[jrose_lee]

My 3 month old ds ate every 1-2 hours for the first month or two. Now he is usually at 3-4 hours, which is fine. But today, something strange is going on. He didn't eat much through the night and his last feeding was at 5AM. It is now 2PM and he hasn't eaten ANYTHING! He won't EAT! He just bites (gums) down on my nipple and turns away. It has been 9 hours and he hasn't eaten! This is SOOOOOOOOO long for him! He seems to be in pretty good spirits and isn't running a temperature or anything. The only strange thing is that his poo is bright orange (usually yellow or greenish). Is this some sort of nursing strike? Is he okay? Is my milk going to dry up? Tell me if this is normal and when my babe is going to nurse again!!!

 

[bri276]

that is a little weird. could be a nursing strike. if I were you I'd pump and try feeding him with a little cup.

 

[MikahsMomma]

Don't panic - hard, isn't it! 9 hours won't necessarily hurt him. There are BF babies that regular go all night without nursing with no problem. Hudson has a couple of times and suffered no ill effects. Do you have a pump? You may trying pumping a little just for your own relief. Or manually expressing if you don't have a pump. You won't dry up just from not nursing for that long, but you could get a plugged duct and that's NO fun. Hmmm...random thoughts...is he fussing at all or just completely happy, but not eating? Hudson fusses and wiggles at the breast when he needs a really good burp and then he goes back to eating. Have you tried different positions - like laying down, nursing him upright instead of horizontal (kind of awkward, but lean back in a recliner and it helps)? Try waking him up to eat, but start feeding him before he's entirely awake. He may eat without thinking. Hang in there - he'll eat eventually!

 

[zak]

If he's not terrified of water you might try a nice warm bath with him... many/most babies will nurse in a relaxing warm bath w/ Mama.

Sounds like a strike. Could he be teething? Maybe try some Chamomilla. Try nursing when he's sleepy. Try nursing while walking around.

((hang in there))... we survived 2 nursing strikes!!

I would track his "output" so if you need help from a LLL Leader you have that info for her too.

 

[greenmansions]

last weekend my 9 wo dd didn't eat for almost 14 hours, but she started up again and still managed to gain nearly 3/4 of an ounce average per day for the week... I imagine your dc will eat when he's ready, just like my dd did. But I know how hard it is to hang in there and wait...

 

[jrose_lee]

thank you for your help. We tried the bath, but he just cried (isn't the biggest fan of baths anyway). I tried lots of skin to skin contact, but nothing there either. Finally, when he was looking really tired I got him to eat for 5-10 min and now he's asleep in the sling. Sigh....I feel much better. It wasn't much, but it was a start. 12 hours! Wow. He's still biting (gumming) down on my nipple and drooling like a maniac. Teething at three months seems a bit early......probably not that....?

 

[Serras_sis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrose_lee thank you for your help. We tried the bath, but he just cried (isn't the biggest fan of baths anyway). I tried lots of skin to skin contact, but nothing there either. Finally, when he was looking really tired I got him to eat for 5-10 min and now he's asleep in the sling. Sigh....I feel much better. It wasn't much, but it was a start. 12 hours! Wow. He's still biting (gumming) down on my nipple and drooling like a maniac. Teething at three months seems a bit early......probably not that....?

Do you have an overactive let down? My DD bites down when I let down because it comes out too fast, and often doesnt want to nurse in the beginning, or pops on and off sometimes- to get a breather! LOL

 

[mamabike]

My babies were definitely teething at 3 months and had a couple of teeth by 4 months, so yes it could be teething that caused the nursing strike. Whenever one of my babes was reluctant to nurse, I had to pretend like I didn't care...like it didn't bother me. This was not easy to do of course! But if the baby sensed that I was anxious about it, then it was even more difficult to coax him to nurse. Will your son suck on your finger? Sometimes I used to position my son for nursing, and then let him suck on my finger. After a minute or two, I would quickly pop him onto the breast and since he was already into the sucking "groove" he would continue and have a feed.