Yes, indeed... I am getting scared... Just this morning while playing with Ben that I started to notice a tiny bit of a white spot on his lower gum.
Upon closer inspection, I realised he's teething. That white spot is his tooth... yes, it has yet to pop out from his gum but, I am getting scared already...
Why?
Reason is... I am still breastfeeding Ben.
Although Ben has started his solids since he was 6 mths old (on 2 main meals a day and recently started to introduced 3rd meal), the rest of his feedings are still direct from me.
Yes, Ben is going to be 10 month old on 4th Jan 2010 and I am starting to dread the scary thoughts of my nipples being chomped off by his growing teeth....
Gulp.... and it doesn't help when friends on Facebook telling me to watch out when Ben starts to bite hubby or me. A friend has suggested I switch to feeding him via bottle in case he starts biting but, bottles are out of the question... fresh from breast is the best! Although we did at one time relied on bottle (while I was serving my 1 mth notice after I tendered my resignation), but ever since I became a SAHM when Ben was 3mths old, we no longer used the bottle (well maybe like less than 5 times after that when hubby and I went out for movie dates for a 2-3 hours and we asked MIL to take care of Ben)
But, nah... bottle is not the solution. I have trained Ben to use his sippy cup at 6mths old when we started him on solids so I do not want to go for bottle or even expressed my breastmilk out. Yes, I am experienced in expressing manually by hands (I am that lazy to even use the manual pump or my Medela battery operated pump :P) but the thoughts on storing the milk yada yada yada ... lazy lazy lazy...
Sigh... as much as I dread the thoughts of Ben chomping on (and God help me not OFF) my nipples, of course I look forward to this milestones! Ben is growing up! He is teething! Soon he can eat more things (and yeap, and fight for a portion of my food too!!). Anyway, I'm going to find out as much as I can on tips and tricks of nipple biting (just in case).
Wish me luck! :)
18 comments:
Haha... My boy is a few weeks older than Ben, and has 8 teeth. He bit and pulled violently away once, resulting in an open wound. It was painful to feed for a week then.
Every time I sense that he is going to bite or he really bites, i'll poke his mouth and say "NO BITING!" firmly. He tended to bite when he was teething and his gums were itchy.
He has gotten the idea now and has not bit for a long time. *fingers crossed*
Good luck and have a fabulous year ahead! :)
Jenny, it is not necessarily so lah...
Since Ben start nursing from birth, he will do the same even with teeth. I never had experience of being bitten with both Izabel or Micha. And Micha has a fullset of teeth now : )
Mummy to Baby V,
Thanks a lot for adding on to my fears... :( bwwwwaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
Wei Yun,
I hope so lah... really don't want to end up nipple-less :P gulp...
hi fulltime mummy,
I am guilty of not breastfeeding Tri but I have learned from fellow moms that as long as you don't teach your baby to bite someone (even just for fun), your baby won't bite you too. (Sorry I don't know if this makes sense but this is what I was told, even my mom said this once). :) hope that'll help ya! best of luck
Hi thirdy_smom!
Don't need to be guilty. You are providing the best you can for your child, that's what matters!
Thanks for the advice! :D
Yea, usually when kids are cranky in the nursery they blame it on teething...and I think your last paragraph needs...censoring or something! =-P
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Regards
Mark
http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/
Hi Mark!
Wahh.. finally got time to read my post now ar.. :P Actually I don't noticed Ben being cranky at all... that's why don't really noticed it until recently!
But then, when kids are cranky, the blame is always on either teething, colic, fever, rash... what else??
Eh? Which part needs censoring ar?
Merry Christmas to you & happy holidays!
Yea, busy busy busy.
Haha, must be Ben is always happy around you. At nurseries though, kids usually have days when they're obviously cranky.
The part on chomping off nipples loh. >.<
Regards
Mark
http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/
Mark,
So do you guys (and the kids) get chomped/bitten by kids at the nurseries who are teething? Then how do you guys handle it?
Why need to censor off the chomping nipples part? Sounds alright to me :P
Explosive diapers is bad enough, now you want images of amputated nipples? =-P
Yes, there's a lot of biting...kids bite other kids, adults, toys, furniture, everything. =-P
Normally a bigger problem around the age of 2, but having said that, it's totally unpredictable. I was nearby when a boy who's never bitten anyone before just randomly decided to chomp on another kid as though she were made of chocolate.
Biting is dealt with pretty severely, as other kids will pick up on the behaviour pretty quickly, i.e. they'll all think hm, kid A is a jerk, kid B bit him as a result. I'll do it too next time!
There's various medications which can soothe teething kids. Unfortunately, very often 'thoughtful' parents won't bother providing them, even when we already know they have the medication at home (for example, another parent/grandparent just brought it in the day before, or they outright tell you 'Haha, we have it at home, but didn't bring it. Enjoy!')
I have a bad habit of not reprimanding kids that bite me personally though. =-P I kinda feel bad getting them in trouble, just because teething is making them cranky.
Regards
Mark
http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/
Pictures of poop and piss is 'cute' ok? Don't worry, I won't post up any pictures of nipples be it amputated, chomped off or etc. I value my privacy too!
Oh wow! Teething (and bad behaviour) is that contagious huh! Must really be firm and stern when reprimanding children when we catch them doing naughty things!
Jenny, Jude bite me on few occasion. Ouch! Previously when he didn't have teeth also he did. I punished him. then no more. When he first have 2 teeth, he bite me again, again I punished him, he stopped doing it again. Lately when his upper molar comes out, HE DID IT AGAIN!!!!! And again I punished him!!
I tell you, when I say punish, I will beat him kao lat kao lat!!! And dump him aside and Lecture him kao kao!!!!!!!!
I might be harsh a little.. BuT PAIN LE!!!!!!!!!
but I heard you can tell them nicely.. they will actually understand.... babies are very smart.... Good luck to u Jenny!!
Lynette,
Wah! So fierce ar?! So far, the only time Ben bit me (less than 5 times since birth) was when he gets too excited or agitated (like I'm slow to get ready to nurse him).
I will say "Ouch! Mummy pain" then he will stop and look at me. Then I will repeat again what I said and he will continue nursing without biting anymore. Yeah, babies are smart. :)
Thanks for your feedback & wish! Appreciate it!
I'm still nursing a 15mth old - complete with chompers. It's not as bad as I thought it would be with teeth. She doesn't bite except sometimes when she's fallen asleep and clamps down so the nipple won't fall out her mouth. Usually I can tell it's comingand will stick a finger between her jaws and slide the nipple out - don't EVER just pull the nipple out or you'll be cut.
So Don't be too scared - you'll be fine!
here from SITS. Great holiday photos by the way!
Hi When did I become my Mom!
Wow! 15 mths old! I hope I can nurse as long as that (if can of course longer is better!)
Thanks for the tips and for stopping by! :)
lol. You'll be fine. :) You're doing such an amazing thing by breastfeeding! :) More than you'll ever know. My son is autistic, and I believe formula is the first step towards autism.
Hi Crystal!
Thanks for the support! I'm sorry I don't know anything about autism (Hmm... gonna have to google it up one day to know more)
Thanks again for dropping by!
Haha it is just like my post! Arrow and all!
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