On Strike!

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I came across a thread at SusuIbu.com forum about babies refusing to direct feed, and it reminded me of a period when my baby had a nursing strike a couple of weeks after I resumed my hectic working life. Determined to get him to direct feed again, I did some Googling on how to do so. Armed with the information that I've found, I spent a few challenging weeks (after I've resigned) trying it out, and resulted in success.

So, I'd like to share some of the steps that I've tried:

1. When the baby refuses the breast, try feeding him your expressed breast milk with a spoon/ cup/ syringe. After that, try offering your breast to him. If he still refuses, continue feeding him with the items mentioned. Bottle should be the last resort.

2. Increase skin-to-skin contact. Take your top off and leave your baby in his diapers only, and spend time playing, touching and hugging.

3. Make sure the room is quiet, dim and cool. We want the baby to feel at ease with no distractions.

4. Don't force the baby. The last thing we want is to get the baby traumatized by the sight of our breasts.

5. Unless you want to see him throwing a tantrum, try these steps when he is not too hungry.

6. And most importantly, you have to have lots patience and don't give up.

We all want the best for our babies. For those of you who are facing this same problem, I hope these steps will help you and I wish you good luck!