biting and pulling on nipple!!!!

[angel_one]

ok, i have my little man who is nearly nine months old :eek:, he is breastfeed, and has since early june, had bottles (of either ebm or formula - i had to go away for a week without him and my dh wasnt up for the breastfeeding thing - damm male! lol) and so he will usually have maybe one bottle a day, but any way the issue is for about 2 or so weeks now he has been clenchhing those gums of his (no teeth yet thank god!) and pulling on my nipple - rather than letting go and then pulling away!, he is feeding fine, will latch on, feed then as he nears the end of his feed (i think hes comfort sucking by then) he will clench and pull, and my god he is soooo lucky i havent swiped him yet cause it bloody hurts!

im one of those who dont want to give up feeding, and yes i have givin it a good go (hes a preemie so i wanted to feed him for as long as possible) i dont want to give up yet (i like the time together too much!) but i cant handle this for much longer. so if anyone knows of a reason for it please let me know asap!!

oh by the way, its not a pull away in pain, cause the little devil has a smile on his face the whole time - he just gets the ****s when i try and push his head back towards me! (cause he wont let go - i have tried to pry those gums open but they wont budge!)

help meeeeeeeee !!!! PLEASE

[JAG]

My daughter did something very similar when she was the same age.
What worked for me was to let her know it hurts.
Raise your voice and make a sound that shows your in pain. Meanwhile, using your pinky finger on the side of his mouth and the pressing down on his tongue take him off the breast. It may shock him but hopeful he will learn that he won't get mum's milk if he bites.

[~Emmylou~]

My 9 month old does this as well, but he's actually drawn blood a couple of times with his teeth :eek:

I was told not to yell because in some bubs if you frighten them they can go on a nursing strike where they won't feed.

So basically every time he did it I would say no firmly and take him off. Boob went away and that was the end of the feed. He would also look up at me and laugh when he did it, but with my reaction he learned pretty quick that I didn't think it was funny even if he did.

I find he does it when his teeth are bothering him (his two top front ones are coming through and that's when it started). Biting down on a nipple gives them counterpressure on the gums apparently.

Hang in there, it's the worst thing when they do this, it nearly made me want to quit as well but I'm glad now that I didn't :hugs:

[MrsDribbleDrawers]

Doesn't that cheeky smile just take your breath away - if you have any left after the pain!!

Natalie has been doing this to me for almost two months now, at least once a day. I put it down to not really wanting a feed, and therefore just playing, or being lazy and trying to get the let down happening quicker for her... and it works!!

Sorry, I don't have any advice for you, I've tried the yelp in pain and saying no and putting her down and walking away, but none of it seems to have worked for us yet. Now I just put the b@@b away, and make her wait at least 30min before I offer it again, no matter how cranky or hungry she thinks she is!!

Good Luck

Cate

[JAG]

Sorry when I said raise your voice I didn't mean to imply that you should yell. More that you should use a firm voice so they know you mean business. You are less likely to get the giggling.

[angel_one]

thanks girls!, i have an issue with making him wait 30mins though, (apart from the obvious crying i would encounter) he has weight issues and need to eat , but i will try a couple of the other things!

[mumofKieran]

My son got his first two teeth at 4 months old and started using them on me during feeds. I couldn't tolerate it at all so smacked him on the arm or leg, not hard, but just enough to let him know it was not on. Some ppl may disagree with me for this but it worked really fast and we now have a beautiful breastfeeding relationship even though he has 8 teeth. I decided it was that or stop feeding, and I felt that to stop feeding was worse for him than a short, sharp lesson.