I think I've come to the end of breastfeeding

[mommylamb]

Yesterday morning, when I was breastfeeding DS2 (10 months) as I usually do each morning when he wakes up, he bit me. Hard. He has bitten me before-- and he has both top and bottom teeth-- but never like this. I bled all over the place and it was extremely painful. I bled through a burp cloth. My nipple is still sore and when I tried to feed him from that side this morning, it hurt and I had to switch sides.

We've been in the process of weaning anyway. A couple weeks ago, I stopped pumping at work, so he is on all formula during the day, and was just getting 3 breast feedings a day (evening when I get home, right before bed and first thing in the morning), and I was planning on cutting out the evening feeding this week.

And now, when I'm feeding him from my other side, I am afraid he's going to bite me. I'm really nervous breastfeeding. It sucks. And I don't want to be lop sided, even if I pump my left side, I know my right side would end up bigger (it has always been my bigger producer anyway).

So, I think it's time to stop. I have such mixed emotions about it. I had planned to breastfeed him at least a little up until he turned 1, so this changes the plan.

But, I also prefer to keep my nipple attached to my breast.

So my question for formula feeders is how did you deal with the first thing in the morning feeding? Did you use the pre-mixed formula, or just the powdered stuff and keep a bottle of water by the side of your bed. And how much did you give your baby for their first thing in the morning meal?

I'm sad. And happy. But mostly sad because this isn't how I planned it to happen. And this is my last baby. And my poor breast still hurts a day later.

[AnnieW625]

:hug: That just sounds so painful. I would be done too. I never breastfed long enough to have biters so I have no btdt experience, but you are awesome for sticking with it, and don't let a little goal you weren't able to make dissapoint you. Again lots of :heartbeat: and :grouphug:

[daniele_ut]

So my question for formula feeders is how did you deal with the first thing in the morning feeding? Did you use the pre-mixed formula, or just the powdered stuff and keep a bottle of water by the side of your bed. And how much did you give your baby for their first thing in the morning meal?


I'm so sorry! I stopped nursing DS2 before I had planned (for different reasons, though) and it was very emotional for me, especially since he is definitely my last.

DS2 still isn't really sleeping all the way through the night so I keep one of those 3 compartment containers on my nightstand with a 6oz serving of powder formula and a bottle filled with 6oz of water. Right now he's waking around 4:30 and he eats and goes back to sleep. He usually doesn't quite finish the bottle so I could probably go down to 4oz, but he's eating a lot of food during the day now. He gets mostly whole milk during the day but the formula is easier to keep right by my bed than walking to the kitchen and getting the milk out of the fridge.

My problem now is figuring out how to break him of his bottle love. He doesn't take a paci and he hates all of the cups I've tried. And frankly, I will miss snuggling with him while he takes a bottle.

[schrocat]

I'm breastfeeding DS still at 2. It is possible to iron out the biting stage if you still want to.

[tmahanes]

We always just kept bottles ready in the fridge at that age he was doing ready to feed formula and liked it cold so we would just go get a bottle in the morning.

Sorry! That sounds extremely painful!

Sent from my DROID RAZR

[crl]

Ouch!

My dd was exclusively formula fed. I made bottles from powder the night before and stuck them in the refrigerator. She would take them cold so we never heated them. At ten months when she woke up to eat, that was it, she was awake for the day so there wasn't any reason to keep the bottle by the bed.

If you don't want to have to go to the refrigerator, you could prefill a bottle with water and pre measure some formula to mix in and keep both on your nightstand or wherever.

Catherine

[Fairy]

I'd be interested to know the strategies to get thru the biting stage. Not that I'm there by any stretch! But it's interesting to me. What do you do to get thru that?

For us, we formula-fed since Day 10. We got up, went to the kitchen, did the whole bottle preparation there, then brought it upstairs. I would not want the bottle stuff in my room, I just would not want that at all, it was worth the bleary-eyed schlep. YMMV.

Be sure to use the same formula all the time. Powdered is the most cost-effective, ready-made is big $$ that I think it totally silly and not worth it. DH got the first can at wal-mart, and I was seething, cuz I hate wal-mart. But once you start, you really should stay with the same one, and more importantly, don't do ready-made one feeding and powdered the next, it will cause some tummy problems that I learned aobut the hard way.

I hope if you want to continue that you're able to iron this out.

[Fairy]

I also carried clean bottles and the right amount of powder in baggies in the diaper bag at all times, then I used whatever water I could from wherever I was.

Do not nuke bottles to warm them. Others I know disagree and will do it, but I did not. Use warm water to start, or run it under a hot tap.

[flashy09]

Same thing happened to me. We worked through it at 6 months, but at 10/11 months she wouldn't even try to latch, just bite down hard instantly. I would unlatch her so many times she finally started to reject the breast and my supply just vanished into thin air. I never imagined BF would end that way and I was really sad, but like you I just feared for my nipples!

I use "nursery water", mostly because it can be kept at room temperature, and my DH gets her up and changes her while I run downstairs and make the bottle. She is actually getting less and less into them, which like the BF, I could never imagine her doing - she loved her milk! She gets 5-6 oz now as that's all she takes, but I did offer her 8 oz to start.

