I am dumbfounded by the lack of support and advice I expected to find here
on lactnet in relation to the problem I now find myself in. I am
"surrounded" by lactation consultants and other breastfeeding specialists...
and am myself a breastfeeding peer. You have NO idea the frustration I've
encountered trying to solve this problem by myself... as well as the
helplessness of not being able to resolve it... despite the fact I have the
information in the palm of my hands. I've counseled many, many mothers and
helped them make it through nursing strikes... WHY IS MY ADVICE NOT PANNING
OUT FOR  M  E  !?!?!?!?!

     It's been nine days, now, since the corrective (lip repair) surgery my
bilateral cleft baby went through last Thursday. He hasn't nursed at all
since the morning of the operation, and I kick myself for not having spent
some long, luxurious moments drinking in the warmth of breastfeeding him
that last time. Instead, I was in this major rush to finish packing, get the
other kids off, etc...

     I have been absolutely beside myself with grief over this loss. No one
seems to understand my plight... and it IS a plight. My husband is getting
sick and tired of my moodiness and I just don't know what to do. It is no
good to tell myself, "ah, well... you had seven and a half great months
nursing. Bge thankful for that..."

     The simple fact of the matter is that breastfeeding is NOt just a
method of feeding. You can NOT replace mothering with the warmth and
security of the breast. You CAN'T.

Carrie