Our Breastfeeding Strike

Written by Jodi Cleghorn Monday, May 25 2009 00:00

Mom Topics - Breastfeeding

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I had never heard of a breastfeeding strike until I had come out the other end of mine. Most women have never heard of one and thinking their baby is trying to wean give up breastfeeding.

Like a lot of things in life, especially with new babies, the breastfeeding strike started and ended with no warning.  One day Dylan simply decided he wasn’t interested in breastfeeding during the day.  He would suck voraciously waiting for the let down, would take a couple of huge gulps and refuse to continue to feed.

He would make up for it during the night and feed non-stop. Gratefully, we were in well established co-sleeping relationship by then so the constant night feeding didn’t disrupt my sleep much more than normal.  However my breasts didn’t know if they were coming and going, gearing up to produce milk almost continuously all night, which would of course flow, or should I say gush into the next day.

I remember standing on the back veranda of a birth advocate’s house I was visiting, waiting for a meeting to begin. Dylan had done his usual, latching on, waiting for the let down and a few huge mouthfuls later pulled off. I had so much breast milk, it was dripping off the bottom of my cotton skirt into a pool which was gathering at my feet – seeping through the boards down to the grass below. Both my top and skirt saturated.

The first day I didn’t think too much of the change in Dylan’s feeding behaviour.  It was annoying but nothing I couldn’t cope with.  The second day it began to get uncomfortable as my breasts swelled with milk.  By the third day I was in agony.  I would dread putting him to my breast knowing there was going to be literal explosion of breast milk.

I learned how to hand express away the worst of the engorgement to ensure there remained some room during the day for the next let down and the ducts did not block up.  I believe the fact he feed well during the evening helped to keep the ducts clear as well. Thinking about it now though, my breasts ache in memory of the trauma of it all. Engorged breasts are not fun.

I tried to cope as best I could. I didn’t get angry with Dylan, accepting this was part of breastfeeding, repeating the mantra over and over in my head “this too will pass.” Especially as the pain peaked with the let down and I was soon soaked through with breast milk for the umpteenth time that day.

I also didn’t get frustrated – I just dealt with it. People have often commented on how they are amazed I didn’t get mastitis as a consequence of the continual engorgement and all I can put it down to was the fact there were no underlying emotional issues at the time.  Had I been in a different emotional space and become angry and frustrated with the change in breastfeeding behaviour it may have been much worse.

As suddenly as the strike began, it ended.  Like all good strikes!

Changing Dylan’s breast feeding environment to minimise distractions helped when he went back to feeding during the day, and over time the new cognitive awareness became part of his every day experience and I had to be less pedantic with where I breastfed.

A few months later I learned an interesting titbit that helped me make sense of why the strike had happened and how the change in environment when he went back to feeding helped.

Around four months babies have a huge leap in cognitive awareness.  Suddenly the world around them expands beyond the smile of their mothers and the milky comfort of her breasts.  Babies become curious of their environment and highly distractible – the slightest movement or sound has them whipping their head around to investigate. Breastfeeding moves lower down the list of priorities.  Babies can become a little like us grown ups, catching a bit to eat on the run so we don’t miss anything.

Part of me thinks this jump in awareness comes at the time when mothers need to slow down again. Particularly those mothers who may have jumped straight back into life after birth. The brakes which are applied to life through a breastfeeding strike seems to me  be a way of avoiding hitting the burn out commonly experienced around six months if a mother hasn’t rested and cared for herself, especially in the first six weeks after birth.  I know I had to put a cap on what I was doing, spending more time at home to get the quiet, distraction free environment necessary for a sustained breastfeeding session.  I think it is no accident the most effective place to breastfeed Dylan at that time was lying down our bed.

I believe it is another example of how babies really do know what’s best. If we allow our babies to be our teachers and guides we are able to open doors to understanding which may be missed or forgotten in the hustle and bustle of life.

Image: Dylan and Jodi 17 weeks, copyright David Harris 2004, from private collection.

Jodi Cleghorn is a Brisbane mother, writer, lactivist and natural birth advocate. She is the co-author of the book Reclaim Sex After Birth: the survival guide and recently appointed third partner in the Australia distributorship of Orgasmic Birth. This week she has launched a new blog Writing in Black and White chronicalling her journey as writer!

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