My toddler (20mo) has become an atrocious nurser since I got pregnant. I know most of the pain is because of the pregnancy, but most of our sessions go something like this:
DS asks to nurse. I say ok. He pinches my nipple, hard. Hits my breast, more pinching, while I am trying not to throw him away from me and telling him to be gentle and making a more "petting" motion with his hands.
We get into a position to nurse, DS opens nice and wide, and CHOMPS down. I admire the enthusiasm, but OW. He doesn't seem to be able to understand not to close down as tightly as possible. He immediately starts sucking - not nursing, sucking, and I have to break the latch because it feels like my nipple is on fire. When I take my nipple out of his mouth, it's weirdly-shaped and has teeth marks all over it (DS has 14 teeth).
We get it positioned again, and he's gentler the second time around. He still sucks like a Hoover, but I can usually get him positioned where it's comfortable enough for me to not want to scream. That's when the pinching starts. He starts to pinch the exposed part of my breast, alternating between massaging (which is with the flat of his hand, and I'm ok with it) and taking tiny bits of skin and pinching as hard as he can (which I'm not ok with). I always allow the massage, and don't allow the pinching, which turns into a screaming fest. Just as if I get him in a position where he can't do this massage/pinch routine, it becomes a screaming fest.
Last week I took him off at the first pinch, said "no pinching" and waited to nurse him again for a few minutes, just to see what would happen. We made it 4 days before I realized he hadn't actually nursed since I started enforcing the "zero tolerance" rule. Now we're back to fighting over his latch and the pinching.
I'm not ok with him weaning, not when I only have weeks before my milk comes fully in after the new baby is born. I just cannot tolerate these horrible habits, and I'm beginning to think he's more stubborn than his father.
Any advice? I know a lot of this is "welcome to nursing through pregnancy" and "welcome to nursing a toddler" stuff, but commiseration and advice would be greatly appreciated.
DS asks to nurse. I say ok. He pinches my nipple, hard. Hits my breast, more pinching, while I am trying not to throw him away from me and telling him to be gentle and making a more "petting" motion with his hands.
We get into a position to nurse, DS opens nice and wide, and CHOMPS down. I admire the enthusiasm, but OW. He doesn't seem to be able to understand not to close down as tightly as possible. He immediately starts sucking - not nursing, sucking, and I have to break the latch because it feels like my nipple is on fire. When I take my nipple out of his mouth, it's weirdly-shaped and has teeth marks all over it (DS has 14 teeth).
We get it positioned again, and he's gentler the second time around. He still sucks like a Hoover, but I can usually get him positioned where it's comfortable enough for me to not want to scream. That's when the pinching starts. He starts to pinch the exposed part of my breast, alternating between massaging (which is with the flat of his hand, and I'm ok with it) and taking tiny bits of skin and pinching as hard as he can (which I'm not ok with). I always allow the massage, and don't allow the pinching, which turns into a screaming fest. Just as if I get him in a position where he can't do this massage/pinch routine, it becomes a screaming fest.
Last week I took him off at the first pinch, said "no pinching" and waited to nurse him again for a few minutes, just to see what would happen. We made it 4 days before I realized he hadn't actually nursed since I started enforcing the "zero tolerance" rule. Now we're back to fighting over his latch and the pinching.
I'm not ok with him weaning, not when I only have weeks before my milk comes fully in after the new baby is born. I just cannot tolerate these horrible habits, and I'm beginning to think he's more stubborn than his father.
Any advice? I know a lot of this is "welcome to nursing through pregnancy" and "welcome to nursing a toddler" stuff, but commiseration and advice would be greatly appreciated.
