Breast feeding help. Heba??

[erin]

I posted here cause it gets more traffic but I need some help. I am thinking Shane is having a hard time with nursing now that he has teeth. Either that or he enjoys biting mommy. Anyway, I am of course not going to give up, I would just like to give my nipples a break. Every time he starts to doze off, he starts biting and his suck has gotten weird. I can explain more if I need to. I am wondering if any of it is his tongue and he is just finally starting to learn to thrust his tongue out but can't get it all the way out. He is really tongue tied. So I am wondering if it is time to see the ENT about it. We were not going to clip his tongue until we knew it was causing issues with eating or speech and I wonder if this is an eating thing.

I also wonder if it is the solids. Shane will NOT eat baby food anymore. He will only eat food off my plate or what we are eating. Last night he had chicken and stuffing with some carrots from the beef stew we had the night before.

Here is a pic of his tongue though.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4 ... =577163893

[carseatmom]

Its probably time to see the ENT about his tongue. I'm no breastfeeding expert by any means. But I'm going to guess that the tongue tie has something to do with a lazy latch when he gets sleepy. And OUCH! I bet that hurts!

[sarah]

Erin, I would look into the tongue. I do remember my girls did that and they didn't have tongue thrust issues. They fall asleep and I guess it's just their natural instinct to bite down I got through it with all of them and we went on to have a long term breastfeeding relationship. Remember, Ilana weaned at 5 1/4.

[Heba]

Ouch! Sorry you're having a hard time at the moment .

To be honest, I'd be surprised if it was the tongue-tie, even though it is very evident, particularly if you haven't any attachment or other breastfeeding problems yet - in general, breastfeeding with tongue-tie tends to get easier with time as the baby grows, rather than more difficult. However, with your permission (please let me know), I can ask around and see if I can find any information on instances where tongue-tie has caused attachment problems later. The main reason however that you might want to consider seeing an ENT for an assessment sooner rather than later is that division becomes more invasive the older the child (or adult) is. In newborns, it's a very simple procedure which doesn't even always draw blood; in an older person, general anasthetic is usually necessary.

Shane's behaviour, however, IS common in teething babies - both the change in suck and the biting at the end of a feed. Some babies just don't know what to do with their new teeth in place, and it can take them a while to get used to feeding with their new mouth shape. In the meantime, mum may get grazed, feel extra pressure during feeds, or even worse (as you have experienced) get bitten. It usually gets better within a few days! I hope Shane is already working out what to do with these things in the way and that feeding is already getting easier, but if not here are a few suggestions which mums have found helpful:

- Experiment with different nursing positions (making sure Shane is well supported so there's no extra pressure on or away from the breast in any direction).

- If you are able to notice his feeding slowing down and anticipate the end of the feed, you may be able to take him off the breast (remove suction gently with your little finger) before he has a chance to bite. (A baby who is actively feeding cannot bite as the tongue is in the way.)

- Some mums find that a firm reaction to biting is enough to deter baby from doing it again (exercise caution, however, as a very strong reaction can in fact
sometimes cause a temporary nursing strike!) A consistent and immediate removal from the breast as soon as biting has occured, perhaps with immediately
supplying a teething toy to teach him what it's appropriate to chew on, should eventually get the message through.

- Occasionally babies can get frustrated at the end of a feed if it's hard for them to get the milk they want. It might be worth double-checking optimal positioning and attachment; as baby grows, their positioning changes. Mums also need to guard against introducing too much supplementary food too early, stretching out the times between feeds, or offering large quantities of drinks as all of these can impact supply - however, if Shane is self-feeding, then I doubt that he's eating so much all of a sudden for supply to be impacted.

- Biting is occasionally a way to get mum's attention. Some mums find that paying extra attention to baby while feeding (eye contact, touching, and talking)
reduces the likelihood of biting.

Do any of these sound as if they may help? Whatever the case, I hope this biting phase is over very soon.

Hxxx

[holliejjj]

Sarah you breastded Ilana til she was 5?? You go girl. Sometimes I like mentioning to people that I breastfed Juliane til she was 3 just to see their face

[erin]

Thanks Heba, I really appreciate it, and yes please share his picture. I was just wonder because in the last 3 days is when he biting has gotten worse and this is when he FINALLY got his tongue out that far. He has never been able to thrust his tongue like that. It has never gone past the gums.

He has had teeth for 2 months, but he did get sick last week and slowed down on his nursing, so it might be very possible that he just isn't getting as much as he wants and is getting frustrated. I might pump a bit between feedings and see if I can get some more back in.

