Breastfeeding and Biting

Little B is 18 months old this weekend, and that officially makes her my longest breastfeeding baby. She’s not showing signs of stopping any time soon either – the first thing she wants in the morning is a breastfeed, and as soon as I walk through the door after the work she’ll be excitedly reaching for my boobs.

Most of the time it’s a nice start to the day, or an enjoyable way to begin the evening with a sit down and a cuddle. But unfortunately recently she’s developed a bit of a habit which isn’t quite so nice – using my boobs as a teething aid!

Her teeth didn’t start coming through until comparatively late and although she now does have all her top incisors and a few molars too, two of her bottom teeth have stubbornly refused to appear. That is, until last week where she suddenly ramped up the night feeds and started drooling and chewing her fingers a lot. All very obvious signs that some more teeth are on their way. I notice that every time she gets new teeth she adjusts the way she is feeding and it makes me slightly sore and uncomfortable for a while – this time however she’s taken it one step further and has been biting me every now and then. I know she must be feeling sore but OWWWWW I’d rather she bit me somewhere else! It’s a bit like going back to the beginning of breastfeeding again where everything is really sensitive and I cringe a bit every time she’s about to latch on.

Biting = not at all fun.

And, once she’s got over her initial rascally ‘mummy made a funny noise’ thing, Little B realises that it actually isn’t fun for her, as well as for me – because I cover up and her accessibility to the milk goes right away. Cue frantic screeching, pinching and flailing as she attempts to get the boobs back! Luckily at 18 months she has learnt the meaning of the word ‘no’, and she can understand quite a lot of what I say to her too – so reminding her that she needs to be kind and gentle will quite often solve the problem. I’ve also found that putting a bit of gentle pressure on her chin when she starts feeding can help to lessen the ‘clamping’ which causes soreness.

Sometimes I do sit there, especially when I’m tired and the feeding seems to be going on for hours, and I wonder whether it’s time to stop. I remember the times when I had my body to myself, when I could wear whatever clothes I liked and – in the hazy distant past – when I got a full nights unbroken sleep. But then, I also remember how unexpectedly emotional it was to stop feeding her bigger siblings. And I look down at her relaxed little face, and watch as her fingers curl possessively around my breast, and remember that actually this feeding thing doesn’t really last that long. Every feed she has is one step closer to her last, and when that day comes I think I really will miss it – especially since we don’t plan to have any more babies. Stopping feeding feels like such a big milestone. So actually, I don’t want to wish those days away, not yet.

I do think we will both be pleased when those teeth finally get the whole way through, though!