Breastfeeding Challenge: The Nursing Strike While you may not be able to determine what caused a nursing strike before it is over there are many factors that you can consider to help you figure out why your baby is declining the opportunity to breastfeed. If you are able to address the correct problem that your baby is having with nursing you can potentially end a nurses strike early.	Breastfeeding Reading

What Causes a Nursing Strike and What Can You Do to Get Through One

If your baby is teething it may be extremely uncomfortable for them to eat so they will resist nursing. If your baby can drink out of a cup you can see that they get expressed milk that way, by the spoonful is another way to give your baby milk when they will not nurse. Like teething, earaches can make nursing for your baby very painful.

Something that your baby can not tell you that they have nor can you check to see if they have one is a sore throat, a good indicator of this is if they have a cold. In the event that your baby has a sore throat suckling may be uncomfortable or even painful, but they need milk to keep their strength up so by giving them breast milk in a cup or by spoon feeding it to them until they get over a sore throat you will help ensure that that they are still getting plenty to eat.

Another thing about a cold that can keep your baby from eating is a runny nose or stuffed up nose. Once they begin to suckle they will find it hard or even impossible to breath through their nose. This is a scary feeling and may have your baby reluctant to try and nurse again even if you have cleared their nostrils. If your baby has a runny or stuffed up nose use an aspirator to clear it out before each feeding.

Look at how you feel as the mom, your baby will pick up on your feelings. Therefore if you are stressed or feel rushed when you feed your baby see if they react different to a feeding session if you are calm and relaxed, not worrying about the time the feeding will take or what you need to do after you are done feeding your baby.

Consider changing the environment that you are nursing in if you think that your baby may feel that the area is too distracting to focus on eating. A quiet dim lit room and a comfortable position will sometimes do the trick, actually changing the normal breastfeeding position may be all it takes to get your baby back to their normal nursing routine.

Is there anything other then the breast that your baby sucks on for comfort. If your baby is using a pacifier or sucks on their fingers or thumb and they don't want to stop to nurse they may be focused on the instant comfort that they are receiving and ignoring the hunger feelings. While you can't limit if your baby will suck on their thumb or fingers you can remove any pacifiers and not offer them one to improve the chances of them wanting to nurse out of both comfort and hunger.

Supplementing with a bottle may prolong the nursing strike because it can lead to nipple confusion. Normally though nipple confusion is not the reason for a nursing strike because with nipple confusion a baby still attempts to nurse although they often have trouble latching on properly.

If your baby recently bumped their face or fell down and refused to nurse it may be that they have bit their tongue or cheek and that the milk touching the sore or the sore coming into contact with the breast is painful. Usually mouth sores heal enough with in 12 hours that it does not hurt anymore. Keep track of the number of diapers that your baby dirties and wets while they are on their nursing strike to ensure that they are getting enough to eat. You may have better luck getting your baby to nurse when they are sleeping or drowsy.

Be sure to pump or express your milk for your baby to drink using another method other than breastfeeding and to prevent engorgement, plugged milk duct, a breast infection and low milk supply.