the_queen
06-11-2006, 14:03
Hi Pinky,
My exclusively breast-fed just-turned-6 month old doesn't have teeth yet. But he's just lately discovered the joys of nipple biting. He has been pressing his gums together, slowly and almost gently, every now and then, for a couple of weeks now, and I just kinda say "ay you" and it grabs his attention and he either comes off, or goes back to nutritive sucking. BUT just today he clamped down very hard very quickly, in a bite. It hurt and it shocked me so I did (ashamedly) yell "DON'T" and marched into the bedroom, put him on the bed, and I marched back out again. It didn't seem to bother him at all, and I've got him out of there now (about 1 minute later) and he's fine, he didn't cry or anything, and he's not still hungry.
Is it because of boredom? Is it just that he's finished drinking and is practicing using his bite? I've always left him on there until he comes off himself. We co-sleep and during the night I'm guessing he stays on for hours sometimes ( I go back to sleep!) And I offer it to him pretty often, more often than I guess "the books" tell you to. So should I cut down on the amount of times I feed him? Should I limit the amount of time he spends on the boob? Is it a sign that he's ready for solids? I did try some the other day and it upset his tummy, so I'm happy to delay solids for another few weeks. I feed him at approx 6am, 9:30am, 11am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 7pm-8pm (pretty much off and on for that whole hour, then he goes to sleep on the boob and is very very fast asleep, and sleeps until about 1:30am, but I try to do a dreamfeed about 11:30 when I go to bed, and this gets him through until 6am). When I write it down like that, geez I'm feeding him a lot aren't I!! He doesn't and never has had a dummy, I am totally happy for him to use me as one. Sometimes they're less than 5minute snacks to get him to sleep. Sometimes they're on and off for 10 minutes to settle him and "cheer him up". When it's full-on nutritive sucking, he drains the breast in 10 minutes. I do one breast per feed and swap sides at the next feed. His weight, wee's, poo's, and general wellbeing are fantastic.
So after that essay (sorry!) my questions are:
Why is he biting?
How do I stop/deal with the biting?
Am I feeding him too much/often?
Thanks :)
My exclusively breast-fed just-turned-6 month old doesn't have teeth yet. But he's just lately discovered the joys of nipple biting. He has been pressing his gums together, slowly and almost gently, every now and then, for a couple of weeks now, and I just kinda say "ay you" and it grabs his attention and he either comes off, or goes back to nutritive sucking. BUT just today he clamped down very hard very quickly, in a bite. It hurt and it shocked me so I did (ashamedly) yell "DON'T" and marched into the bedroom, put him on the bed, and I marched back out again. It didn't seem to bother him at all, and I've got him out of there now (about 1 minute later) and he's fine, he didn't cry or anything, and he's not still hungry.
Is it because of boredom? Is it just that he's finished drinking and is practicing using his bite? I've always left him on there until he comes off himself. We co-sleep and during the night I'm guessing he stays on for hours sometimes ( I go back to sleep!) And I offer it to him pretty often, more often than I guess "the books" tell you to. So should I cut down on the amount of times I feed him? Should I limit the amount of time he spends on the boob? Is it a sign that he's ready for solids? I did try some the other day and it upset his tummy, so I'm happy to delay solids for another few weeks. I feed him at approx 6am, 9:30am, 11am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 7pm-8pm (pretty much off and on for that whole hour, then he goes to sleep on the boob and is very very fast asleep, and sleeps until about 1:30am, but I try to do a dreamfeed about 11:30 when I go to bed, and this gets him through until 6am). When I write it down like that, geez I'm feeding him a lot aren't I!! He doesn't and never has had a dummy, I am totally happy for him to use me as one. Sometimes they're less than 5minute snacks to get him to sleep. Sometimes they're on and off for 10 minutes to settle him and "cheer him up". When it's full-on nutritive sucking, he drains the breast in 10 minutes. I do one breast per feed and swap sides at the next feed. His weight, wee's, poo's, and general wellbeing are fantastic.
So after that essay (sorry!) my questions are:
Why is he biting?
How do I stop/deal with the biting?
Am I feeding him too much/often?
Thanks :)