Why is my 13.5 mo biting and my ped telling me to 'cold turkey' wean?

She's far too young to wean. Most medical organizations, including WHO, say a minimum of 2 years.

She's probably in a nursing strike now from your reaction to the biting.

Best tips on biting

1. Watch, figure out pre-bite and take them off before it happens
2. when they bite, pull them TOWARDS you
3. talk talk talk about it.

-Angela

My dd was born 2/21/09 and we are going through the same thing right now. I think it is partially experimentation, possibly teething related. She's only went on a biting spurt once before and it stopped as soon as the teeth came in. She also seems like it is just too hard to resist doing it. I say gentle, gentle or easy, easy, and pull her in a little closer to me. I am very watchful so I do this at the first sign of pressure, before an actual chomp. If she puts a little more pressure I will tell her again and put my finger near my nipple so I can be ready to pop her off if necessary. She generally stops at this point, sometimes she will nibble a bit more and I will ask if she is done, put my breasts away, and if she indicates she isn't done I will let her on the other breast. If she persists after that the nursing session is over and I distract her with something else. I'm sure this is a temporary thing, like before. She knows gentle, gentle and easy, easy because we've been showing her gentle touches since she was 4 months old, for our cats and us. I agree with others that this has nothing to do with a desire to wean and I really wish doctors would not be so pushy about weaning once the baby passes that 12 month age.

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no sippies, bottles, binkies. and your doctor is full of crap.

Just want to reiterate what alegna said because sometimes it can seem counter intuitive - but if you feel biting, push her in toward you, not pull her away from you. This will cause her to immediately let go.

My dd went thru a biting stage shortly before a year old. I would say "Owe! That hurts mommy! Dd needs to be gentle" Also, any time your dd bumps herself be sure to say "Owe, that hurts dd" so she learns what it means.

My dd thought it was funny at first and so I had to be a bit stern about it. I would immediately say "Owe! That hurts mommy. All done now". Then I'd actually put her down and turn my back on her for all of 2 or 3 seconds. I know, I know. This sounds terribly stern and mean, but it was the only thing that let her know I wasn't joking. If not she'd just laugh. She'd start to make a sort of fussy noise after 3 seconds or so and I'd pick her back up and say again "dd needs to be gentle" and we'd try nursing again. She learned really fast this way not to bite.

Of course, being this adamant about it might have the opposite affect on some kids and scare them into a nursing strike - really a matter of just knowing your baby. While my dd tends to be very sensitive, she also has a huge sense of humor and she really genuinely thought the whole thing was funny at first. at it now...

Hang in there! It will get better and you'll have a wonderful extended nursing relationship

Ok...I hope I haven't screwed things up too much. I have been regularly offering her the breast. She cries and won't nurse. I can tell she wants to nurse - she makes her little motions and mewing noises - but when I try to put her to the breast she cries. The only way I've been able to get her to stop crying is to give her milk in a bottle. She still has trouble drinking from a cup and can't drink from a sippy cup.

But now I'm having trouble pumping. Last night I didn't get any milk at all in one pumping session (which, btw, I really hate! It's the only thing about bf'ing I dislike); and when I tried again later I got only 1 ounce from each breast. This morning I don't even feel full so I'm worried my milk is drying up. I'm really worried this is the end for us.

Any ideas? It has been so helpful to hear from all of you. I really was ready to give up.

First let me say I haven't went through this, but I so want to help and hope for you that you gals get past this. Some ideas-

Try not to be pushy or anxious when offering to nurse. I can see myself accidentally doing both in your shoes. I'd be a wreck. Just be really casual and let it go a second before she even answers, yk? Think of it as just letting her know she can if she wants. Can you go topless for a few days? Just let them hang free and be there so she can see them, touch them, smell them throughout the day during regular life. Take extra time to cuddle skin to skin as much as possible, if she likes being worn or carried, do it topless so she is next to them. Lots of women say lounging in the bath with babe helps. Do you co sleep? Sleep topless too! Those are my best ideas. And about the cup, my dd just started drinking from a cup. One day she had little to no interest and couldn't, the next day she figured it out and was guzzling from it. She has a Foogo sippy cup, but I don't put the spill proof valve in it. She'll also drink from my glass too. Have you tried a straw? Some people have a lot of luck with that too. Hang in there mama. I really don't think she's trying to self wean, it sounds like she wants to nurse but has an association with something that is keeping her from doing so, be it nervousness of your reaction or whatever.

Thanks MissRubyandKen. I appreciate the support. I can't really do the bare breasted thing but I am trying to be very casual when I offer the breast. I'm worried that at this point my milk supply is going to dry up since the pumping no longer seems to work. And I have to say this forum is the only place I am getting any support around my concerns. Even my friends who bf'ed to a year (or until their kids 'self weaned' and 8 or 9 months) don't seem to think this is a big deal. Their attitude is "if she's done, she's done - you made it to a year". So I start to think I should stop worrying about it and just let her have the bottle. We have also tried the straw - no luck. But then I think...whoa...this will be permanent if we stop and I want that to be a considered choice, not something that happens because she bit me. Anyone have any thoughts on what to do since the pumping isn't working?