My 9 month old DS has always been quite physical - he is a big boy (in 12-18 month clothes) and very strong. He has always had a thing for pulling hair and since he was quite young he will yank on my hair when he is hungry or tired and mouth my face... Which has become quite uncomfortable since he got his 2 bottom teeth!
I have always held his top hand when feeding him and tucked the bottom one under my arm, as he sort of mindlessly flails and scrabbles with his fingers while he nurses. I used to just find it a bit annoying and found keeping his hands still settled him, but recently he has started tugging his hand away and crying when I hold his hand, it really seems to frustrate him. He now seems only to be able to feed if that top hand is exploring and he will grab hard at my face and hair, stick his fingers up my nose, in my eyes... It is doing my head in! One thing that he does if I stop him or try to hold him still is bite down on my nipple and drag backwards which is so painful. So basically the first five minutes of each feed is this writhing scrap between us until he settles in and gets sleepy.
Is this a phase? Any tips? He won't take a bottle at all so I exclusively feed him and he feeds to sleep so I am often feeding him when he is really tired which is probably the problem. I have found that if I say "No" he will stop, but then I get a lip wobble and a huge cry which has really surprised me -its like he thinks I'm angry with him, but he seems too young to comprehend that!