HELP!!! biting won't stop, baby won't nurse...

[chelsmm]

I've posted about biting before, but now it's gotten so bad, I am posting again...My dd is teething. She has her bottom two teeth and is getting the top two. Recently she has started biting the minute I put her to the breast. I have tried only putting her to the breast when she's definitely hungry. I've tried medicating her with camilia or oragel before nursing. I have tried saying "no" firmly. She gets upset, but won't let go. I've tried smooshing her to my breast so that she'll let go- this sometimes works. It's gotten so bad that yesterday she only nursed one time. (I worked at night, so she normally would have nursed 5 times and had 2-3 bottles ebm) She didn't eat until I left for work, then she took the bottle for DH. Today she took a bottle at 6am for dh. She finally just nursed at 10:30. She normally nurses every 2.5 hours in the daytime. (She's not taking much for solid food). I have read everything kellymom has to say, but this time, that site wasn't helpful. Anyone with experience in this dept?? Anyways, here are my questions...

How to I get her to stop biting?

Should I pump during the day when she normally would be nursing so as not to lose my supply?

Should I let her not eat if she doesn't nurse, or should I give her emb in a bottle?


I'm hoping someone can help us...we're on our 3rd day of this, and I'm worried about my milk supply and dd's nutrition. I'm also so nervous each time that I try to nurse her that I'm afraid it's affecting my let down, and I have a cut on one breast and I'm afraid I will get thrush or something.


_________________

[MaryJaneLouise]

I know everyone here is anti-meds, but I had to cave in and give my babies ibuprofen (infant motrin) because DS's were in hell. I hope you can find some relief.

[GatorNNP]

try to limit bottles, this gives baby something to chomp on that doesn't yelp 'ouch" when he bites.

shorter nursing stints, stopping before baby gets full and starts to pay more attention to their gums hurting than their belly hungry

and, they will stop, it is temporary, hang in there!

[mezzaluna]

i agree about limiting bottles - you don't want her used to being able to chew on the nipple! though it sounds like you WOH, so i'm not sure what your alternative is

if you think she's teething, also try cutting out dairy in your/her diet... for some babies a slight dairy sensitivity makes teething that much worse.

finally, take a few deep breaths... seriously! DS used to bite me when his nose was stuffed up, and i had to model for him how to breathe then nurse, then breathe again... and it worked wonders! also calmed me down when i was about to explode from being bitten and bitten. she can probably pick up on your fear and tension, so it can't hurt to try to make nursing a calmer activity!

as for your supply - if you haven't had supply problems in the past, i wouldn't worry too much now - your supply will rebound when she's more comfortable nursing again. if you feel full you may as well pump off a few oz - it sounds like you use EBM regularly anyway, so it can't hurt to build the stash!

[coobabysmom]

ds is getting his top 2 teeth too and has bitten me a few times. LLL says to smoosh baby's face to the boob which causes baby to open his/her mouth to breathe and teaches there's an unwanted consequence after biting...

I don't feel confortable smooshing ds' face and his biting is really unexpected. He nurses fine and then a surprise chomp out of nowhere...

I guess, I am looking for advice too :

[Mama Poot]

I've heard from some moms who have biting problems that they will take baby off the breast when they bite, say something like "That hurts mommy!" or "No biting!", and put the baby on the floor for a second or two. The baby gets understandably miffed by this, and learns quickly that biting=meal interruption.

[DancingOtter]

I would also agree that a bit of tylenol or hylands tablets or SOMETHING might ease her pain. If she's not eating much at all, she's probably feeling pretty crappy and a little relief here and there may be in order.

[sproutbabe]

The only thing I found helpful (DD got first tooth at 3.5 months, has 12 at 12 months - I feel your pain!) was firmly rubbing her gums or holding a teething aid in her mouth for her to gum just before nursing. That way the counterpressure relieves the pain a bit and she's not quite so manically bitey when she gets to the breast.
The other thing that worked for me was cutting up a thin cotton nappy into small squares, wetting them and rolling them into little 'sausages' then freezing them (especially good for reaching molars!). Once again, offer one to chew just before feeding to numb the gums a bit. Have something on hand so that when she bites, you can take her off, say 'no biting', give her something to chew and say 'this is for biting' so she learns the difference.