teeth, biting, sore nipples, milk supply, letdown...

[suzi2]

DS (10 months) got his first tooth last week. It's only a few mm through but already he's latching badly. I'm trying to fix his latch all the time but he keeps pulling out so he's only just sucking on the nipple. He's also started biting down during most feeds which is a bit nippy at the moment so I dread to think once he has more teeth.

So, my nipples are sore. I'm pretty sure it's due to the poor latch. BUT, it could be due to pregnancy as I'm finding my boobs a bit sore in general.

I also think my supply is dwindling a bit which might be causing him to pull off? My letdown is slow atthe best of time but now I think my milks scared off by the sore nipples and biting and I'm finding it hard to relax and get a let down easily. Which might be why DS is biting down and pulling off etc?

Sorry this is long winded, I'm not sure quite what the problem is and quite how to tackle it!

Oh suzi, not sounding the best atm! Ds as you know is same age and I noticed about a month ago he was only really latching on to the nipple, I thought he was getting quite lazy with his latch but it didn't seem to make much difference. I got very sore the week before last and posted on here as I was quite worried, turned out it was AF so just due to hormones, so I would agree that it could be due to your pg. My letdown also slowed down drastically about 3 months ago, but just last week ds dropped the mid morning feed (2nd of 4 in the day) and I find now he has slightly larger feeds, more satisfying and let down comes quicker as the whole feed seems better. How do you structure your feeds? Is it on demand, or routine, or does your lo need them or do you like to offer them? I found myself offering the 2 daytime ones and ds really wouldn't be too fussed- it was a bad idea as they were never the enjoyable feeds, IYSWIM>
Also a bit long winded but I hope you get the idea!

PS, ds isn't much of a biter but when he did, he did it less frequently after he got teeth than before! And it's almost as sore without teeth anyway! HTH

Thanks Bramblina - at the moment he feeds during the night (sometimes two or three times at the moment!) so sometimes doesn't have a morning feed. he has a few sucks before his morning nap to calm him. He gives or takes the mid morning and afternoon feed depending on his mood. And he has a small feed before bed.

He never asks so I offer loads instead. But he gets really angry if I offer when he doesn't want it! I did try (a couple of months ago) to cut out some of the small feeds in the hope he'd take better ones but he didn't. The only decent feeds are the middle of the night ones which I'd love to stop but don't know how to tackle kindly!

Your whole approach sounds a lot like mine! Does he only take a little before bed because he falls asleep? My ds did, I would be furiously pulling him off (OUCH!) just to wake him and get more in to him, in the hope that he would sleep better, then I started expressing on a morning and even if he had fallen asleep, he would still take the few ounces on auto pilot. It did help. He now doesn't always fall asleep, but when he's finished on me, he'll always take what I have expressed- I wonder does he think it's something else! He gets quite excited when he sees it, too. Is it worth considering this? Or could you express for a bottle, for dh to give in the night? Or have you thought about offering water in the night? Not to reduce the milk intake, but a friend who ff's said she diluted the formula for the night feed, then they make up for it the next day- like the water fills their tummy at the time, but quickly digests, so they're hungrier in the morning, IYSWIM?

I took a botle of water to bed the week before last as ds had been waking for a few weeks, that night he slept through! He's waking again now, and I keep forgetting the bottle!

He used to get an expressed bottle every night (from 1 - 7 months) but when my DH went away on business I struggled to keep up with the expressing and it took a real effort to get DS to take the boob at bedtime. Since then he has refused a bottle (bummer since I finally have enough EBM for a day out in the freezer!)

He never falls asleep feeding but feeds badly as he's tired.

Oh that's a bit of a catch 22 situatiuon then, sorry about that. The expressing is such a faff, isn't it? I'm only getting 2 or 3 oz at the mo, and wonder is it worth it, then think, if it's there, I should. Have you ever given him a dreamfeed? I never did, think ds would just fall asleep on me.

Maybe someone else can give you some suggestions. Sorry if I haven't been much help! Good luck.

anyone else any ideas what I should tackle first?

hi suzi2, no constructive suggestions I'm afraid just sympathy as you posted on my thread a few weeks ago when I had really sore nipples.

Mine are bad again, and am experiencing the exact same as you - because of the biting and pain, prob my own anxiety is making let down really slow to come, and then dd tugs more.

The absolute only thing which is working is to get her almost asleep before I feed her - not very convenient most of the time, but if we are in the house I wear her in the sling until she gets really drowsy and then find she latches on better.

I think your ds is older tho so bit heavier, and also you might not be able to cart him around alot if you are pg. Congratulations btw.