I'm in a bind, for two reasons:
1. Owen's begun to bite while nursing. At first it didn't hurt much, but he's progressively biting harder, and once he made me cry. (Poor Owen had no clue what was going on; he still hasn't made the connection that my breast is a part of me and feels pain.) We haven't given him negative stimuli, so when he hears me say no with a frowny face (I'm trying to teach him facial expressions), he thinks it's funny. He grins up at me, like, 'what a weird voice you're making right now, mama!' and doesn't get it. So I don't know what to do. I refuse to 'pop' him, regardless of how many mothers/grandmothers/aunts/etc. suggest it to me, and I can't just not feed him. Any advice???
2. I'm having challenges choosing what rate to give solid foods to Owen. The pediatrician gave us a recommendation sheet, but the guidelines seem pretty steep for right now. Then it occurred to me that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing for 1 year, not 2 (even though the WHO and UNICEF both recommend 2 years). So I think the guidelines are focused on weaning a child after a year, which is not my intent. Any nursing mothers have advice about how to incorporate solids without replacing a substantial portion of breast milk?
PLEASE, HELP!!
I did extended nursing with both of my kids. I nursed Bed for 22 months and Katie for 16 months. It seems like Ben was more of my biter. I would unlatch him and stop for a while to give him the message that biting isn't ok and we'll stop. It only took a few tries before he got it. Occassionally, he would as he drifted off.
ReplyDeleteBen really took longer to lose the gag reflex, so he wasn't on solids until a little bit later. Katie was ready much younger. Just gauge Owen on how ready he is. They all catch up eventually and they're only babies once.
Hope this helps!
Vanessa
Roger and I only made it to 6 Mos, breastfeeding was difficult for both of us. The deciding factor was his teeth, started teething at 3 Mos. He liked solid food and wanted to drink whatever I had, so he partly teethed on and partly ate hard pears and could drink from a regular cup at 4 Mos. Because we ended up supplementing with formula he was getting most of his nutrition from the formula thru the first year but he ate anything he wanted from my plate. I pretty much threw out the food lists and we did fine. New research is suggesting more kids could be developing food issues because they aren't introduced early or something. The only things I restricted are honey, rare meat and soft cheeses like Brie and undercooked eggs--cause they can be carriers for bacterium. Also peanuts--I waited to give a bit of peanut butter to Roger until a day when Reed was home with the car on a weekday, so that if Rog had a reaction we could get to a doctor fast. I think each child has their own developmental curve and respecting their cues is critical to them.
ReplyDeleteThis is Annj btw
i don't have any advice, but wow, i never really thought about them biting before. ouch!
ReplyDelete