Nursing Strikes

Did you ever hear of a nursing strike? The La Leche League Womanly Art of Breastfeeding Guide reads. It’s when a baby abruptly refuses to nurse.

First drops of milk I
ever pumped, while still
in the hospital.

My start with breastfeeding was a bit unique – pumping around the clock for almost three months before my premature baby could even attempt to breastfeed – but we did manage to make it work, with the help of lactation consultants, hospital grade breast pumps, nipple shields, galactagogues, and various other techniques, and it worked relatively well…until…

I went back to work.

Then the nursing strikes began.

Given how hard I’d worked to protect baby boy’s milk supply, I was devastated.

I consulted several sources I had been referred to by various lactation consultants. A nursing strike could be teething related or due to a number of issues, these sources suggested. A common suggestion attributed nursing strikes to the baby receiving too many bottles.

I did not find these suggestions particularly helpful for the working mom, much less for the working mom nursing a premature infant. A popular suggestion from these sources is to discontinue all bottle feeding immediately…feed the baby with a spoon or an eye dropper… take your baby to bed with you for a “nurse-in” and breastfeed only for as many days as possible.

Feed him with an eye dropper? Are you kidding me? He sucks down four ounces at a time. Feeding him with an eye dropper would be like dangling a piece of meat in the mouth of a lion. Not to mention that unfortunately I can’t do extended nurse-ins. I went through eight years of sick time to be with my baby while he was in the NICU.

Last year we had $300,000 worth of medical bills. I have to work. I have to provide health insurance. So I cannot have nurse-ins. I cannot feed him with an eye dropper.

Despite my reservations, I tried what suggestions I thought were feasible for us. Like trying different nursing positions. Nurse him standing up. Nurse him while walking around. Nurse while lying down. Nurse when he’s drowsy. Pump first to get the milk to let down, then nurse him. Imagine me running around the house trying all these different things—a process I will refer to as the breastfeeding dance. If a person had any reservations about nursing in public, imagine doing the breastfeeding dance with a nursing striker. If I have to stand on my head, clap six times, and do a special dance to get him to nurse, it’s one thing for me to do it at home, but another thing to do it out in public! Obviously I had to start bringing bottles with me so I had a means of feeding him when he wouldn’t nurse (a big no-no in the sources I've been mentioning). But in my opinion, that baby needs to be fed, one way or another.

Baby boy! 9 months old

One day, after doing the breastfeeding dance, baby boy was lying beside me in our bed and he just sat there and looked at me. He looked so peaceful and trusting. Big eyes. I had been really worried about him, about the nursing strikes and was he getting enough and what should we do. In that moment he looked at me and I just felt like he was saying, mom, I’m ok. It’s fine. And then I realized that perhaps I needed to go with his cues. Perhaps I was having trouble letting go because I had worked so hard to provide his milk. I realized that he primarily preferred bottles during the day and nursing at night. Why wouldn’t he, after all, since that is his routine for most of the week. I decided to just go with it.

All the bottles and pump parts
that need to be washed multiple
times per day.

Baby boy had breast milk exclusively, whether by bottle or breast, until he was seven months old. After that we had to supplement with formula. The first time I mixed up the formula I was astounded. One scoop for every two ounces of water. He gulped it down. The whole process took only a few minutes.



I was astounded. For nine months, I’ve spent around 20 hours per week pumping and washing pump parts, between work and home.

It’s free. Plus it is what’s best for the baby. These were my thoughts (in that order) about providing breast milk when I first found out we were expecting.

Providing breast milk is what's best for the baby. I view it as the most important thing I've ever done, and I would do it all over again. But I wish someone had given me a realistic view of it and prepared me for the fact that pumping and providing milk would be equivalent to a part-time job.

Sign outside the pumping room
at work...let's just say there have
been walk-ins!

My point is this. If you know someone who is breastfeeding or expressing breast milk and bottle feeding, perhaps you will now have some insight into how hard she is working, how many challenges she may be facing just to provide milk for her baby. Give her a pat on the back. Assure her that any amount of time providing breast milk is amazing and she should be commended. Remind her that she is the only one who knows what is best for her and her baby.