I am still breastfeeding her.
Our partnership has been give and take since the get go. But all of that changed yesterday.
One. Two. Three.
That's the number of times I have been bitten.
The last one happened at 6pm tonight and I can still feel the pain.
I have made a point of reprimanding her after each incident and I think she can sense and hear the severity of my firm NO.
Hopefully the message will get through to her soon. Mom has been giving milk filled with love and nutrition for almost 7 months. And I'm willing to take one or two bites for the team, but I'd rather this give and take relationship remain of the milky white variety.
Emma has recently begun biting this week, even though she has had her teeth for a month now. I have narrowed it down: she only does it on the boob she "doesn't like". That is, when she is no longer really hungry and I still ask her to try the second boob, even though she is not begging for it. It also seems to happen in the morning when my boobs are full from a night of sleep. Weirdly, by the afternoon, she usually is ok with her bad boob, and she does not bite me. All this to say, does she bite always on the same boob? Could it be when she is not hungry anymore?
ReplyDeleteMy sister had the same and has a scar to show for it! After that specific and scar worthy bite happened, she continued feeding my niece on the one boob my niece was ok with!
I read on a few websites that if that happens, the best thing to do is to just stop them from breastfeeding - take them off and wait again until they're hungry. If you are too firm with her, she may misinterpret and go on a nursing strike (and trust me, you don't want that).
ReplyDeleteIt usually is the second boob but I'm not sure if that is always on the same side. Tonight was the right side so I will take note if it happens again (fingers crossed that it won't).
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it usually happens at the end of a feed, when she has probably already had enough.
Definitely don't want a nursing strike but maybe it will make it easier to give her a bottle?
Personally, I think it has to do with the way our baby can express how they feel. They can't "talk" yet in a way we can understand them, which leaves them with the option to cry, or with a newly discovered communication skill: biting. Could it not be "momy I am not hungry anymore" bite? If so, we have to trust that our baby knows best when they are full and have had enough milk, even though our breat or our watch leads us to beleive there is still room in their tummies.
ReplyDeleteNursing strike seems a little extreme, since I have trouble that our little ones will let themselves starve or renounce to their favorite meal/comfort time. But could be...