont nurse!

[thommymama]

My 8.5 month old has no interest in nursing. At first I thought it was a nursing strike but it has been 3 weeks now and is actually getting worse.  He will still nurse to sleep sometimes and in the middle of the night when he is half asleep he will nurse a few times but during the day he just wants to go play!  Walking and nursing doesn't even work anymore, which was working at the very beginning of the 3 weeks. I tried pumping but wasn't able to get very much and what I did get he just ended up wearing; he didn't swallow any of it, he sipped it and then let it all fall out of his mouth.

I don't know what to do.  Help!

[Llyra]

It sounds like you're dealing with a nursing strike. I'm going to link you with kellymom's information about strikes, because I think it's the best coverage of this problem that I've seen.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/babyselfwean.html

And also LLL:
http://www.llli.org/nb/nbnovdec92p173.html
http://www.llli.org/faq/strike.html

The most important factor, I think, is consistently trying. Most babies who strike eventually go back to nursing avidly. They strike for a whole variety of reasons, and often you'll never know what it was that caused baby to start to refuse the breast.

Lots of women mistake a strike for self-weaning. It usually isn't, especially during the first year.

Have you tried discontinuing all other sucking-- like no bottles, no pacifiers, no sippy cups, etc. Often this does help, since the urge to suck is still so strong at this age. You also might try easing back or even stopping solid food, because breastmilk should still be his primary source of nutrition at this age.

It's also possible that if he's nursing several times during the night, that he might not need so much during the day. The very first thing I'd do I think is to start offering more during the night-- if he's not cosleeping already, take him to bed with you, and sleep with him right against your breast.

Good luck! Strikes can be so frustrating and upsetting. I think they're harder on the mama than on baby.

[thommymama]

This 3rd week has been especially trying because I really thought it would be over by now instead of getting worse. 

He has never had a bottle, I have given him sippy cups but 95% of the time all he does is chew on it... he doesn't suck... same goes with a pacifier but even more so, he has never sucked on a pacifier, just bites it. 

We already cosleep... and he used to sleep right up against me in a little ball but has recently taken to spreading out and taking up more space than you'd think a little guy like him could :-)

He is eating solids, at the start of the strike (if that is what this is) I cut down on the amount I was giving him.  He is already a really little guy so I would worry about him not getting enough food if I stop solids.  would that really be a good idea?