17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Friday, January 06, 2006

Ever Been REALLY Bitten?

Okay, someone already brought up breasts, and I've wanted to get some feedback on a personal motherhood issue I'm currently dealing with. This involves my breasts (well, the left one), so stop reading now if you don't want too much information!

I assume some of you have or are now breastfeeding. Well, my little darling bit me twice in the same spot so I now have a slit in the side of my nipple that is about 1/4 inch long. My question is -- do you continue to breastfeed on that injured breast? I clench my teeth in pain, but it still seems easier than weaning him while we are in a transitional living situation and he's so clingy. He's 11 months old.

Also, any good weaning tips for a baby who hates bottles or pacifiers?

By the way, all you A-cuppers, you're not missing out on a thing by being less ample there, in my opinion!

posted by Legendary Pink Dot @ 1/06/2006 10:11:00 PM   add to kirtsy


11 Comments:

  • Oh my gosh, LeeAnn, I am cringing right now - OUCH. Something similar happened to my girlfriend and because she continued to nurse on the injured breast it wasn't able to heal properly. So she just offered one for a day or two and manually pumped/massaged out milk on the injured one just to get the excess out. By doing this it 1) allowed her to heal, 2) still got the milk out and her production didn't suffer much and 3) baby was still able to nurse.

    Oh....OUCH....
    posted by Blogger chloe at 1/06/2006 10:34:00 PM  



  • LeeAnn, oh oh oh I'm so sorry, OUCH. I think Chloe's idea is a good one though, to let that nipple heal but still keep milk going. You might also look at the la leche league website - they have online chatrooms and FAQs where you might find some other good advice.

    In terms of weaning ideas, I fully weaned Max at about 13 months, and I never did bottles - I went straight to sippy cups for him. Have you tried those with your little guy yet? Don't know if you were including those in the bottle category. Anyway, I slowly got to the point where Max was just nursing at wake-up and bedtime (solid food and sippy cups of water the rest of the time) and then when it was time to make the break, had my hubby do wake-up and bedtime. Max didn't even seem to notice, honestly - it was harder on me than it was on him!
    posted by Blogger marian at 1/07/2006 06:18:00 AM  



  • LeeAnn, I have always wondered what is up with babies who WILL NOT take a bottle or pacifier. My kids have never had this problem I guess because I always offered all three by at least 3 weeks. I wanted them to be able to switch back and forth and not be dependent on me, and it worked.

    However, if I was in your predicament and wanted to wean, I would say...the kid will get hungry eventually, and will take the bottle...so just don't offer him anything else. He might cry a lot...but he'll figure it out. I am sure most mothers think that is too cruel...let me know if you try my technique and if it works! Then I will write a book: The Cruel Method.

    Will he eat solid food?
    posted by Blogger Kage at 1/07/2006 06:19:00 AM  



  • I second the ouch. I've never been bitten so I don't know what to say about that. If he doesn't like bottles, skip the bottle all together and go straight to a sippy cup or what might be even better is a cup with a straw. The First Years makes some great semi-disposable ones with lids.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 1/07/2006 06:37:00 AM  



  • Nipple shields baby!! Throw some Lansinoh cream on to heal, but find yourself a good nipple shield. I had to use it with my second because he was an agressive nurser who ate me up! It's very soothing on the sore area, and it helped him adjust to taking a bottle, since the feeling is different from au naturel(sp?). Pay close attention to your cut though, since a friend of mine had one that got infected. Nasty stuff, and she had to stop nursing all together.
    My first never took a bottle, never, even when starving. He loved solid food though, and by a year was totally ready to stop nursing because I didn't have what he wanted anyways. My second likes to nurse and still wants to at least twice a day, for comfort. I just feed him regular meals and give in at night. But don't force him to quit nursing before you've found something else he can cling to. Mine walks around holding a sippy cup, even when not thirsty, so he knows where it is when he needs it.
    posted by Blogger Mo at 1/07/2006 10:25:00 AM  



  • Everyone's ideas were awesome so I have nothing to add there but this:

    Did he draw blood? My aunt, who's a nurse told me that if my baby EVER drew blood that I needed to go get it checked out --staph infection is a possibility and she said it was more common than people thought....

    Good luck with the weaning!
    posted by Blogger Cheryl at 1/07/2006 11:33:00 AM  



  • I agree with Mo Mommy about the nipple shields - I used them with my first briefly and they work great. Anything to preserve your poor breast and hopefully keep breastfeeding, do it! Good luck, Leeann.
    posted by Blogger chloe at 1/07/2006 02:05:00 PM  



  • e-dawg, don't let it scare you off! Sure, there's pain associated with it, but at least in my experience, the payoff is totally worth it. I loved breastfeeding, especially once I got through those first couple of weeks (ouch! and yes, it will hurt).
    posted by Blogger marian at 1/09/2006 09:35:00 AM  



  • my son bit me VERY hard a few months back. I don't remember seeing an actual wound, but the tissue was very traumatized and hurt all the time. I didn't nurse him on that side for about five days. It didn't hurt too much to use a pump, though, so I just pumped and bottle fed him from that side when I needed too.
    posted by Blogger mindy at 1/09/2006 10:48:00 AM  



  • I remember that, Mardell. Little Kace had very sharp teeth that came in early.

    "After about two days he did not even care whether he nursed or not."

    Yes, but that was a pretty brutal two days. Kace was none too happy for a few days as he was weaned cold turkey. He let everyone know how he felt about it, and he had a set of lungs on him. A fun time until he settled in to his new life as a weaned child.
    posted by Blogger Kaimi at 1/09/2006 04:13:00 PM  



  • Just a short update on my breastfeeding wound (and thanks for all the input!) I've daytime-weaned Joseph so he's only nursed on the sore booby about twice every 24 hours. The slit is closing up and there's no infection.

    NOTE TO NEW MOMS: DON'T LET THIS SCARE YOU AWAY FROM BREASTFEEDING! It has been totally worth it and so much easier than preparing bottles. My bit of advice, though -- don't be afraid of pacifiers/bottles in the early weeks. I vehemently shunned them according to La Leche League recommendations, but ended up never able to use a bottle or get him to sleep without my boob in his mouth, which is unfortunately non-detachable.
    posted by Blogger Legendary Pink Dot at 1/09/2006 05:12:00 PM  



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