For those of you not familiar with La Leche League's New Beginnings
magazine, here are 2 excerpts. (It's personal stories like these that make
a membership worthwhile for *any* of us, LLL background or not.  :-)  )

from March-April 1987, p 43:
...When Meghan was 8 months old I became involved in activities which
required being away from her and missing some nursings.  During those times
I gave the babysitter bottles of juice for Meghan.  By the time she was 9
months old, I began routinely giving her a bottle of juice between four and
6 pm when I was tired, my 3-year-old, Laura, was demanding, and Meghan was
fussy.

One day Meghan suddenly refused to nurse.  She would arch her back and push
away when I held her in our usual nursing position.  She was content and
playful but adamantly refused to nurse.  I quickly called my LLL Leaders,
who agreed it was a nursing strike.  I ruled out any physical causes for
the strike (such as an ear infection) by having her physician check her.
He was familiar with nursing strikes and was supportive.  My LLL Leaders
suggested that I devote myself to her as much as possible for the next few
days.  Also they suggested I give her lots of physical contact (including
skin-to-skin), try to nurse her in her sleep, put away the bottles (giving
her instead my expressed milk in a cup), and offer her my breast many times
each day.

After the third day without nursing, Meghan finally nursed in her sleep.
On the fourth day, she nursed during her nap and during the night.  Finally
on the fifth day, she nursed to sleep and she began nursing full time
again.

This experience was very distressing to me.  I did not want to end our
nursing relationship and felt terrible grief and rejection during the
strike.  I know now that without realizing it I had been sending messages
to Meghan that I didn't always want her to nurse.

Meghan and I are a happy nursing couple again.  I was blessed with a
"second chance" to keep this special relationship with my child.  Now
during the four to 6 pm stress time, I snuggle and nurse my baby, tell my
3-year-old stories, and count my blessings, which include the loving LLL
Leaders who helped me daily through the nursing strike.  I will never take
my nursing relationship with Meghan for granted, because like any love
relationship, both of us must be committed to each other to sustain our
precious bond. - Anne Monroe

and March-April 1994, p 43:
...My moment of loss came during my son's seventh month.  It was a lazy
afternoon and I sat down to nurse.  Having always felt very strong let-down
sensations I was surprised when, after a few moments of my son's suckling,
my milk did not let down.  With the help of many patient and knowledgeable
LLL Leaders, I later pieced together all the reasons for this seemingly
sudden breakwown.

I concluded that my let-down problems were the result of a nighttime
"sleeping experiment" I tried at the urging of my son's pediatrician.  My
son, at 7 months, awoke to nurse 5 to 6 times each night.  My pediatrician
suggested that I force him to learn to sleep through the night by ignoring
his cries.  What the doctor didn't know, nor did I realize, was that my son
did the bulk of his nursing during the night.  He was overwhelmed by my
strong milk ejection reflex during the day, and despite wanting the milk,
often refused to nurse.  After two nights of not nursing, my body responded
with a drastic reduction in milk production.  Therefore, on the third
afternoon, I didn't feel my usual let-down sensations and I panicked.  The
stress over my perceived "lost milk" only exacerbated the problem.  I later
learned that what I had experienced that day waas an anxiety attack.

My local Leaders made suggestions that helped to get nursing back on track.
It was like a miracle to me that I could put away all the bottles,
nipples, and formula that my son and I had been reluctantly dealing with
for several days.

Since that time, I have completely changed the way I relate to my son.  For
the first 7 months of his life, he was breastfed, but not "breast
nurtured."  Now I began to really watch his cues.  We slept together,
bathed together, and napped together.  OVer the next 4 months, he
completely lost all signs of reluctance to nurse and usually embraced
nursing and the comforts that it brought him.

Now, I have a happy 22-month-old who still nurses.  Most nursings are for
comfort and calming, but a few each day are for the quenching of hunger and
thirst.  I have continued to experience the kind of attacks that began over
a year ago when my milk supply dropped so dramatically.  LLL Leaders have
helped me to preserve my nursing relationship with my baby while slowly,
with the help of a sympathetic therapist (who happens to be a nursing
mother), I learn to control these attacks.

Breastfeeding has been the most intimate, selfless, loving experience I
have ever had.  Some fears do remain; fear of the loss of this
relationship, and fear of what lies ahead for us after this precious stage
of life is over.  But I know that we will find our way together,  We have
become a true nursing couple, "in sync" with each other, and that will see
us through all the transitions ahead.  I now know not only how to
breastfeed my baby, but how to nurture and to mother my growing child as
well.  I believe completely in the advantages of nursing and thanks to LLL,
I will now be able to experience them all with my beautiful, healthy,
happy, nursing toddler.  - Karen McNeil

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY