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Old September 26th 03, 05:17 AM
~gwyn
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Default Help please, biting crisis

On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 01:38:23 -0500, "Nikki"
wrote:

~gwyn wrote:

I've been trying to watch and anticipate when DS was going to bite but
he's tricky. He'll latch on, suck a few times and then *snap* and
he's off. It's the latching back on that usually gets me bit - even
if I'm not encouraging it. I guess it's better to end a feed or two
early than to go insane or wean early. Thanks Michelle.


When I went through a particulary bad biting phase I ended up nursing with
my pinky near his mouth to unlatch him quickly, sternly saying 'no biting',
put him down, and left the room. Leaving the whole room is what had impact,
he hated that.

I had to watch him *very* closely to get good at determining when he might
bite. I quit latching him back on if he was doing what you describe above.
That was hard for us because he wasn't always easily distracted from
nursing. He was such a comfort nurser that he didn't know that it was OK to
do other things besides nurse when he was out of sorts ;-). If there was
any fiddling around I unlatched and distracted him as best I could. He had
to be either actively sucking..or sleeping...he always fell asleep nursing.


That's what I did today and so far, no biting. If he wasn't *really*
nursing, I watched him and unlatched when he got fidgety. And then I
put my breast away. It's not great to think that he was biting me to
get away from me. :-( We spent more time cuddling today without
nursing, it feels bittersweet.

I doudt they are related but Hunter started solids right after this phase.
Maybe he wants a big bad snack he can sink his teeth into, Lol. He also
started crawling right after that. I think that helped because he was no
longer so bored once he could get around. I think he was a big fan of nurse
when bored but then that wasn't really what he wanted either. Is your ds
walking?

Yes, he's been walking for a few months and eating plenty of solids (3
meals plus snacks). He'll be 15 months at the end of the month. He's
got two molars thisclose to breaking through and another front tooth
making itself felt.


We did get over that rough patch (he was about 10 months IIRC) and he went
back to lots of comfort nursing but no biting. All the distracting etc.
didn't put a dent in his enthusiasm for nursing, no weaning in site. YMMV
of course.
--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)


I hope this doesn't lead to weaning anytime soon. He's still an
enthusiatic nurser, just more selective about when. I think I was
misinterpreting his signals. Sometimes he would want a quick
reassurance nurse but I thought he was hungry so I kept offering.
Thanks -
~gwyn