Let me preface this post by saying that breastfeeding is the best decision I've made as a mother. It's been a hard journey, but that has only made it more rewarding. There are times when everything is sailing along smoothly, and suddenly something happens, and you feel like all the growth and progress you've made has disappeared, and you're back to square one. Nursing strikes definitely make you want to give up.
Nursing strike are when, for one reason or another, your baby will not nurse even though he or she is starving. So you have a screaming miserable child at your breast latching and unlatching (easily the most painful part of nursing in the beginning), but not actually getting any food.
The first time I experienced this, I had no clue what to think. I just sat and rocked with Jackson until he got so exhausted from the labor of pitching a fit and starving, that he would latch and immediately doze off. It was miserable to see my little man like that. A few weeks later, the culprit leered its ugly head. At about 5:30 on a Friday, I unwrapped a soiled diaper to find blood. Holy crap. And of course this would be the timing. I called the pediatrician on call, and after a long weekend of close monitoring, sleepless nights, and an almost trip to the children's emergency center, we went to the doctor's office on Monday.
Food allergies. Since his bloody poop tested negative for infection, the most likely culprit was a food allergy. The most common food allergy in infants is milk, so I stopped eating any milk products and his eczema cleared up. Yay! The blood, not so much. In fact it got worse. So I scheduled an appointment with a specialist. The specialist agreed it was probably food allergies, but to what? He gave me a whole list of possibilities: Milk, soy, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and eggs. I had two options: I could cut out one at a time, and if he's allergic to more than one it will be harder to figure out, or I could cut out everything and slowly add thing back one at a time. I chose option 2. But the question begged to be answered, what exactly can I eat?
The doctor said that it took 3 days for all the allergens to get out of my body, and my breast milk. Everything I read online said up to three weeks, so I compromised with a one week cleanse. I pretty much couldn't eat anything except for homemade meals that consisted of fresh vegetables and meat. I am a girl that loves to eat out, so it was miserable.
As I slowly added things back into my diet, I figured out it was the soy. No big deal right? Well I am here to tell you, SOY IS IN EVERYTHING. Soybean oil is in all Publix bakery items that I've found, most breads, and pretty much anything cooked with oil. In fact the "vegetable oil" you usually cook with is probably soybean oil. Soy is also used as a protein filler, so it's in a lot of beef dishes including all taco bell beef items, hamburgers, etc. It's in mayonnaise, salad dressings, chocolate, candies, EVERYTHING. But that's a whole other story. After I cut all soy and milk products from my diet, the blood started going away, and he started nursing like normal.
Reason 1 for nursing strike: Upset tummy/food allergies
All was going smoothly, and I was feeling like the mommy with all the answers when one night, Jackson would not eat, but he was screaming like a banshie. I tried to play with him, thinking he wasn't hungry. No, he continued crying. So I gave him some of his reflux medication, and he drank it like a hungry newborn pup. What is going on??? A few days later, I looked in his mouth while he was screaming and saw puffy, swollen gums. Aw hell. This is it. We're teething. Apparently sucking causes pain in the gums while they are teething. For this I promptly ordered two bottles of Hyland's teething tablets. Another mom friend of mine recommended rubbing them directly on the gums, which I did. Not that I would ever recommend administering anything with any variation from the directions on the label, I did and it worked wonders. They break up almost immediately, and in about ten minutes, he's eating like normal. My pediatrician recommended Orajel because "it's always better to use something topical rather than something they ingest," but when my baby is in pain, I'm doing what works if I have no reason not to.
Reason 2: Teething
These are the two reasons so far I've encountered for nursing strikes, but there are lots. Here are some links I've found helpful:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_nursing-strike_8490.bc
http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/back-to-breast/
http://www.vitacost.com/hylands-baby-tiny-cold-tablets
https://winelibrary.com/ (Just saying...it's a stressful time. We all need a way to unwind.)
No comments:
Post a Comment