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If your 9m old was biting very badly for every feeding..
WWYD about it? For two weeks now Ava has bitten me every time she nurses, day and night. She only has two teeth. I have little chunks out of my nipple skin gone and it's frequently bleeding. I'm thinking about going to exclusively pumping. She sucks her own fingers much of the day so I think she'd be ok just going to a cup.
She DOES NOT give warning, she bites in a split second whenever she feels like it.. at the beginning, middle, or end of feeding, even during the night while sleeping.
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Veronica
Busy but attached mama to DS '93, DD '94, DS '98, DD '99, DD '01, DS '03, DD '05, DS '07.
Wow, not one mama has been through this? Come on out militant bfers (of which I consider myself), I want some advice here!!! If I'm being a wimp I wanna hear it!
My DD did this, too. I feel your pain; literally, lol!
Unfortunately, I never found anything that stopped her She used to grip my niple with her teeth and then fling her head back-- OUCH! I hope someone has some suggestions for you; all the stuff I tried didn't help, unfortunately.
((((HUGS))))
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Christy
mama to:
Avery (10-95)
Keegan (10-98)
Noah (10-99)
Abi (7-01)
Well, I have a 9 month old too. On occasion she will bite and I will yell out 'ouch' or 'ow!' and tap her cheek lightly to distract her. Me yelling usually scares her and she'll let go. If she does it again after that then I stop nursing her and make her wait a few minutes before trying again. I do find she only seems to bite when she is teething or not really hungry. If your DD has her fingers in her mouth all day it sounds like maybe she is teething. Especially if she only has 2 teeth she is bound to get some soon - my DD has 6 teeth already! She started getting them really early though (4 months). HTH!
Thank you for the sympathy!
If she only bit occasionally I think I could live with it, but it's every.single.feeding! She has sucked those two fingers since she was 2 months old. She definitely is teething.. but I think she will be teething for a long time! My kids get teeth very slowly. She is just a biter. She bites everything she can.. toys, siblings' arms, even her socks! She will pull them off and chew on them like a dog. I've tried giving her all kinds of teething toys and she bites them once and throws them. Even chilled ones.
Mama, I have a 10 1/2 month old with 8 teeth!! I do understand! So, what I have realized is that she bites more when she is in the midst of teething (which was constant from 8-10 months - she got a tooth a week!!) and once she adjusts to having the teeth it gets better!!! I still have a problem with it, but it is definitely improving.
Every time she bites me I gently say "That hurts mama - don't bite mama - here you can bite this toy" and we stop nursing for a little bit. I also try form the association with what it means to "hurt" (since she really doesn't understand yet!!) by using the word often whenever she accidently hurts herself. She is crawling and pulling up so it happens pretty much daily I say "That hurt didn't it when you fell. I am sorry it hurts you! Let mama kiss you where it hurts and make it better!" Something like that.
I KNOW this is hard. I KNOW you don't want to risk losing your supply by going to exclusively pumping!!! Trust me your nipples will toughen up too and that will also help you
Get yourself some Lansinoh to help your nipples heal. If you keep at it and are consistent in the "lesson" it will pass!! You can PM me ANYTIME for support!!!!!!
I had a biter too and it was probably when he was around 9 or 10 months old. It was kind of weird though because it was almost like he was using his teeth to get the nipple in his mouth, right when he latched on. He didn't usually bite during feeding...
Anyway, what I did was make sure he opened his mouth wide and then I'd pull him REALLY close to me and hold him there until he started the rhythmic sucking. This way, if he wasn't really interested in eating he would just get mad at me-LOL-and if he was hungry he'd just settle in to eat!
I think it might have had something to do with teething, but then I think it's easy to blame a lot of things on teething! My ds is a finger-sucker too and went through a stage of biting everything, but thankfully he's (mostly) out of this at 14 months and we're back to both enjoying nursing!
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Molly
Mama to Tate 7/26/97, Flynn 7/14/99, Leo 2/22/02 &
Koen-born at home-5/24/05
Yes, her latch isn't the greatest. I know how she should be latched, but she prefers to push me away with her arms locked in place to make a distance. She loves to have just the nipple and not the areola. I have to really use my force to pull her close, and she acts panicky about it. My nipples have gotten used to her latch, but not the biting!
No thrush, I've actually never had it with any of the kids.
I've been putting on Lansinoh often. When she bites I always tell her that "that hurts mama" and I put her down. Sometimes she laughs, sometimes she cries, sometimes she just crawls off to play. She is still 95% breastfed, she doesn't like baby food and spits out most table food. She is 17.5 pounds, 25% on the growth chart, which is pretty small for one of my babies, considering 9 lbs at birth, so I really want her to have as much breastmilk as possible. We did have a great nursing before I went to bed, she was in a deep sleep and actually did not bite for the first time in weeks, so I'm not giving up yet.
Wow-that sounds EXACTLY like my ds! He has always pulled away like that and locked his arms. My friend who is an LC suggested that maybe he gets too much milk and that is why he always pulls away like that (while still latched on). I just kept at it and I guess I'm used to it, although it was rare that we had a snuggly nursing session (maybe that's why I don't mind night nursing--it's the only time ds seems relaxed while nursing) On the other hand, when he's just sucking his fingers, he's as snuggly as they come...
Anyway, keep nursing--the biting definitely went away and the pulling has gone away some too (ds is 14 mos.) Good luck!
All of mine bit harad and without warning. My first thought is teething, and them like Kas mentiond, thrush /ears. What worked well for us , is when my kids bit me I would unlatch them, firmly tell them no biting and sit them on the floor. Yes they cried, but i explained that is hurts. I'd pick them up and try again. Repeat until they were ready to nurse for real. Our LLL leader always said" a biting baby is not a nursing baby, they HAVE to remove their tounge from the nipple to bite"
Sully bit for the last time, when like you explained, he was biting everyfeeding and I screamed AS LOUD AS I COULD (pure reaction, and not intentional) but it scared the poor boy so bad I thought he was going to go into convulsions from crying so hard Then I realized that he had an ear infection, and all was well after treatment.hE WAS AROUND 11 MOS -fWIW.
Ok, I've tried a new plan today. When Ava gives me the signals that she is ready to nurse, I go lay down with her in bed (not the easiest thing since I'm homeschooling all the kids, but I really feel it's important). Then I try my best to get her arms to relax and get a good latch. (I do have a good letdown but it's not overactive at this point). I watch her like a hawk and as soon as she's not sucking rapidly with a good latch I take her off the breast. It has worked.. no biting today! She's not happy being removed from the breast but can be distracted into doing something else. Maybe I *can* get this habit of hers curbed! I'm feeling better!
Some ideas...pp may have already mentioned too... try one of those baby safe feeders with ice in it for her to get her chewing/biting out of the way. You could also use a good teething toy.
I always have yelled ouch, no biting!-sometimes cried- detached DD and stopped the nursing session. If she came back, I would try again.
I have a DD that also has had latch issues, but I reattach her often to get more of the aerola in her mouth. It is less painful and if she does bite, less nipple pain.
Good luck! Sounds like your latest idea is working! Keep it up mama!
If your 9m old was biting very badly for every feeding..
She used to grip my niple with her teeth and then fling her head back-- OUCH! I hope someone has some suggestions for you; all the stuff I tried didn't help, unfortunately. 
simon loved them, they worked to numb the gums a little before a feeding
I say "That hurt didn't it when you fell. I am sorry it hurts you! Let mama kiss you where it hurts and make it better!" Something like that.
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