bf really starting to hurt

[NickyEds]

Dd is 5 months old and mainly bf (she has a bottle of f a day). I posted a few weeks ago about her biting me and nothing has improved, if anything it's got worse. She will bite, pinch, pull at my skin, nip, squirm and generally kick about throughout feeds. I don't really want to stop bf yet but the we're fast approaching the point at which the convenience of it is being overtaken by the pain of it. I don't want to stop if there's something really obvious I'm missing and can "fix". Any ideas?? Supply problem? Something she'll grow out of? I just wish she'd learn not to bite the boob that feeds her!!

What have you tried so far, nickyeds?

Watching with interest. My ds is a biter/scratcher/wriggler too. Very painful on top of a poor latch

I think it's around this age they get easily distracted, unlatching and relatching from distraction only adds to soreness.
Have you tried feeding in a quiet room, where possible? Can you give her something to hold whilst you're feeding, something to distract her hands with? My daughter even brings a book along when I feed her sometimes.
Does she have any teeth yet? Just wondering about her biting from teething maybe? I'm no expert, just a breastfeeder, but hopefully someone else with more knowledge will be along soon.

So far I've tried;
-keeping her nails very short to limit the damage
-Giving her something to hold- this only served to weaponise her and she thwacks me and herself with whatever it is. If I give her a muslin she'll alternated boob and muslin chewing
-One arm in my armpit and the other held in my hand- this is sort of like that game "whack a mole", restraining her hands resulted in her head shaking and biting getting worse (think dog with a rope).
-Gentle swaddling type thing with snuggly blanket aka straight jacket. This was not well received.
-Calgel/anbesol before feeds- she's definitely teething, everything is going in her mouth, red cheeks, epic dribble....I shudder at the thought of an actual tooth.
-I feed her in the middle of the sofa so that she has nothing to brace/kick her legs off (armrests).
-Keeping the room as quiet as possible. I have an almost two year old so none of our rooms are quiet!

Her feeding has changed a lot over the last 2/3 weeks. She used to sleep through the night and feed regularly (2-2.5 hours) during the day with a ff at 10. We've now started to put her to bed at 7 ish with a bottle then and a top up boob when we go to bed. She now wakes up at 4 ish for a feed-fine, but from her 20 minutes 4am feed she'd still not asking for a feed at 8am. For the last 2 days I've just fed her (with much fuss) at 8.30 so we can go out. She's then had a tiny 5 minute feed at 10.30. A fussy feed at 2 then an ok feed at 4.30. That just doesn't feel like nearly enough.Dd has always been a quick, efficient feeder, she won't feed if she's not hungry, feed for comfort or feed to sleep during the day. She's gaining weight ok-although she's a bit of a tiddler.

Sounds normal Nicky and unconnected with illness and you can be confident she will get what she needs. Some mothers find a nursing necklace is a help and she is probably old enough to hold one ( necklace you wear to help with the distraction. You can google it).

Thanks tiktok I do worry that with all of the fussing she's not actually getting enough milk. I've had suggestions that weaning would help (from MIL who weaned dp at 8 weeks and can't believe we're "not feeding her"!)-that she's fussing because she's just not that bothered about milk? That along with "you've done well to make it this long.....let her bite bottles".

I'll give the necklaces a google.

Healthy five month olds can be trusted to ensure they get sufficient milk. Time on the breast is no clue to volume of milk taken.

The fussing you describe sounds maddening, but it is likely to pass soon.