Hi everyone,
I need your best tips and suggestions. DS is just under 12 months and he is biting me til I bleed. When he bites he is told no firmly, I don't say ouch or give him any reaction, he is put on the floor and not even offered for at least 1/2 hr. I'm trying to recognise when he is going to bite and take him off before as he is tending to bite at the start of a feed. He has dropped a feed as well so I thought that might stop it but nope. He is hungry because I'm having to express and give it in a bottle.
This isn't working so I'm at my wits ends. I really don't want to stop feeding but I just can't take it anymore. He bites, clamps down and doesn't let go. It is getting beyond painful!! I don't want to have to start expressing and bottle feeding but if I don't i'm going to lose my supply. The cheeky monkey doesn't bite the bottle!
So what can I do to stop this biting before I give up and wean him??? I do know it is just a phase but it has been over a week now and both my nipples have bites which have broken the skin and are bleeding .
TIA,
Dan.
that biting is awful isn't it..... I completely empathise with you. I went through that when DD was 10.5mths she would bite me consistently EVERY feed and it was really painful.... she would clamp down and pull away still clamped down and the pain was excruciating.... I would tell her "no" but she'd smile and think it was funny so in the end I would just put her down and pretend it wasn't bothering me (had to grit my teeth!!!) and walk away..... even if she was still wanting more. It took 2 weeks of biting but we got past it eventually and she never did it again....(every feed she was biting me) it coincided with the start of her teeth coming through too as I guess it was all new sensations for her in her mouth.
The good news is that it does and will pass.... but when, is hard to say! You are doing the right thing by taking him off immediately and walking away. Explain to him "you hurt me when you bite me" and keep saying that as they understand so much more than we realise......
Sorry not much else I can offer but just that keep being persistent with him and it will stop..... I too was ready to stop BF it was getting that bad also so I completely understand where you are coming from.
Yeah, DS was the same at that age. It lasted several weeks. Do you offer or wait for him to come to you? Are you paying very close attention to postiioning/attachment - this can help as they can't bite if they're latched correctly (we tend to get a bit slack about it as they get older).
The last time DS bit me I put him down and told him I was not feeding him again. I did, but not till bed time, which was 5 hours later or something. Finally, the message got through to him.
Say OUCH! Make him know it hurts you, make a face, cry whatever you have to.
At 12 months he is old enough to recognise "hurt mummy" or "upset mummy"...say ow, make a face, take him off straight away, be upset with him and explain that biting is NO and will cost him the feed.
And then don't offer it again.
Charlotte only bit me a few times at around 10 months, because she soon got the message that biting mum was not a good idea.
Not sure where this notion of not saying ouch etc comes from, I suspect for younger bubs it can seem a game, but at that age he should recognise unhappy mum and understand that hurting you is not cool.
Just popping in to re-iterate what the other girls have said. Biting HURTS! DS did it for a while too around the 12 month mark and not long after he started teething. He did stop after a few weeks but my nipples are still recovering a couple of months later. Sorry. Probably not what you wanted to hear.
Position and attachment are crucial and be very firm about putting him down and ending the feed. I wasn't as firm as I should have been and I think the biting went on longer than it needed to as a result. I hope he works it out soon! xx
It can become a bit of a battle of wills can't it? My advice? No bottles! he's a big boy, he knows how the system works. If he is hungry, he can have an apple or a sandwich. He doesn't need a bottle. If he wants breastmilk he knows where it comes from and how it works. He needs to play nice. I wonder how many feeds he is having now? At this age as little as one or two a day is fine - you won't *dry up* - you make neough milk for as many feeds as you give.
Babies are designed to breastfeed for much longer than 12 mnths - so you will get through this and go on to breastfeed fine
Biting - "no" and putting down isn't working!
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that biting is awful isn't it..... I completely empathise with you. I went through that when DD was 10.5mths she would bite me consistently EVERY feed and it was really painful.... she would clamp down and pull away still clamped down and the pain was excruciating.... I would tell her "no" but she'd smile and think it was funny so in the end I would just put her down and pretend it wasn't bothering me (had to grit my teeth!!!) and walk away..... even if she was still wanting more. It took 2 weeks of biting but we got past it eventually and she never did it again....(every feed she was biting me) it coincided with the start of her teeth coming through too as I guess it was all new sensations for her in her mouth.
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