Our own little Gandhi

Well, it has been determined that Lucia is on what is called a "nursing strike". What that means is that when she is alert she cries, fusses, kicks and pushes the breast away when she is obviously hungry. She will suck her hand, her pacifier, and cry but will not eat. The more you try to feed her the more upset she becomes.

So, I feed her primarily when she is either sleepy or in that sleep state. This means that I get up a lot more in the nighttime now and am 100% more tired during the day. I bought a book yesterday, "The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers" by Jack Newman, M.D. and Teresa Pitman. They suggest that I simply pump more and wait it out. I can and have tried skin to skin contact, expressing milk into her mouth, switching out pacifier for myself when she is calm enough, and about a million other things. My sister-in-law suggested I try a breast shield. I like the sound of that and may try it out if I get desperate.They said it DOES end and, although it is stressful for the family, as long as she's eating 3 to 4 times in a 24 hour period she will maintain a healthy weight gain.

So my whole life and being has been centering around this fact. This weekend is my chance at resolving it because I don't go to work. Lucia is an awesome bottle feeder and loves the readiness of the bottle. I was a very "milky" mommy to begin with and she probably didn't have to work very hard to get milk from the beginning. Now that my milk is regulated and, well, actually "down" since my Seattle/sickness extravaganza she needs to work to get the milk to let down. They say that around three months is a typical time for this to happen. That is exactly how old Lucia is "around". They say it also can happen with eight month old babies as well. Now that I know more I feel less anxious and relieved that I don't need to be forcing the breast for her. I would hate for her to develop a Pavlov's dog response to hating my breasts.