Monday, June 9, 2008
Bitting
I need all the advice I can get! Cohen keeps biting me while he's nursing, and I don't know how to make him stop. Every time he does I raise my voice at him to startle him and most of the time he just smiles at me. And of course I feel bad yelling at him and telling him "no"- so I end up crying because I feel bad and he ends up smiling and laughing at me- it is so FRUSTRATING. Yesterday he made me bleed and today he wouldn't let go, so I am worried that I might have to stop breast feeding if he doesn't stop which I wanted to continue doing until he was 10-12 months old and he is 6 1/2 months old- plus I don't know how to switch him to formula. So please give me all the advice you can!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Crystal,
When Jeremy was 5 1/2 months old he started biting me too. So I just started buying formula and giving him a bottle. He took it right away with no problem. I don't know if you have given Cohen a bottle or not, but if you have he shouldn't have any trouble. If you are worried about cost, use the Member's Mark formula from Sam's Club. It is the same as Enfamil and you can get almost twice as much for the same price. You can call me if you want.
Love,
Jeri
Nathan only did that a couple times, but when he did I just pulled him off and told him no. That worked for him, but I know it doesn't for everyone. And later when I was forced to start supplementing formula (I wasn't making enough milk)it was the hardest thing ever!!!! He hated the bottle...lots of tears from me...but finally after a few creative weeks I was able to continue nursing and he would take a sippy cup...the bottle never worked. If you want to talk give me a call...I feel for you.
First of all if you make the decision to stop nursing you have to come to peace with that. I KNOW that the first time around it can be really emotionally difficult to stop before you planned to. I stopped at 4 months with Bella b/c of different reasons but no matter the reason if whatever it is that is going on is causing you stress than it can affect your milk supply. Anyway - I don't have any advice on how to get him to stop b/c I never made it to babies with teeth BUT I can tell you about formula feeding. It is easy. You just feed him the same times you've been nursing, the only trick is to figure out which brand you can afford and he's okay with, which bottle he likes and how much to give him. I would try cheaper formulas first (sams, target or walmart brands) and see if he can tolerate those (some tummies are more sensative than others) and then I'd start with a 6 oz bottle and see how much he drinks, if he still acts fussy than add 2 more oz and that should do it. And the other thing is that if he doesn't like whatever bottle you give first then try a different kind with a different size/type of nipple.
Don't feel bad if you have to quit. You've given him a huge health boost (and yourself too) with the 6 1/2 months you have nursed.
Oh, and another idea is you could always go to exclusively pumping if nursing isn't going well but you still want him to have breast milk.
I switched to a bottle at about the age Sarah started really teething, so I didn't have to deal with biting. I'm sorry I can't help, but like Jeri said, I used Sam's club's brand and Sarah loved it. I can also suggest a good bottle brand that mimmicks the softness of his normal feeding area. :-)
Post a Comment