biting and total and utter exhaustion- wwyd?

[ParanoidAtAllTimes]

Ds is nearly 25 weeks and I don't know whether to stop bfing or not. He has started biting over the last couple of days (he has 1 tooth) and I'm becoming really nervous about each feed. I take him off after he bites but get really worried about putting him back on. He seems very grumpy which could be teething but I worry it's hunger due to me not feeding him for long enough. Yesterday I expressed after a short feed on each side (each culminating in a bite) and he glugged down all 2 oz I managed to get out and seemed to want more.

He's mainly fed fine for his night feeds although he just woke up crying now and when I tried to feed him he bit straight away

He has also been a horrendous sleeper since he was 3 mo. The maximum he will sleep in any one time is 1.5 hours but more often it's 10 mins at a time before waking. I'm shattered and starting to feel pretty down.

Before now I've really enjoyed bfing and was planning to continue ebfing until 26 weeks (I know it's just a number but I've worked so hard to get there) and then mix feeding until 10 months or so when I go back to work. We were only going to start with one bottle of formula a night to see if it helped with sleep, and do all other feeds bf for quite a while.

Now I really don't know what to do. Feel so sad about ending bfing before I want to but don't want ds to go hungry because I'm too wimpy nervous to feed him.

If I decide to stop I will try to continue night feeds as normal (all 5-8 of them ) and express for as many day time feeds as possible, ff the rest of the time. I know that this is a good half way house but I feel gutted that it's not what I planned.

I am also going to try teething gel before feeds on the advice of a bfc. However I don't know how long I can withstand biting for if this doesn't help.

Sorry this is so rambling...very tired and

Poor you! Hope someone comes along with some sensible advice soon.

Don't know if you'd be prepared/able to do it, but if you're really worried about feeding could you express enough for all his feeds? Or even after every feed, so you can give him five minutes BF then a top up? Horrible and tedious, but if he stops biting at least you'll have some supply left... Someone else will probably have a better idea though.

Does he bite when he's sleepy? Could you express for daytime feeds and BF directly at night?

Realistically, though, if you have to give a little bit of formula to make a small shortfall in expressing, the world isn't going to end - you know I failed loooong before you in terms of giving some formula, and I'm convinced that continuing to give DS breastmilk for the majority of his feeds minimised any negative impact.

You didn't 'fail'! Your ds was much harder work than mine in the early days

Whatever you do I just want to say that bf for 25 days is much much better than nothing! you have done your best, and you haven't failed.

I think expressing is a very good idea if feel ok with it.

Dear Paranoid
Both my dds bit me at some point during bf. What I did was scream very loudly so they were aware how much it hurt. Neither did it again - but I may have been very lucky. Your let down reflex may not be working as well at the moment either if you are worried you are going to get bitten.

You have done really well to get to 25 weeks so don't get disappointed.

I had exactly the same thing happen. LLL website has lots of good advice. From what I can remember use your finger in his mouth to stop the bite. Stop the feed and tell him no. Hold him closer during the feed, it makes it harder to bite apparently. Hold on I will find the website. It worked well with me and I managed to continue, within a week he had stopped biting...

here

I did the same as sundew and screamed really loudly when dcs bit me during feeds - they only did it a couple of times, tho I may have been lucky too.

Could try using a teething gell before a feed if DC is biting down as tho trying to teeth, if gums are sore?

I saw some other advice on here, to not pull baby off when biting but press (GENTLY) more firmly onto breast so they let go automatically in order to breath IYSWIM and it makes it harder to bite? (OBVIOUSLY, only press to breast for a couple of seconds, and gently). I never got around to trying that one tho as a couple of loud screams seemed to do the trick.

Being bitten is quite painful - poor you and well done for perseveering, I think if dcs had done it more than a few times I may have 'lost my bottle' as chests can be quite delicate and sensitive!

Put teething gel on him where you think it's sore just before the feed. If you watch really closely while he's feeding you should start to recognise when he's about to bite and get your finger ready to pull him off. Mine bit me for a couple of days and then stopped. He thought it was a game when I yelped!

Biting is very horrible and I found it difficult not to take it personally, if you know what I mean?! Does indeed make you feel .

Hopefully it is connected to teething and once his mouth feels better it will stop.

What I did was watch very very closely for the tiny movement that showed he had moved his tongue away from his lower jaw/teeth in preparation to nip. I would stick a finger in his mouth to break the seal and stop the bite before it happened. I got the idea from MN, and it requires persistence and boring observation but after a while it seemed to help.

He only bit me really badly once (i.e. bleeding!) and I screeched- but I later read you are not meant to scream as it can frighten them and possibly put them off the whole idea. But it is difficult not to scream under those circumstances!

First - (((((((((((((((HUG))))))))))))))))) WELL DONE for getting this far. Breastfeeding is hard work, especially when you're doing 5-8 night feeds .

He's probably teething, and biting you because of it. OUCH!!! DS (almost 23 months) has bitten me a few times and the pain is just shocking. And it made me nervous to put him back on the breast - fortunately I think he sensed from my reaction that biting was Not A Good Thing and never did it twice in a row. Otherwise he wouldn't still be nursing, I assure you!

