Lactating Mothers of the Internet, I beseech you. We have an issue over here.
TEETH.
My little man has EIGHT teeth in his tiny little mouth. I am still nursing exclusively; and since my body has adjusted to Hendrik's feeding schedule - and since we are NEVER APART - I haven't been pumping at all. He nurses four times a day at present: twice in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once before bed.
He gives very distinct hunger cues these days - mainly, he becomes whiny, crawls into my lap, and grabs at my shirt. He's pretty direct. He nurses very quickly - maybe fifteen minutes total per day - so I thought we'd go on peacefully until 12 months, at which time we'd wean to cow's milk.
But now? HE WON'T. STOP. BITING. ME.
It's only been two days of this, but one bite is too many in my book. I've tried the standard: remove him, tell him sternly "NO BITING!" and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. He gets terribly upset (because I am terribly upset); but as soon as he calms down and we try again, he is biting me again.
Is he trying to tell me something? Is he ready to wean? He's always been a bit ahead of his time - could it be time to move to cow's milk at ten months and one week?
Any advice would be most appreciated, ladies! I've been giving him about three tries before I finally remove him and tell him his meal is over. I'm concerned he is not getting enough nutrition, but so far he seems unfazed. Help?
3 comments:
First off, not to worry about his nutrition. I swear, some days kids can eat like two raisins and be perfectly energetic.
You might try more solid foods. Keep trying to nurse and stop promptly if he bites. Then casually move on to the rest of the meal.
Ten months and one week of breastfeeding is pretty awesome so don't beat yourself up if you don't get all the way through the next seven weeks.
I always hated the biting stage. My daughter would randomly bite me on the shoulder. That hurt plenty. I can only imagine more delivate body parts.
Nothing ever helped with Max, I would just take him off and say "no", just bc there was nothing else to do. Just be glad May is right around the corner.
Happened with James as well, another push for EPing in our book. If getting boob milk only is super important for you, consider pumping and sippy feeding these last few weeks till the 1 yr cow's milk switch. Hendrik has always been ahead of the game and might be telling you he's ready-james did. (Despite all LC's adament opinions on <1 yr RARELY self wean-this child did.)
Still getting the nutrition and no pain. Annoying but might be worth it.
Hang in there- almost there!!
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