Teething and biting! How do I heal???

Julie - posted on 11/18/2008

Thanks Medora for your advice. The more I have read the more I kinda think he's sliding down after the initial latch, but I am not sure. He seems to have a lot of tissue in his mouth as I have very large areola's and he's got almost all of it!

He is only hurting me on one side, I thought maybe it was from low/slower supply on that side but since I have been trying to pump to heal the nipple up I have realized that there is NO way it's LOW supply! I also tried to use a nipple shield, thinking that maybe would buffer some of the friction/pain but he didn't get he milk the same way and bite me even harder!

Right now the only time I am latching him onto that side is during the night when he is pretty sleepy still which seems to help OR I use the football hold and that takes some of the pressure off! But that is a PITA! And impossible to Nurse him on the go.



Also, when I try to put my finger in the corner of his mouth to unlatch him he sees it coming and pulls away, but doesn't let go first so OUCHY!!! Do you have any thoughts onthat? Other than I guess I can just hold his head there?



I have breastfed my 3 other kiddos and never had any of these problems/issues! :)

I is amazing what there still is to learn after you THINK you got it under control.



THANKS AGAIN!!

Medora - posted on 11/16/2008

Hi, you poor thing! I'll try to offer some help. Is he hurting you only on the one side? Or every time he tries to nurse? I would try pumping and using a bottle for several feedings, or every other feeding for a few days. See if you can figure out what's happening. It could be that his little tongue is not covering his bottom teeth well enough. You can help him learn by gently correcting him when it hurts ~ when he's nursing, if it starts to hurt, slide your finger into the corner of his mouth to break his seal and pull him back off of you. Try to latch him on again and shove him on there, haha, getting a lot of breast tissue in his mouth (pain could be from doing the "spaghetti noodle", I like to call it...). Keep breaking his seal and latching him back on until he gets it right, or until he gets so frustrated that you need a bottle for that feeding. It's hard, but he'll be ok and he needs to learn how to do it without hurting you. or he might lose the chance to nurse all together! Good luck!!