Owl last nursed at 2:30 AM. I finally broke down and pumped this morning around 10:30 when it became very clear he wasn't going to nurse. I figured it was a fluke thing. Until hours went by and several attempts to persuade him to nurse failed and I pumped again. He will either scream and push me away, latch suck for a minute and then frantically sign all done and scream, or just sit with his lips pursed and refuse to even look at me. He is also grabbing his ear so I am wondering if it is teething, an ear infection, or just a nursing strike. I suppose I should pump one more time before bed but I don't wannnnaaaaaa... Pumping hurts me for some reason this time around probably because I have literally pumped more today than I have in the past six months lol.
Why don't babies come with instruction manuals? I mean I don't want to waste time and money taking him into the doctor to be told he is teething. I know he is teething. No doubt. But what if it IS an ear infection? Ugh. Someone look into your magic crystal ball and tell me the answers I seek.
What is my plan going forth you might wonder? Well I am about to go in and see if I can get a dream feed into Owl. He normally doesn't sleep through me opening his door but maybe because he just feel asleep I will get lucky. Or if he does wake maybe he will be drowsy enough to nurse. I plan on taking him into his pediatrician tomorrow morning if he refuses to nurse all night and/or tomorrow morning. If all physical causes are ruled out, I will offer pumped milk in a sippy cup. I tried a bottle tonight (even though I prefer not to go that route and end up having to exclusively pump) but he refused.
Hopefully this nursing strike is ended very soon. If you guys want to read more about nursing strikes, kellymom has some great links.
