Baby biting, pinching and scratching while nursing

PocoHR

So I'm struggling with nursing. My little dude has started biting my nipples hard (he now has teeth), pinching my arms and scratching my chest while nursing, I'm bruised and bleeding very often. Sometimes he does this if I nurse him after he has been crying, its like an extension of feeling grumpy, sometimes he does it to get a little rise out of me I think, and sometimes he just does it as a form of play. But, its starting to really take a toll on me. After lots of crying, and trying to soothe him, having him physically hurt me like that is really kind of terrible. I know he's not doing it on purpose or intentionally trying to hurt me, but it SUCKS. I want to shout "I AM A PERSON TOO". He's just about 9 months, so I'm thinking of beginning weaning to curb these behaviors. I don't think I can take much more it. I've read up and tried to calmly tell him no and stop nursing when he does it, but the lesson doesn't really seem to stick....

AmoLovesAud

I fixed our biting problem when DD got her first tooth by pulling her off, saying no bite firmly, and putting her down for a minute or 2.  Usually she was done nursing/not very hungry in the first place and just playing.  It took 3 or 4 days before it stuck.

For the scratching, do you have any teething necklaces?  The chewy kind you wear.  DD likes to flail and grab whatever idly while nursing, so I wear one of those and encourage her to play with it, or give her a stuffed kitty she loves.  A special stuffy just for nursing might help as well.

The kicking... well, hopefully someone else has ideas bc those 9 month old legs are powerful when they get going!  Yikes!

AiramJ

That sounds just like my son, he is nine months tmrw. Every time he does it, which is pretty much every other nursing session, I tell him 'no' very firmly and give him an angry face. Sometimes he finds it funny and keeps biting. I have one of those nursing necklaces, it works for distracting from scratching, but he keeps himself busy pulling on it, which is just as irritating! The other option is, which I do, to hold his arms/legs down so he can't scratch and kick. To go with that I tell him 'no' again. I think he will get it eventually. Don't give up on the feeding just yet ;-)

elbou

Pinch him back. Seriously. It sounds like terrible advice, but you don't need to pinch hard...more like a firm squeeze (think the way grandmas and older aunts pinch cheeks while gushing about how big/cute baby is). When he bites you, gently pinch his cheek and tell him no biting. LO will most likely be startled by this turn of events and let go. If so, tell him he's a good baby and let him nurse some more. If he bites again, end the nursing session and put him down. Let him fuss/cry for a minute or two before offering the breast again if he's still hungry.

VexedMommy

This may be silly, but have you tried nursing him in a football hold?  The kicking will then be onto nothing at all and perhaps the novelty (while it's new) will break old habits when combined with some of the techniques above. 

emilyalso

I yelled when LO bit me, and he went on a nursing strike because I had scared him. It was awful! Now, I just grin and bear it. 

All of the scratching does help me remember to keep his nails short, but I definitely take a beating during feedings. This morning, he aggressively pinched my other nipple and sprayed me in the face with milk. 

Glory...

PocoHR

The football hold has just never worked for us. I did try it today, and he tickled my armpit, which was really funny, but extremely impractical. I don't know if I could pinch him back, I'm afraid of trying that sort of thing. Not that I think there is anything wrong with it, but I feel sort of exasperated and frustrated when he is beating up on me, and I don't think its a good idea to allow myself to even gently do anything like that when I'm already having angry type feelings. I think it might make my feelings worse, not better.

I'm still nursing, he nurses a lot, but I'm going to offer less frequently now, and wait until he is really ready to eat. When he is truly hungry, he cuts out the nonsense and gets down to business. We want to do a frozen embryo transfer in October/November, when he is around a year old, so he will need to wean by then anyway. So I am going to gradually start cutting down on nursing. I will let take as long as it takes and not push anything. He is a terrific eater, so I think it should be fine. The only I thing I want to avoid is using formula. I think I am going to pump and have him take a bottle for some day time feedings, and see how that goes. When he is around a year, he can have cows milk, so I plan to nurse until then.