Is he telling me he is done with nursing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Signed,
Bitten and engorged.
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12 comments:
This is what I really tried to do with my kiddos when they bit during nursing. I would try not to scream or squeal at all. But calmly say, "If you bite Momma then we're done nursing right now." and then calmly put the baby down on the floor to play or in their bed or whatever makes sense for the time of day, etc. Give it a minute or two. They will probably be upset and fuss. And then I'd resume nursing (if it was at the beginning of a feeding, or not if it was close to the end of a feeding). Both my kids learned fairly quickly that it wasn't worth it to bite. Now saying that there was one time my daughter did the bite and pull and it hurt so bad I cried. I did not react calmly that time. I squealed for sure. She actually broke the skin and I cried every time I nursed her for a week. But anyway- just to encourage you both mine bit at one point and then they did stop doing that. I quite nursing them more b/c they were old enough (13 months for my first and 18 months for my second) and started doing annoying things like poking my belly button or pinching my other boob while nursing. Stick it out if you can. I bet he'll stop.
Oh that feeling is oh so recent in my mind. E bit me to the point of blood!! Every time I tried to tell him no, he would laugh in my face. I finally just started pulling him off and not saying anything. He finally learned that if he bit me he wouldn't get any milk. I hope something works for you! I literally screamed every time it happened!
I found this article by Kellymom.com pretty helpful - http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html
It always helped me to lean into the baby and "smooshing" my boob into their face - I think it makes them have to open their latch up.
I also yelped when bitten and it seemed to let them know mommy was hurt...each of my children would actually unlatch and cry. I understand that you may not want to deliberately make your child cry, but it sure let them know that biting hurts. Good luck to you! I hope you can wean on a good note! Nursing is such an awesome bond!
Rebecca
these are some good ideas, I wish I had had these options for asking questions- I DROPPED my oldest, when she bit because I was sooo suprised.(she did draw blood, boo. :( and I flicked the others. not my best moment. good advice if you can keep calm and follow thru. Good Luck. :)
In my little world, as soon as the bite began I would pull them into my chest to cover their little nose and it would force them to let go to breathe. Very effective! I would also sternly say "No bite, that hurts Mommy" and close up "shop" until the next feeding, neither one of them went longer than a couple of days at sporadic intervals to learn that this was unacceptable and that it was hurting Mommy.
I don't think he is telling you he's done nursing, just figuring out what those new teeth are all about and comforting sore gums, when there weren't any jagged sharp little teeth there he was doing the same thing, and he doesn't realize that there is something that can hurt you.
Good luck Natalie, and I think most nursing Moms have gone through this at one point or another.
Paige doesn't have teeth yet, but in preparation I asked my mother-in-law (who has had ten children). One method she suggested is the "smother" method. Every time he bites, rather than you pulling away - which hurts even more - do the opposite and smother his face into your breast. The momentary lack of air will be enough to startle him and make him let go and pull away to gasp for air.
OK, so I should have read all the other comments BEFORE posting mine and then I would have known mine is totally redundant. Oh well.
I had to laugh at the pacifier part. For Ro, the biting happened more when he wasn't very hungry. But turns out babies need to eat when they are hungry, not only very hungry. Hope it works out for you!!
Ouch! I remember these moments well. Don't stop nursing until you're both ready though! It'll be a short phase if you work on it right away. Good advice above. Hope you find something that works for you quickly:)
I agree about the biting when she's not really that hungry. She never does it in the morning when she's the most hungry. She thinks it's funny so I think just trying to see what kind of reaction I give her. I try to ignore the fact that she's doing it and just calmly sit her up for a minute or two. Seems to help. Good luck!
My daughter would bite when she wasn't getting enough milk. She really started to bite when I began to lose my milk supply after having a surgery that prevented me from nursing for 48 hours (tried to pump during too so I wouldn't lose it :( ). I kept trying to nurse, but I could just tell that she was hungry and all she wanted was more. Hopefully your handsome little guy is just playing. :)
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