I am a bit scared.
My arthritic finger and thumb joints are complaining about all the hand expressing and making me more grumpy.
He is teething, he is in great discomfort and is biting everything. He has taken to biting at the breast. I say no, sit him at my feet and put my breast away. If he still shows interest then I will offer it to him again in a short while. I have done this with all my children, no shouting, smacking or biting (like I had been advised to do by other BF mums (scary)) and eventually they get the message that if they bite me they don't get any more.
He bit me several times during a feed on thursday afternoon, he was tired so I persevered so he would be soothed and drop off to sleep. It got beyond a joke so he was sat down and I put my breast away. That was the last time he went to the breast. He is turning his head and refusing. I'm not sure if it's because his mouth is so sore or because I upset him.
Last night he slept for barely three hours, he screamed, bit my shoulder, didn't want to cuddle up tight like he normally would and wouldn't nurse. We gave him paracetamol and teething powders to try and calm him, nothing worked, he cried and cried. I brought him downstairs and expressed into a cup. He had a whole beaker of EBM and then slept for a short while.
He had a beaker of EBM with his porridge this morning, he had some in a beaker after lunch. There is lots in the fridge as I am sore and very full, he is wanting to be held and is crying alot my production and let-down seem to have gone a little mad.
What if he doesn't go back to the breast?
Panic!
There is no way he is having anything other than milk from his Mummy but I'm not sure my fingers or sanity can cope with hand expressing every few hours. I have a pump somewhere but have never been very successful with it. I had it so I could leave the girls when they were smaller for the odd evening. They rarely got left and wouldn't have milk from anything but me. It wasn't until my training when I learned how to coach another woman how to hand express that I really got to grips with it and made a success of doing it myself.
When all the children are snuggled in their beds tonight I'm going to strip us both off and wrap us up in bed and see if the good old skin-to-skin can encourage him to suckle again.
Any hints, tips or personal insights much appreciated.
Oh no! I am SO sorry to hear this, I think this was posted yesterday so I hope you've managed some progress.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I haven't really had anything like this before. Bronte has a lot of teeth, and she doesn't bite me all that often, however when she does, a 'no' usually makes her realise what she's done.
If you remember I was stuck in Norway back in April, and it took a couple of attempts to get her latched back on after ten days of bottle feeding (mainly expressed breast milk, but through sheer necessity, some formula too...). But she took back to it, no bother.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you.
Hugs xxx
Just wondered how things were going with nursing now? Is he back on the breast? Are his teeth less bothersome? Sorry no personal experience as despite me letting out the occasional shriek when Heather bites, which has fortunately only been once or twice, I have never had a refusal to feed from any of them.
ReplyDeleteHope it is all resolved now.
xx