30 weeks pregnant and 20 mo keeps CHEWING on me! forgotten how to nurse? time to wean??

[doulawoman]

Are we done nursing? I am 30 weeks pregnant and I think dd does sometimes get milk/colostrum, the other night one breast even leaked a little colostrum onto my nightshirt...but it might be all of a teaspoon in 24 hours. She still insists on nursing esp for sleep time, starts off ok, then slips down a bit and starts gently CHEWING on me. Because I'm pregnant and she is teething (eye teeth) I find nursing uncomfortable anyway so I often can;t catch it right away...until it starts getting sore, then I take her off and find teeth marks and very sore nipples. This is happening every time we nurse, though a bit elss when she wakes at night. The worst part is she has great difficulty getting to sleep and wants /needs nursing (we have tried bottle supplement, pacififiers...it's a LONG story) anyway, that warm milk was what cut the bedtime down shorter, I've tried to just get her to disassociate milk from sleep but it won't work...anyway, nursing is becomign AWFUL...she even laughs about chewing on me but I know if I had milk she wouldn't.

I'm not even 100% sure she can still nurse even if she holds out till the baby comes...can I? has anyone had a child who CHEWED them? I feel she is too young to wean, and I am watching ehr closely, unlatching and telling ehr to be gentle...she doe sunderstand, but there is no milk and I'm not enjoyign nursing.

[JudiAU]

DD has recently started doing this at 27m and it may well be the end of the nursing. It is horrible feeling, and I am not even pregnant yet.

At the very least it is going to be the end of night nursing when it much worse. She bit me hard the other night when we were both asleep. I think we were moving apart and she bit down. Nursing is still very painful and the chewing is more noticable. I think, deep down, that it is okay for her to weaned at this point but I was hoping that she would do it if her own choice, like her brother.

[doulawoman]

I know what you mean...I didn't want things to end this way but I am thinking they have/are...i "nursed" her in the rocking chair to get to sleep for her nap and it felt...kind of like a type of sexual harrassment..i know that soudns awful but i feel it. Yet, because she has *such* issues sleeping i keep putting up with it, gritting my teeth. I'm kind of disgusted now. it's never pleasant. I have no idea how to wean ehr though.

[doulawoman]

i've been perusing past posts on this forum about weaning tots and pregnancy...and you know,I wonder if dd has forgotten how to nurse? Because today she said "no cewing, ih huwts!"(no chewing, it hurts, while pointing at my breasts) very solemnly...i think she doesn't want to hurt me, but she;s teething and without the feedback of the milk for a while now she doesnt seem to know the difference between nursing and what she is doing.i feel like i have to wean but she asks all the time and it it heart breaking...and I'm due in approx 10 weeks and we may be moving in that time! If she has forgotten i think i need to stop, not wantign super sore nipples with a newborn!

[doulawoman]

could really use support here...and seems there is another mama with similar age of babe and similar issues...dd is freaking and not sleeping (worse than usual) and asking for "milks" a lot. We got her a pacifier again...have been trying that since about 6 weeks, at least she is enjoying chewing on it. I finally tried nursing her once before nap (which didn't happen) and she chewed me and it was awful...i reallly don't think she remembers how tonurse, but nursing is super important to her, and she is very upset. please help...articles, book, btdt advice greatly appreciated. I can;t find much concrete stuff on weaning! not even on LLLI and what i have heard doesn't really work with her.

[aprilv]

i can't be much help regarding the chewing part because i didn't have that experience w/mine, but i did decide to wean during pregnancy.  my ds was 28 mos old and also a very very dedicated nurser and difficult sleeper.  it was so hard for me, but at the time i felt that i couldn't keep going (i had pain and  tons of emotional irritation) and that it was ruining the beautiful nursing relationship we had to be so angry all the time.  in hindsight, i wish i would've weaned before it got to that point...

but what helped me is to make peace with what i wanted to do.  when i was feeling guilty, unsure etc, it was so hard to try to wean because i felt so sorry for ds and my emotions were adding to his... once i decided it was best for us both to wean and got comfortbale in my heart, things were much easier.  i was still there for him and i helped him to see he was strong enough to handle it.  naps were hard for a while, we did rocking while i sang a long, repetitive story/song or planning car trips for nap time.  but he napped for 2 yrs after he weaned so it is possible.

by the time ds2 was born 3 mos later, it wa slike ds1 had never nursed, he was fine with it.  i woul dnever ever have predicted that for him. 

it will work out.  listen to yourself, not your guilt or your 'should' list. 

[doulawoman]

I'm really on the fence about weaning. I definitely want to nurse less...but it is still super important to us...a few times I've been able to nearly eliminate the teeth marks...helping dd "yawn lik e alion" before she latches on etc. Now she is only digging in with ehr top teeth. Any ideas howi might try to correct this? I'd be ok with nursing a few tiems a day if it didn;t feel awful. We changed sleepign arrangements so she is in her own bed next to ours and closest to dh so i didn't get asked to nurse at alllast night. Daddy just gave her sips of water. I really wish someone else would weigh in, this is a really hard time for us...and we are probably going to be moving again in a few weeks so I anticipate some changes and stronger desire to nurse...