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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Being bitten!

6 replies

FinnMacCool · 05/08/2010 19:59

I feed my 11 month old DS to sleep each night. Recently (past few days) he has started clamping down really hard on my nipple just as he falls asleep. It really hurts-so I yelp, which wakes him and makes him cry-so I soothe him (feeling v guilty!) then feed him again...and it starts again...

Any advice?!

OP posts:
SpawnChorus · 05/08/2010 20:01

Oh me too! DS is 10.5 months old, and it's just started in the last week. He's not clamping down too hard, but he has sharp little beaver-esque teeth so even a gentle nip is too much.

Help!

jaggythistle · 05/08/2010 21:07

Snap!

Also 10.5mo DS, also starting to bite/pull with teeth a lot more.

He only seems to do it when he's too tired to feed (will latch on and feed happily when he's fallen asleep!).

OUch

AllSheepareWhite · 05/08/2010 21:32

Know this one well (DD 13 months with 10 teeth and has just cut 2 molars!). I find she tends to do it when she has been feeding for a while so the milk coming out is less and she is falling asleep. I find the best thing to do is to prempt the biting as soon as she stops sucking and her jaw starts to tighten by sticking my little finger in quickly and gently prising her teeth apart so that the nipple can slip out before she bites down hard. When her teeth are really bad so that she is not latching properly and is more bitey I sometimes rub a bit of teething gel on before I start the feed. Alternatively you can start to feed slightly earlier so that he will be slightly awake when you finish the feed and less likely to bite, then you can put him in his cot awake and rub his tummy/back to settle him to sleep. I am doing this now so that eventually it will be easier to drop the bedtime feed altogether. I started rubbing her back, then progressed to sitting by the cot reading her a story (then sitting so she could see me until she fell asleep), now I sit on spare bed so that she can see me until she falls asleep. Eventually I hope to be able to put her down and leave with her falling asleep without me in the room.

LaTristesse · 06/08/2010 08:38

Aw, I'm dreading this. My DS is only 5 months at the mo, but is such a figetty (sp?) feeder I just know he'll be a biter. And I can see 4 teeth just waiting to pop thru and get me... Sad
I really don't want to stop bf though, but would really like to keep my nipples intact too... Ohh...

Ilythia · 06/08/2010 08:56

Both mine bit when sleepy, with DD1 I was on teh verge of sleeping and yelled, which terrified her and she never did it again, but I don't recommend thatGrin
I found that if you knwo they are liekly to do it (sleepy feeds) as soon as they stop sucking and start to get a finger in their mouth and unlatch them sharpsih. it will wkae them up and piss them off but they need to leanr that biting = no milk.
If they do it on purpose then take them off, do up your bra and top and move them away from the breast for a few minutes.

Don't worry about breaking the skin, mine both had teeth by 4 months and even though they bit they didn't break the skin. well, not on my nipple, dd2 used to bite my shoulders while burping, but that's another story...

catwhiskers10 · 06/08/2010 11:18

DD is 5 months and has got 2 bottom teeth, when they first came through she was biting and i told her "no" firmly, put her on the floor and walked away. Took her 2 days to learn that biting meant no milk, now she bites everything she can get her hands on but she hasnt ever bitten me again.
Maybe you are doing the wrong thing soothing your son and continuing to let him feed after he has bitten you.

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