As for drinks, he drinks nothing but breast milk from me unless we are on a long car ride. I think he has had maybe 5 bottles in the last 3 months, so I doubt it is that. And he is totally self feeding, he wont even let me try to give him food and most of it ends up on the ground or in the dogs mouth (he likes to share haha), so it might really be the supply. I know I am still getting full and he always have milk leaking from his mouth, but it might just not be as much as he wants. Or he is just bored, who knows. I will try some different positions and try to take him off when he slows down and then he can ask for more if he wants it (he is finally signing milk).

[sarah]

Sarah you breastded Ilana til she was 5?? You go girl. Sometimes I like mentioning to people that I breastfed Juliane til she was 3 just to see their face

Yep, I weaned her right before she went to Kindy. I told her kindergartener's just don't have "nigh nigh's". It is fun to see people's faces, but it's not usually a pleasant reaction when they find that she was over 5 when she weaned. I usually just tell people I breastfed for over 11yrs and gauge their reaction by that and proceed from there.

Erin, it may have something to do with him getting over being sick too. His ears may be bugging him. I do feel strongly it's developmental though. Heba had awesome suggestions!

[erin]

So a little funny, but not so funny. Shane and I were laying in bed Saturday afternoon after a LONG day at the school doing the pancake breakfast. We both were starting to doze off but he was laying on the outside of the bed so I knew I couldn't fall asleep until he was done nursing on that side so I could move him to the middle of the bed (no rail on my bed). So we are laying there, he is starting to fall asleep and he bit me. Man that one hurt and I yelled, he jumped and fell off the bed. I feel HORRIBLE he fell, I REALLY feel bad. Luckily I always have pillows (ok clothes, I have been REALLY lazy this week) next to the bed so he didn't get hurt. However, he hasn't bit me since. Maybe the poor kid is thinking if I bite mommy she is going to throw me out of bed.

[sarah]

No, Erin, that is a little funny! I should have done that with my kids! ROFLOL! Hopefully that will save you a ton of biting! If it makes you feel better, dh swears I used to push Laura out of bed (I purposely kept blankets and pillows on my side of the bed in case she did fall out of bed, so she didn't land on anything hard and she's really smart, no harm done!). He claims I'd be sleeping and tell her to move over and I'd push her out. After doing it a few times I pushed the bed up against the wall just in case, but you're not alone!

[Heba]

Oh, phew he didn't hurt himself, sounds a lot better than the times my kids fell off the bed (talk about a guily mum ).
Glad he isn't biting for now! Hope that's the end of it!

It is most likely to be a normal (if painful) phase which he should grow out of - hopefully sooner rather than later, particularly if you take preventative action. You mentioned that your supply seemed pretty good (milk around his mouth is a good sign), so this is unlikely to be a contributing factor, but as I mentioned before, low supply can sometimes make baby bite towards the end of a feed. Undivided tt which doesn't seem to cause any problems at first can still impact supply as it can make it more difficult for babe to effectively milk the breast, and it has been suggested to me that it is a possibility that this is only now showing up. If you think this might be the case, then you may want to consider looking into division if it is still possible - but if you do, please go as soon as you can as it is really much more invasive the later you do it.

Good luck!

[erin]

Thanks ladies. Well he is miserable again, 3 new teeth coming again and he bit me multiple times last night. We have an appointment on the 16th with the Ped so I will ask for the referral to the ENT. Just to see what they say. I really liked Jacob's ENT so I will see if we can go back to him.

[cathie]

DS2 bit me a few times, it was awful! So I sympathize! One thought, can you change your "schedule" so that he is not nursing while drowsy? Seems like he would be old enough now and that might solve the problem. OH and FWIW my ped said it is very typical for #3 not to want anything to do with baby food.

[erin]

DS2 bit me a few times, it was awful! So I sympathize! One thought, can you change your "schedule" so that he is not nursing while drowsy? Seems like he would be old enough now and that might solve the problem. OH and FWIW my ped said it is very typical for #3 not to want anything to do with baby food.

No, unfortuantly the biting is happening at night most of time, in the middle of the night. That isn't fun, being half asleep myself. Although he bit me today and was wide awake.

Although I THINK I might have found the cause of this starting, just not sure how to fix it. I realized after a duh moment that his sippy cup that he has been using, you have to bite to get the juice out. GRRR. Sure it isn't a problem for babies who are using bottles, but what about moms. My nipples HURT. He might also just feel the stress and tension in the house, who knows. But either way, the little bugger is hurting mommy.

[Heba]

Oh dear, nothing working? I wish I had some more suggestions. *Hugs.*

[erin]

Oh dear, nothing working? I wish I had some more suggestions. *Hugs.*

Its ok, thanks for your help. I took away his sippy cup and I am not just letting him use a regular cup. We are practicing in the bath tub. We will see how it works. I think this is just pay back for all the time I nursed the other two and they didn't have teeth.

[sarah]

That's how we taught the girls to drink out of a cup too!!