Ch 32: We have a biter and it's not good.
>> Saturday, September 8, 2012 –
food,
keep calm carry on,
tears
Asleep. It's night time, another day
over. Joy.
Well folks, it's official. We have a
biter.
I previously wrote about my failure to
recognise the little master's first round of teething and as such
received a welcome gift from his new white sparkly mates upon
arrival. A bite whilst feeding.
It happened once. I went cross at him.
He smiled. Thought it was hilarious. I frowned. Life went on.
One week passed and it happened again.
In the parents room of a major shopping centre of all places. Lucky
me. I went cross again and ended the feed.
Third time round at home, he ended up
on the floor with a cross Mum and scared Buddy dog hovering nearby.
He then rolled onto his tummy for a play and barfed up his feed.
Great! What a waste and more washing for me. Ahh laundry, something
different to occupy my day. (insert roll of the eye balls here).
Fourth time round, he got a slight
pinch on the arm, a cross Mum, an early end to the feed and straight
onto the floor, again with a frightened Buddy dog hiding under his
day bed. Yet, the little master gazed into my eyes with a half smile,
half not quite ready to get upset, not really sure what is going on
kind of look. Got it? Good.
Each feed is now met with sweaty palms,
an increased heart rate and not to mention deprivation of oxygen to
the brain, as the only method of bracing myself for the imminent pain
is to hold my breath. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
I am 7.5 months into feeding the little
master and have every intention of continuing until 12 months. I have
busted my chops to feed and to feed well over this time. I'm not
willing to let this beat me. I can't. I won't.
In fact, over recent weeks I had
thought I would continue for a few months beyond one year. Believe it
or not, I actually enjoy it..gasp! If you had of told me that during
his two, four and six week growth spurts I would have thrown my nipple
shield at you. Wha? Too much again? Sorry.
Ok fine, I would have thrown a breast
pad at you..bang! Better? Hur? Worse? Oh. My bad.
Anyway nipple shields and breast pads
aside, my gut feeling is that I'm in a bit of trouble. I will
continue to cut short the feeds, put on my best angry face whilst
blubbering a few stern words to the little master, who by now, is
sitting on the floor wondering whether or not he should laugh or cry.
Or do a bit of both.
Wish me luck.
In the meantime, if you have any
suggestions on how to combat this, please drop me a line.
Buddy dog will be forever grateful!
Awake already..resettling on his own. Guess who
is teething again? I know, I know..the timing. Hillare. Not.
Ouch - my eldest bit me when he was about the same age and it's horrible (it also lead to a nursing strike when I screamed once - that was so not fun). Analytical Armadillo did a post on this recently, she seemed to have some good ideas in there: http://www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2012/08/when-breastfeeding-baby-bites.html
Thanks! I'll check it out.
Oh I really sympathise.I was really enjoying breastfeeding when my little one bit me and it did put me off slightly.I hope yours stops asp and you can continue feeding without that horrible apprehensive feeling of 'am I going to get bitten' Good luck!
Ouchy ooo! Remember those stages so well. The inability to relax, teeth gritted. Rest assured it passes. Can't remember if I did anything specific - I think it stopped by itself. Good luck!
I had this with my first daughter, and the best advice I had was to just say a firm no and unlatch them, wait a few seconds and then latch them back on, repeating the process if necessary. The telling them off/screaming/angry face thing was what older people and HVs told me to do, but it was absolutely hopeless and felt all wrong anyway. Certainly not a good idea to cut down feeding either, just try to work together to get through it - remember the mantra 'this too will pass' and try to stay calm and continue enjoying b/f :)
I have this issue where as my daughter falls asleep on the boob her teeth clamp down, so im yelping and trying desperately to pry her teeth open which often results in a harshly bitten finger too, its very stressful!