My DS, 16 months, appears to be getting over a painful respiratory infection or virus (doctor confirmed) in which his throat has been sore. He has also had a molar erupt in the last few days. Consequently, he has rarely been nursing save for nap time, night time, and waking up. This is a huge drop from normal and so I'm considering it a partial strike. I've never experienced this before and of course I'm stressing out. I'm home today and the next three days (snowed in) so I can focus on getting him back to the breast in the daytime. Any suggestions, besides to practice deep breathing and work on calming myself down? Still seems to have wet diapers so not concerned about dehydration yet. I was going to start with some pain reliever for him since he might be too sore to nurse.
Pain relievers sound like an excellent place to start. I use a teaspoon of (real) honey when my son has a cough. Last month he complained of a sore throat and asked specifically for honey. Maybe take a steamy bath or shower with him. It'll open up his airways while providing open access if he's interested in nursing.
I agree with trying Tylenol or Advil. I also wouldn't stress about it too much. My son has gone through several colds where he didn't nurse much because he wasn't able to nurse and breathe at the same time due to congestion, and although my supply may have taken a slight hit it was never a problem for him to get it back up again once he was feeling better and nursing normally.
Also definitely think the deep breathing/calming down is very important - my LO went on a complete strike under similar circumstances and I got very stressed too - I really had to work on being very relaxed and casual when offering her the breast in order for her to take it (and the strike fortunately was brief).
We just went through the same exact thing last week. Mine only nursed once during the worst day, and she's usually nurses 8-10x per day (14 month old). It was very stressful, too.
Once I realized just how sick she was, I stopped being as upset about the strike. She couldn't breath through her nose, couldn't move any air through at all. I remember how awful that feels as an adult. The only thing that helped was cranking a humidifier to the max, and it was going all day in our bedroom. I had to be really patient about nap and bed time, because it took over an hour of her being in the room for her nose to clear just enough that she didn't suffocate while nursing! And that's pretty much the only way she falls asleep, so it was rough.
Pain reliever, definitely, and humidifier, anything at all to comfort symptoms. And also being causal, and just offering at usual times and even in other spots he wouldn't expect. I noticed she was really upset by "the nursing chair" but nursed playing on the floor. Maybe try to offer in other locations to your son? I hope it's over soon! I know it can be so stressful. Just remember, he's sick/teething, not rejecting you, even though it might take a while when he's well for him to come back all the way.
Thanks so much everyone for your tips! He is finally better and nursing has started to be more frequent. Also appetite in general has increased. I found out he was really teething badly as well, more molars. This kid can never catch a break. Teething tablets helped too and he slept a lot. It really helped that we were snowed in for 3 days and so we were together non-stop to re-start nursing during the daytime casually (yes mommy went a little stir crazy though with cabin fever).
Partial strike during cold/teething
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Also definitely think the deep breathing/calming down is very important - my LO went on a complete strike under similar circumstances and I got very stressed too - I really had to work on being very relaxed and casual when offering her the breast in order for her to take it (and the strike fortunately was brief).