[mommylamb]

DS2 still isn't really sleeping all the way through the night so I keep one of those 3 compartment containers on my nightstand with a 6oz serving of powder formula and a bottle filled with 6oz of water.

If you have a moment, could you link the container that you use for the formula (or something similar)?


As for pre-made vs powdered, I've never actually used the pre-made stuff before, but was considering it if it was easier. But, if it causes tummy troubles, than I'd much rather just stick with powdered.

DS2 is very unpredictable in when he wakes. Sometimes he sleeps through the night, sometimes he's up for a period of time earlier in the night and goes back down, and sometimes he sleeps till 6:30 (love that). Last night he woke up at 12:30, I rocked him for a little while and then we let him CIO for about 15-20 minutes and he got himself back down. I hate the CIO stuff (we do go in every 5 minutes or so to make sure he has his passy and attempt some modified Ferber), mostly because I"m afraid of him waking up DS1.

[Fairy]

If you have a moment, could you link the container that you use for the formula (or something similar)?


As for pre-made vs powdered, I've never actually used the pre-made stuff before, but was considering it if it was easier. But, if it causes tummy troubles, than I'd much rather just stick with powdered.

DS2 is very unpredictable in when he wakes. Sometimes he sleeps through the night, sometimes he's up for a period of time earlier in the night and goes back down, and sometimes he sleeps till 6:30 (love that). Last night he woke up at 12:30, I rocked him for a little while and then we let him CIO for about 15-20 minutes and he got himself back down. I hate the CIO stuff (we do go in every 5 minutes or so to make sure he has his passy and attempt some modified Ferber), mostly because I"m afraid of him waking up DS1.

Sorry,. just to clarify, the pre-made doesn't cause tummy problems, it's the going back and forth between powdered and pre-made (and often from one brand to another within one or the other) that causes the tummy problems. If you do pre-made, always do premade. But it's so expensive. You're spending tons of money you don't have to if you just use powdered. but if that cost is worth it to you, then that's all that matters.

[mommylamb]

Sorry,. just to clarify, the pre-made doesn't cause tummy problems, it's the going back and forth between powdered and pre-made (and often from one brand to another within one or the other) that causes the tummy problems. If you do pre-made, always do premade. But it's so expensive. You're spending tons of money you don't have to if you just use powdered. but if that cost is worth it to you, then that's all that matters.

Yeah, I know you meant that:tongue5:. I wouldn't want to switch to pre-made all the time, since he currently gets the cheapo powdered stuff from Target all day at daycare and does just fine.

[BabyBearsMom]

:hug:

I give DD2 a 6oz bottle of formula in the morning. DH or I just go downstairs and make it and bring it up to her. It only takes a few minutes. I try to have it ready for her before she wakes up although lately she has been up at 5am every day so she has to wait a few minutes for food.

[Pear]

If you want to work through the biting stage you can. It was actually surprisingly easy for us. Kellymom and dr sears has tips and you can see what works for you. The biggest thing was to pull baby forward not away if they happen to bite. I would stop the nursing session for a little bit too. The process only took a few days and we were able to nurse until 3.

[mommylamb]

I've heard how you should pull the baby forward, but in the spur of the moment, I just want him off the breast when he does it. I react by instinct, and maybe my instinct isn't right, but it is what it is. Also, I wasn't planning to breastfeed after 12 months, so I'm not sure it's worth it. I am sad about it, but I think I've made up my mind. But thanks for the encouragement.

[Indianamom2]

Oh my! I totally understand the biting fear and the concern over BF'ing not going as planned. DS was my biter and I thought he bit really hard, but he never even came close to drawing blood. I'd be done too....especially at 10 mo.

I think you've done great to make it this far and don't beat yourself up over this change in plans.:cheerleader1:

[Melaine]

If you want to work through the biting stage you can. It was actually surprisingly easy for us. Kellymom and dr sears has tips and you can see what works for you. The biggest thing was to pull baby forward not away if they happen to bite. I would stop the nursing session for a little bit too. The process only took a few days and we were able to nurse until 3.

Can someone explain this? I am expecting this to happen any day and I am afraid of what to do!

[Multimama]

Mommylamb, you could try a nipple shield for the bitten breast so you can keep nursing on it. Even if you're weaning and going to formula it might be worth trying because stopping nursing on that breast cold turkey could lead to mastitis (unless you're still able to pump on that breast?). You want to ease out of nursing if possible, as I'm sure you know.

As far as dealing with biting, the most important thing for me to realize when I went through it was that babies don't bite when they are actually in the process of nursing. (Their teeth aren't in contact with the nipple then at all.) They bite after they stop nursing. So for me the key was to get my nipple out of babies mouth as soon as nursing was done, or even if necessary pre-emptively stop the nursing session (with a finger in the side of their mouth) to get my nipple out before it could get bitten.

But I never experienced anything like what you had happen so I don't know what I would do in your situation. Ouch. So sorry you're having to change your plans. It's so emotional.

