My 8 mos. old boy, has both bottom teeth, and now is getting his top 2 teeth. When I nurse him, he is starting to bite me if he gets startled or as he is latching. He is even biting me on the shoulder when I hold him sometimes. I know it's probably a teething thing, but should I continue to nurse, is there a trick to make him stop biting? Help please, I want my bonding moments with my boy to continue.
Great advice everyone. Thank you. I didn't think my 8mos old would understand "NO biting" but he does!! I am so relieved. So far so good. My boy is very big eater, I do plan on nursing him for alittle while longer, the bonding, and benefits are so great. He eats 1 1/2 jars of babyfood with 3 bowls of cereal, and dry snack everyday. And he is underweight but very healthy, he just has a high metabolism. Thanks again!
The teeth are no fun that's for sure. But keep breast feeding and try to work it out. At 8 months he should be eating other things as a major part of his diet, but the value of breastmilk is unmatched! Pulling away and telling him no is the way to go, he'll catch on.
No, I would not wean this early. He's way too young for just solids. I would unlatch every time he starts biting and say "no biting." You don't have to be sharp or mean about it, just calmly say it. And then let him relatch immediately. He's too young for you to cut the nursing session off I think; I would only do that if he were around 18 months or 2 and didn't respond to repeated requests for "no bite" during the same session. If he keeps doing it, treat the teething pain in some way (we used Hylands tablets and cold teethers) and then continue.
My daughter only really bit me once but it left a mark on my breast! What I do now is immediately take her off when she bites and tell her that it hurts mommy when she does that. Sometimes she bites because she really doesn't want to nurse she is just thirsty so then I give her a drink of water.
I went through the biting with my daughter when she was around your son's age. What worked for us was to make sure that I held her very close to the breast (that way she couldn't pull off and bite) and to remove her from the breast when she wasn't sucking (they can't suck and bite at the same time). I also wouldn't suggest putting orajel or any numbing medicine on him before he nurses because that could cause him to unknowingly bite.
I nursed my first son until 15 months and he went through the biting stage. I found that if he bit I would tell him calmly no biting and immediately ended the nursing session. He learned eventually that he didn't get any if he bit. When he first started biting I reacted with a loud ouch/screech and he thought that was funny and wanted to do it again. I found staying calm, saying no then ending the nursing session worked good. I'm nursing my second who is 10 months, no teeth yet but loves to clamp down with his gums then whip his head back pulling me with him. I find that when he is full or really not genuinely interested in nursing that's when he begins his antics. Good luck.
What I did, was I pulled her away when she bit said no put her down and put the breast away, she learned very quickly she lost what she wanted when she bit...No offense to the lady who said to stop bfing, but please don't listen to her at 8 months you would have to switch to formula you can't give regular milk which im sure you already know since your a mom of 3, and giving formula now, either they probably won't take it or it will make them sick. good luck!!! My daughter is 19 months and she is still successfully bfing once or twice a day.
try using a teething ring (frozen) before you nurse it might help him get the chewing feeling out of his system before you are seriously injured if you know what i mean i would say try it for 1/2 an hour before feeding good luck
My son is 8 mos and he was biting. My 2 y/o also went through that phase. I just said loudly "no biting" and used my finger to unlatch him when necessary. After about 2 weeks he caught on that when he bit he didn't get anymore. It's tough on the breasts but you will get through it. You can also ask the Pediatricians office. The nurses are always full of helpful information. Good Luck.
Here is a web site that has a good guide for when you should feed what to your baby. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/infant/startingsolids.html
I started giving my son cereal at 4 months, started veggies at 6 months. He was so hungry by 8 months that he was eating alot of the foods we ate for dinner.
I can't believe all the people I hear with the same problem you have, aren't doctors guiding people like they used to? Yes, you should definely stop breast feeding. When they get teeth, they should be eating. He is 15 now, very strong and healthy. He was always ahead for hight and developement, and rarely sick. I must have done it right. I also fed him a vegetarian diet. You may want to consider this. You will have a healthier child. Here is a few sites that you can go to, to do some research on the subject. http://www.ivu.org/northam/index.html
http://www.vegan.org/ www.goveg.com
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm
My first son was a biter, and stopping the session whenever he bit got the message across. It does take a while, and it will hurt until he gets the message. I suggest Lansinoh cream to help heal if you need it. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty if you are just in too much pain to continue, though. My second son could not get the latching thing right. As to bonding, my second is more attached to me than my first was at his age, so don't stress about that if you can't keep nursing. But don't give up if you want to continue! Breast milk really is the best base food for babies and little kids.
