With Charlotte's earlier than "normal" arrival of teeth, people often ask what effect that has on nursing. Fortunately, I wondered the same thing long before she began drooling and did a little research.
Thankfully, sucking shouldn't bring a baby's teeth into contact with tender skin; unfortunately, this does NOT mean a baby won't bring his new teeth together, biting mommy during a meal! Basically, my favorite breastfeeding site attributes biting to a disinterest in nursing (distracted or no longer hungry), and recommends removing the baby from your breast, firmly say, "No biting," and put the baby down. The child should dislike the quick removal from your snuggle time and learns biting and nursing do not go together.
All of this, of course, assumes you haven't already shrieked in pain and scared your child into a nursing strike. (Take it from me, nursing strikes are no fun.)
Armed with this new information, I felt prepared for Charlotte's new teeth. For several weeks, we had no problems. Then, one day it happened. As I encouraged her to just eat a little longer than 5 minutes (yes, somehow my child still gains weight off of 5-minute nursing sessions), she briefly re-latched before putting her sharp little teeth into my skin. OUCH! Thankfully, she quickly let go and I jumped into action, "Charlotte, no biting!" and placed her on the floor. Yes our uncovered, hardwood floor.
Was my child saddened by my actions? Did she hate that I pulled her away from my warmth and comfort? NO! She just looked up from the floor, smiled a big smile, and giggled at me as though we were playing a game.
Sigh. This could take a little more work than I anticipated. But I still think she's pretty cute.
1 comment:
Awesome! See how cool of a post that was??? Glad you went for it, as I just laughed out loud (again!) over the image of Miss Charlotte gigling at you after the "scolding." LOL! :-)
Post a Comment