Are you co-sleeping? I found that was the only way to continue breastfeeding for as long as we have. I went back to work when DS was 3 months old. NO WAY could I have gotten up and nursed him and put him back to sleep 5-8 times a night. He slept (and still mostly does) right beside me. When he wants "baba" he rummages around, helps himself (so to speak) and then pops off and goes back to sleep. Barely wakes me up, even.

Even if it's a week earlier than you'd planned, don't feel bad if you decide to start giving a bottle of formula. The hungrier he is, the more he is likely to get frustrated if your let-down is slow, and start using you as a teething biscuit.

Sorry, DS just woke up - I'll be back.

Thank you all so much for the advice and words of support. It's so nice to hear from people who understand.

Well, after a couple more feeds of watching closely and taking him off before he could bite, a couple more actual bites and a couple of times of trying to avoid feeding him altogether as he looked wild and teething-y ( that I would do this)... we decided to introduce a couple of ff a day, plus ebm.

Dp pointed out that while ebf was the best thing, some formula was definately better for ds than Not Enough Milk.

I felt very sad yesterday seeing him have his 1st bottle of formula. Disappointingly, he only slept for 50 mins before waking with teething pain!

However, I'm going to continue bfing for night feeds (am bfing as I type ) and just after naps. I'll also express while I can, hopefully producing enough for another 2 feeds. I just hope this can continue for as long as I choose!

Many thanks again, lovely mners

They normally bite out of frustration or being playful. If he's teething then he's likely to be in pain and is using your nipples as a teething aid (ouch). Have you tried rubbing some liquid anbesol on his gums before you feed him? It's fanastic stuff, you can get it from the chemist. Ds only bit me once, I put him on the floor and left him for a couple of minutes, he never did it again.

I found Hyland's Teething Tablets (a homeopathic remedy) was a godsend for us. Don't worry about feeding him a little formula, you're absolutely doing what's best for him and for you. You did so well getting to 25 weeks!! It will get better with the sleep thing, too.

FluffY - did you get an app't with your GP?? (sorry for jihack)

jihack WTF? Call me fumble-fingers

Fluffy- yes I believe he is using me for teething- I think tooth 2 is coming through. I've tried teething gel before feeds and have taken him straight off with a 'no' each time but haven't tried the floor trick- will give it a go.

Jacksmama- thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can find those. I hope you're right re. sleep! I don't know of anyone with a baby of this age that is this bad at sleeping! I was cosleeping for at least a chunk of each night but am now scared of feeding in bed as it's harder to see if he will bite!

Well I knew it would be hard for me to reduce bfeeds but didn't realise how bad it would be for poor ds. He seems to take around 4 oz of ebm/formula then just screams and shouts until I (tentatively) put him on! I keep taking him off quite quickly though as I'm increasingly scared of being bitten

Poor you, I had exactly the same with my DD when she was about that age. The biting was horrible, it came as a total surprise, and for a while I thought that was it, I'd have to give up BF as couldn't see a way forward! (And she was an appalling sleeper too - 5-8 times a night sounds just like it, so you are not alone.)

bb99's advice above is what cracked it for me. The second the bite comes, your instinct is to pull him off but instead, do the opposite! Press his face gently into the breast - he will let go himself.

I know just what you mean about being scared about being bitten - it took a while for me to trust BF again after that. But after that awful couple of days, it never happened again.

Good luck!!!

messofthedurbervilles- thank you, your post is very reassuring. It's good to know I'm not the only one with this situation re sleeping too! Out of interest, when did your dd start sleeping longer?

Well the biting continues- I've tried to keep bottlefeeding to a minimum as he clearly finds it unsettling. He seems to bite on 2 different types of occasion- when he's been feeding for a few mins and then gets distracted his head turns a little and his tongue slips, and straight away when he's crying out of (what turns out to be) teething pain.

I've tried most of the above suggestions so far to no avail
When I put him on the floor he kicks merrily away, completely unfazed
Perhaps he's just too little to understand that biting= stopping feed...

Poor you and poor him, doesn't sound fun at all!

I remember everyone told me at the time to take DD off when she bit, that she'd soon work out that biting = no feed. But weirdly, she didn't. In fact she seemed to find it really quite fascinating when I shrieked in pain and took her off!!

I suppose we had hunger on our side as I wouldn't have known what to do with a bottle, but really what stopped it was this funny little manoeuvre we worked out.

I watched her really really carefully and the second I could see she was going for the bite, I stuck my finger in her mouth to stop her clamping on and at the same time pushed her face into my boob just for a few seconds, until she started pushing away herself. But she was hungry, so of course after a bit she just had to stop biting. It took a few hours of constant on, off, on, off until she worked it out - maybe 6 hours of frustration and tears (mainly mine ). But at least it wasn't hurting any more, because I was catching every bite before it hurt.

Then I think for a few days after that, she would occasionally start clamping down but stop straight away (in fact she would look up at me - obviously she'd learnt by then what was coming!) I kept on with the same routine, and then finally that was that. Phew!!

I think she was about 6 months when sleep started getting better, stretching out to 3 hours. But before that she was just like your DS, about 1.5 hours was her max too. Thank god for co-sleeping or I'd never have survived it.

Sorry for the late reply- thank you for the advice, I shall try that

Well tonight ds has had 2 chunks of just over 2 hours sleep each time. This is way better, I just hope it continues!