4 mo developed bad un-latching habit

[Ellien C]

My 4 mo has decided the way to get off the nipple is to squeeze his mouth shut and pull his head all the way back. Ouch! It's kind of like everything tenses when it should be the opposite.

Obviously once he starts, I feel it and try to break the suction, but he's usually stretched my nipple pretty far. Anyone got any bright ideas for how to break this habit?

[blessedwithboys]

pay attention to when he is just about done and pull him forward so that his face is buried in your boob. make sure his nose is good and smooshed, too. he'll have to open his mouth to breath and then you can get your finger in there as you pull your boob towards you and his head away.

i know its sounds like terrible advice: "suffocate your baby" LOL buts its for such a quick second its ok, i promise. i did it with both my kids. maybe you would want to practice it in the AM when you are wide awake, not at night while you are cozy in the bed and sleepy.

and dont be afraid to tell him its not ok and that it hurts mama. babies understand more than we think and even just the tone of your voice may do the trick.

[shapiro-strano]

My daughter developed this same bad habit in the last 4-6 weeks. I don't know what causes her to do this, but it drives me crazy!

I usually tell her a firm no and put the boob away for a bit. I do think babies are smarter than we credit them for and hope she will catch my drift.

[sunnygir1]

I went through this with both of my babes too. The solution for me was to pay very close attention and hold the baby's head close to my breast. When s/he started to pull away, I would say, "open your mouth" and stick my finger in their to pry the mouth open. It took some repetition, but it worked. If I wasn't paying attention and they did it anyway, I would say, "ouch! you have to open your mouth."

[Punchy Kaby]

DD went through this too, I did the boob in the face to get her to unlatch but I had to be watchful of when she was done, a split second too long and I would get a pinch.

[Ellien C]

Thanks. This is all good advice. I do yell Let Go, LET GO, LET GO! So he's getting the picture. I'm not one to keep it in. I'll do the smush thing. I think he doesn't do it at night so much. He falls asleep and relaxes his mouth.

This is all new to me since I swear, my other child unlatched herself a total of 4 times in her entire 4+ year nursing career. Every other time I pulled her off (like after an hour) or I asked her to stop.