[Multimama]

Mommylamb, you could try a nipple shield for the bitten breast so you can keep nursing on it. Even if you're weaning and going to formula it might be worth trying because stopping nursing on that breast cold turkey could lead to mastitis (unless you're still able to pump on that breast?). You want to ease out of nursing if possible, as I'm sure you know.

As far as dealing with biting, the most important thing for me to realize when I went through it was that babies don't bite when they are actually in the process of nursing. (Their teeth aren't in contact with the nipple then at all.) They bite after they stop nursing. So for me the key was to get my nipple out of baby's mouth as soon as nursing was done, or even if necessary preemptively stop the nursing session (with a finger in the side of their mouth) to get my nipple out before it could get bitten.

But I never experienced anything like what you had happen so I don't know what I would do in your situation. Ouch. So sorry you're having to change your plans. It's so emotional.

[mommylamb]

Fortunately, I was able to pump without it being too painful. I mean, it is sore, but certainly doable. I wouldn't want to just stop cold turkey, but fortunately, I've been cutting out feedings a lot over the last month or two. I'm a slow weaner.

[rin]

Here's what we did to work through the biting. I know all the experts say to not react, to be gentle, etc, but I did not find that to be effective, especially in the face of a baby clamped down on the breast.

When the baby bites, you say "no" in a firm (but not scary) voice, and then flick the baby's nose enough to startle, NOT enough to hurt. If the baby keeps on biting, you bring the baby in so that (s)he can't breath without unlatching.

DD1 went through this, and it sucked for sure, but I want to say that it was over after a week or so (and after the first time or two I learned the signs that she was about to bite, so I'd be sort of preemptive).

Another thing I noticed was that after being bitten I was so afraid it would happen again that I'd tense up and it would take longer for let-down, which of course enraged DD and made her more likely to bite. One thing that helped was to either pump/do manual nipple stimulation for a minute or so before latching her on so that she didn't have to wait.

DD2 doesn't have any teeth yet, so we're not there, but I'm hoping we're able to work through it as well as DD1 and I did!

[ha98ed14]

I've heard how you should pull the baby forward, but in the spur of the moment, I just want him off the breast when he does it. I react by instinct, and maybe my instinct isn't right, but it is what it is. Also, I wasn't planning to breastfeed after 12 months, so I'm not sure it's worth it. I am sad about it, but I think I've made up my mind. But thanks for the encouragement.

I just want to throw a little weight behind you in support of your choice. It's okay to look out for yourself. :hug: Your son is lucky to have you as his mommy!

[Philly Mom]

Awesome job making it to 10 months. I pre-measured the water and left on the kitchen counter. By10 months though, I waited until I put DD in the car to give her a bottle. Got us out of the house quicker. She could hold her own bottle by then.

[KLD313]

The pre-made stuff stains and I can't stand the smell of it. I put warm water in a thermos at night and pre-measure the formula and keep it by my bed. I would think at 10 mos 6 to 8 oz is enough.

[SkyrMommy]

:hug: DD did the exact same thing at 10 months incuding the bite so hard it led to bleeding, and then I tried to work through it and teach her not to bite, but that ended up with me flinching every time she went to nurse as I anticipated her biting. It was awful.

But 10 months was long for me, my supply was dwindling as well so we switched to formula, I did work through mt stash of frozen breast milk for quite a while though. And then I would set out the bottles and formula on the counter in the morning and just mix it then to bring it to her.

[sunnyside]

My DD went through a stage where she would bite occasionally. I'm still nursing now at 2. I believe that some of the issue may come from the difference in a human nipple and a bottle nipple in both flow and what actions extract the milk.

There are some strategies for dealing with it and it could likely be worked through if you feel you are not ready to wean. I am not sure if you are looking for advice about that though and don't want to overstep. Let us know if you do though, as I'm sure there are other mamas that have been there. Hugs.

ETA: Unlatching by putting your finger in the side of baby's mouth is the safest way (for your nipple) to unlatch a clamped down baby.

[crl]

If you have a moment, could you link the container that you use for the formula (or something similar)?




This is what I used. http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Powdered-Formula-Dispenser-Colors/dp/B000RFCXIK/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1355939789&sr=1-1&keywords=formula+container. I actually like the single container better because with the three part one if you turn the lid so the opening is over two compartments at the same time it dumps from both and your measurements are messed up. This happened to me twice in the blurriness of the middle of the night and it's no fun to have to dump the whole bottle and start over at 2am while the baby is screaming. Ymmv.

Catherine

[MSWR0319]

I feel your pain...literally. DS did the same thing to me 3 weeks ago. Only he'd been biting for a few days and the last time drew some serious blood. I tried to nurse again but he went on a strike. Hasn't nursed a day since and I'm completely ok with it. I was full of anxiety everytime I tried because I was afraid of the next chomp. I am EPing now because he has MSPI and is only 7 months. Not ideal but better than the chomping. Don't feel bad for not trying to nurse through this. I tried all of the tricks and they didn't work. In fact, I think shoving him Into my breast when he bit is what did us in.