Hi,
I just thought I'd ask if anyone had any experience with something like this. My 11 month old started to absolutely refuse to nurse on one side. I tried all different positions, had the doctor check his ears, quiet room, etc. Nothing helped. Now he doesn't want to nurse at all. He struggles to sit back up whenever I try to get him to nurse or he'll bite me...OW! He's an active baby so I try to nurse him late at night and early in the morning when he is calmer. I feel like if he could talk he'd say "give it up Mom, I'm so over this." I weaned my first at 11 months...but I was heading into my 3rd trimester with my second. I thought I'd nurse my second one longer. Any thoughts?
Thank you everyone for your responses. It is nice to know that I'm not alone and I appreciate the encouragement. It is sad to think the baby time is over though, but I think that is what he has been trying to tell me. I will pump for as long as I can and give him sippy cups. I hope to make it until he is a year at least. After being pregnant and/or nursing for almost 3 years straight there is a part of me that's REALLY looking forwad to the break from my body being 'on call'!
Hi
GREAT JOB going thus far!!! Awesome!
Don't worry if he's done with BF'ing. If you still want him to get the nutrition, you could pump and bottle-feed or put in sippy cup.
From my experience with my 3 kids, when they're done, they're done. I hope you find the advice that makes you comfortable, though :)
Good luck!!!
M.
It could be a nursing strike. I think www.kellymom.com (awesome website for nursing Mama's) might have some more information about nursing strkes there, or you could just google it. From what I understand, while they can be rough to get through, most of them don't last too long. I don't know much about it, except that it's been said that most babies wont self wean under a year old. It's still very healthy for them (the breast milk, that is) so if I were you, I'd continue to offer the breast to him and go from there.
Try checkin' this out: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html
Other than that, has anything in your diet changed? Some things, even slight changes, can alter the taste of the BM and make them not want it, too.
Either way, you've done a GREAT job. If he is done nursing, eleven months of breast milk is more than what most babies these days get, and you'll continue to see the benefits from these eleven months for the rest of his life. :0) I'm proud of you!
Hi!
It could be something totally different, but this has been my experience with my kids.
The only time I had this problem with my kids (I have 4 kids ages 6,5, 2, 1yr) was when their neck was out of adjustment.
I'm not sure if you've ever had your children adjusted by a chiropractor, but it's pretty gentle, and from birth, they are out of alignment just from simply being squished inside of you as well as being pulled out in the case of a c-section and coming through the birth canal too (even in the home birth situations) so that seems to help when they get their neck ajusted.
They seemed to have a hard time turning to one side when nursing and then all together stopped because it just got to be too painful to hold their neck to either side. Just like when you wake up with a stiff neck and can't look to one side or the other, it's the same thing.
I have a wonderful chiro that we use who doesn't do any cracking, he just massages and gently puts their neck back into place.
If you want more info on him, I can get that for you.
I hope this helps. It's happened with every one of my children.
The only other reason my kids stopped nursing was when I was pregnant as you said happened with your other child...check that out too! :)
C.
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My kids both weaned themselves at this age, it sounds like that is what your baby is doing. I wouldn't force him to nurse if he doesn't want to. You can be glad you aren't one of those poor moms who wants to wean and has a hard time because the baby wants to be on the breast all the time! It was very easy for me, I just followed my kids signals (very similar to your son's)and they weaned themselves when they were ready. I had enough frozen breast milk to last for several weeks, so we did use that for a while after. Good Luck!
A friend of mine had the same problem with her 9 month old daughter. She would bite her too. My friend finally figured out it was because she didn't want to nurse anymore. My friend didn't want to give it up, and I think just about any nursing mom can relate to that. I would say that is sounds like he is not interested in nursing anymore. I know it's hard, however, how many times can you stand getting bitten. :) If it will make him happy and he is ok with it not nursing then I say let him go. I would say be grateful for the 11 months you had, some moms don't get that much, but I know it doesn't help how your feeling right now. I am sorry your having to go thru this, hopefully the transition won't be too hard on you.
Hi, I agree with the others that he might be starting to wean himself. However, if you want to continue to nurse, I would continue to offer the breast for a while. My son is almost 13 months and went through a period of not wanting to nurse. I just kept offering the breast - I would not force him to nurse or get upset if he didn't want to nurse. Now he still likes to nurse in the evenings to calm him down for bed. If you still want to do it, don't give up yet, he may go back to the breast. Either way, you have done a GREAT job.
I had the same experience with my son at 8 months old. I thought he was on a nursing strike but after talking to a lactaction consultant she and told her how he went from wanting to nurse from me all the time, and then to nights and mornings only, then to only mornings, and then he started to refuse mornings too, she said he was weaning himself. Sometimes babies decide that they don't want to nurse anymore. He did the same thing wanted to sit up, and got really upset like I was forcing him. He too is very active and actually started walking around the same time. I don't think he liked not being able to see things. I am still crushed, I love nursing and wanted to do it for a while longer but I decided that if I had decided to stop nursing then he would have had to respect and deal with that decision so I did the same for him. Hope this helps.
By the way what part time work do you do at home, if you do not mind my asking?
hi, don't feel rejected. my 2yr old weaned herself at 12 months. she started playing with nipple to see which way the milk would spray, and just saying no.
Hi J.!
I just wanted to let you know that I wish I could have had the chance to nurse my boys half that long. Not all of us get to do that for several reasons and I just wanted to say that I think your so lucky to have had all that time to bond with yours in that way. Also, my best friend has had 4 children and breastfed each of them over a year...as long as she could and she would have been relieved to have had an "ending" point like yours. The fact that he is "done" and you don't have to wean him yourself is a "good" thing for HIM. You should feel very thankful in my opinion. Good luck to you and God bless~
Sounds like he is ready to give it up. I exclusively nursed and pumped until my daughter was 12 months, but at 10 months, during my period, she started to refuse the day-time feedings (I guess my production was down) but would nurse in the am then before bed. At 11 months, during my cycle, she refused all together, so then she drank the frozen and pumped milk until 1 year. You might have to do that - pump and give in a botle or sippy.
~J.
