9 month old bf woes, biting, nanosecond attention span, reverse cycling....

[cakebaby]

Arghhh! Just that really. Ds is 9.5 months, has been an horrific sleeper but improved last week sleeping through 5 nights. But in the last few weeks he has no patience for daytime feeds, so easily distracted I have to take him into a blacked out room to feed him which is only practical at home. I know he has lots to cram into his day with crawling/cruising/standing/emptying my cupboards, standing in his bouncy chair & bouncing FFS but it's been getting steadily worse.

Now he's added proper biting into to the mix after having a cheeky nip a few times. I've always put him down immediately & walked away, but a few times I've yelped which he has found hilarious and irresistible.

He has 6 teeth like bloody razors and he clamps hard or rips away without unlatching. Today he has drawn blood from both sides.

He has a good intake of solids, takes a little water with meals, is 75th centile & always has been. I would think he was dropping feeds, but he is feeding 3 or 4 times in the night again grrr!

Any ideas how I can get him to concentrate/not bite/take milk in the day rather than at night? Will he grow out of it? I can't bear the thought of expressing again, I did that for 4 weeks when he was born due to undiagnosed TT.

[Convergent]

Hi cakebaby! I'm afraid I have no good advice at all, but I wanted to extend the hand of solidarity, as my DD is 9 months corrected and I'm dealing with a lot of the same problems as you, bar the biting (thank f*ck). The biting sounds awful, really awful.

My DD's incredibly distractible and basically won't feed outside of a darkened bedroom, so I can only ever leave the house for a a few hours at a time. She still wakes up multiple times a night, and I reckon she's still feeding about 8 (small and crappy) times per 24 hours on average. I keep reading about these 9 months old who only feed about 3/4 times a day, sleep through the night and can be taken anywhere, and I weep.

I sometimes fantasise about giving up breastfeeding (especially when she's clawing at my collarbone and maltreating my poor nipples), but like you I had to express for a long time and it's just too much hard work, and also I can no longer get her to drink any quantity from a bottle or cup, so even formula is out, I think. Meh. It does make me wonder if babies who had problems feeding early on do go on to develop a less, erm, harmonious relationship with breastfeeding than most.

The only thing we've found that helps her sleep longer at night (and thus feed less during that time) is cutting out her late-afternoon nap and making sure she gets enough nap time earlier in the day. Not sure whether that would work for you?

[Sid77]

Hi ladies - my 8 month old DS is the same. Only two teeth, but has bitten me with those although that seems to have stopped now, thank The Lord. DS claws at my boob though, he digs his little fingernails in and twists. I have loads of tiny red scratches around my nipples! It's horrible. I keep his nails really short, but he still manages to scratch. He also pulls away while latched on and pushes with all of his strength with his arms, so pulls my whole boob out from the nipple. Man, my poor boobs are never going to be the same I am soooo hoping this is a phase.

[Sid77]

Sorry, that was just a moan with nothing constructive to say!!

[whereisshe]

That sounds awful! DD has just started to bite at 6 months, I'm trying a stern "no" in the same tone I use for "let go" (of mummy's hair because it hurts!). She seems to be getting the idea, and thankfully has no teeth yet... the biting hasnt fully stopped but she's more likely to do it when feeding for comfort not food.

She's also incredibly distractible, the only solution I've found is "don't refuse, don't offer" so she's actually quite hungry by the time I feed her. If she says she's peckish but not hungry (ie whiney but not gop-mouthed goldfish begging) we do something else like chew toy or baby led throwing food on the floor weaning.

[cakebaby]

Well, hardly any milk today or yesterday. Bites have healed glad I'm not the only one! Oh I forgot about the scratching & twisting, I look like I've been fighting with a mountain lion some mornings!