Susan wrote:
"I have an unusual case of a mom who claims that her
milk tastes "sour" and baby is refusing it at 2 months
of age. Seems to have tried other approaches to
nursing strike but is convinced (by tasting it
herself) that her milk tastes sour. She is pumping and
dumping while feeding formula! Help! Has anyone seen
this before?"

I've had a quite a few moms report this -- just had
one yesterday.  I'm assuming the mother was
breastfeeding, not bottle feeding ebm, and that the
baby was nursing well until someone declared the milk
sour.   My guess is your thought of nursing strike is
on target.  But why?  There are umpteen reasons babies
go on nursing strikes, sometimes it's an unfortunate
combination of events.  Sticking with taste:
sometimes a mother eats a new food or too much of
something & baby reacts.  I myself once caused a
nursing strike in my 6 month old by binging on brussel
sprouts (I know, I know, not an impressive choice for
a proper "binge.")  If a new taste in the milk
initially caused the strike, the taste should "flow
through" and the normal taste return.  Of course, both
baby & mother must be convinced the coast is clear.

The most common reason I have seen for "sour " milk is
that someone suggests to the mother the milk is sour.
Once we discuss the commonsense fact that milk "made
to order" in the breast can't sour, the mother usually
dismisses the notion of sour.

It's possible that because the mother is convinced
something is suddenly wrong with her milk, she is not
seriously considering other reasons for a strike.
Making matters worse, she may not try as hard to woo
baby back from the strike.  She may not realize that
by pumping & dumping and then bottle feeding abm she
is enabling the strike & weaning the baby (& herself).
 As others have posted (& experienced) it can take a
lot of time, patience, and confidence to woo a baby
back to the breast.

I wonder if she ever tasted her milk before, and how
often, in order to make comparisons...

Susan Johnson  MFA, IBCLC






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