Weird bite-to-latch-on thing

[3for3hb]

I'm currently 17 weeks pregnant and maybe this is just a vent about my incredibly sore nipples... but I think I have isolated the culprit.
15 1/2 month old ds still nurses day and night. I've cut back to two times a night (unless there is a real need to do more) because I really need my sleep. About 90% of the time he nurses to sleep for naps and bedtime.

I've noticed recently that 1) he has increased the length (and frequency some days )of his nursing sessions and 2) he has developed a habit of biting/using his teeth to draw the nipple in to latch on. ouch!
Not only that but if he is being put to bed and is falling asleep, he'll stop sucking for like 10 seconds and then get startled and will bite down and then start suckling again. This can happen upwards of 10-15 times before he is asleep enough for me to pull away. He'll do this when he's awake too, but not as much as when he is asleep.
I'm wondering if he started the whole biting to latch on thing because I've been so sore lately that maybe unconsciously I have tried to cut his sessions short and he's trying to keep me for as long as he can.

Any advice about any of this would be great: how to make me less sore, how to help him learn not to bite, etc. I don't want to wean because I believe in CLW (especially for his personality). I just don't want to be sore. I was never sore like this when he was a newborn. Ever.

[3for3hb]

Not even a sympathy post????
Come on ladies, not feeling the (much less support) here!

Does no one here honestly know how hard it is to nurse while you are pregnant b/c you are experiencing excruciating pain everytime your toddler even comes near your breasts????

[TiredX2]

I saw your post before, but really didn't know what to say.

First, it could just be the age. DD went through a real biting stage around 14 months and there was NOTHING I could do to stop it. She just eventually did.

Secondly, there is a good chance he is trying to stimulate your (reduced) supply or getting frustrated with your (reduced) supply. I'm not really sure how to handle that--- make sure you're drinking plenty of water though.

Good luck

[3for3hb]

Thanks TiredX2 (nice name btw)... needed to know that SOMEONE cared
How long did the biting because of age last?


I'll just keep bumping this post up until I get what I need in terms of advice :

[firstatfourty]

Sympathy/I'm there too Reply

I was just reading your post under the nursing whil pg question. Sorry you were not feeling supported here or elsewhere. I have been through a lot of the same feelings as you. I am nursing my 25 mo dd, and 32 weeks pregnant, my problem is not painful nursing-is is just that I am not getting any rest, my daughter wants to nurse all the time all day all night, I am feeling very negative to her frequently (I don'tlike feeling this way), it must be a hormonal thing I don't know. I also have no support whatsoever for my decision to keep nursing (except from an LLL leader in my area who is great)and from posts here. I had long term ppd after her birth well into her 2nd year and almost feel like it is coming back. I feel like a bad mom for having negative feelings and for sometimes yelling at her STOP NURSING LEAVE ME ALONE once or twice. I really felt horrible afterwards. Also, I wonder if you or any one has had this feeling: NOw sometimes instead of feeling angry at her I am angry at the unborn baby for making my life change like this. And I am sometimes angry at the unborn baby because when I was first pregnant, I had terrible mood swings and yelled at my daughter on several occasions. I do not parent that way and do not believe in yelling at children, I tried to find help through counseling and could find no one. I am also really worried about the tandem nursing thing. But I do feel it is best for my dd as I tried gentle weaning and it did not work, she was really upset so I have decided to continue nursing. I think it realy helps to read the posts from those doing it now and to ask for support here. I know I will depend on this place when things get tough. I hope this helps you to feel understood.

[3for3hb]

Yes firstatforty, I have yelled. ANd dh says, "why don't you just stop nursing instead of yelling?" (he doesn't mean wean). It's just not that simple for some reason. You are not a bad mom, just sensitive. My personal theory is that there are non-sensitive moms who can go through pg with no problems, no complaints, and then there are the sensitive moms like us who feel everything, physically, emotionally, mentally, even spiritually. (and of course there are those in between). I just feel that everyone looks at me complaining (mostly at LLL) and pass judgement on me for not doing things the way everyone else does them. But I know, even from being on this board that NOT everyone else weans at 6 weeks or 6 months etc etc. I have decided for the second time that I'm night weaning. I tried it two months ago but quit because ds got a really bad cold and he was teething his first year molars. I needed to be there for him. But now, I really need my sleep. I had a lot of morning sickness that is just starting to go away but if I didn't get rest the night before, I'm sick the next day. That and I've been sleeping later and later and that's just not me, not even pregnant me.
I had ppd as well. Pretty bad. And didn't get help for it because I didn't know that it applied to me. I looked stuff up online when things felt out of control but it just didn't make sense. I resented dh a little for not helping me to get help but he was just going on what the midwife said... that it was normal and that hormones wreak havoc on your body for a while. I did get counseling for depression and that is probably what really made it go away because I was able to deal with past issues in a new light. pm me if you want my therapists email/website info.
I'm also worried about tandeming. I know that it is best for ds emotionally but I just don't know. It's just going to be so much more demanding than having just one... I honestly don't know how some women tri-andem. Must be one of those non-sensitive women.
What really gets to me is that I feel like I do/give so much more than other mothers, and I feel like I have it so much harder than other mothers, and it seems like being a mom is just a flippant title for them... like nothing changed in their life when their babies arrived. I don't get it.
Anyway, thanks for the support. The night weaning thing is going okay. I think he remembers from last time. He cried a while last night but was okay after he got a snack and then he was all smiles this morning so it made me feel like I wasn't traumatizing him or anything. And nursing him today didn't hurt quite as bad because I wasn't being bitten all night.
Hang in there, you are almost done.

I just wanted to say thanks mamas for answering. Sometimes it's aggravating when you really have an issue to see tons of lurkers but no answers. I don't take it personally, I just bump my post up so more people see it. :

[RainCoastMama]

Oh wow, mama...I'm right there with ya!! I'm 17 weeks PG and 18 month old DD has started the bite-to-latch thing. She was a late teether adn I think her teeth are all now getting longer, and are really sharp (from not wearing them down on food) - I cringe and YOUCH everytime she latches and it's so uncomfortable, and so depressing. I used to LOVE nursing her and now I'm fearful of it every single time. My poor Ns feel like chopped liver and I know that I'm tense when doing it.

My supply is down for sure, but she also takes cow's and solids so it's not really that she's hungry...I dunno what to do!!! I want to treat my Ns somehoe btu I'm afraid a smell or taste of something on them will upset her.

And ugh...she's cutting molars and nursing, like ALL DAY!!!

No advice, just commiseration. Let me know if you come up with a solution.

Dee

[ChristusG]

My DD is 13 months old and has done this since she was about 3 months old. It's not actually a bite that she does....I guess I would descibe it was a nip. She nips and then starts sucking. I know she's not doing it to "bite" me....but its her way of drawing the nipple into her mouth. Yes, sometimes it makes me jump and wince LOL! I wish she could find another way to latch on, but I guess I'm used to it by now.

[morgaine108]

HI Christy LOL Nice to see you here :LOL