does biting indicate self weaning?

[BrandyBestPal]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum....

But as the title asks...

DD has been biting almost every time she nurses... is this an indication that it's time to end things? I planned on gradually ending nursing this weekend... so, this doesn't really impact my plans too much, but maybe I won't be as 'gradual' about the process as I planned.

Thoughts?

 

[NoodleSnack]

I don't think so, some babies bite from a young age. I would still wean gradually so your body has time to adjust. When my son bites, I stop for a bit, if he continues to bite, I know he doesn't want to feed so I let him play a while longer before trying again.

 

[aliss]

At her age I think it's a sign but not generally of full weaning, but rather a difference between feeding and playing with the breast. I got some terrible bites last month and began the weaning process (he still BF but only essential BF)

 

[minties]

Thomas did a lot of biting at that age, but weaned at 17.5 months. And only because I made him.

Sophie never bit, she just suddenly refused the breast at 11 months.

 

[BrandyBestPal]

At her age I think it's a sign but not generally of full weaning, but rather a difference between feeding and playing with the breast. I got some terrible bites last month and began the weaning process (he still BF but only essential BF)

I was wondering if I was trying to nurse her too much... Generally, I nurse after each waking (morning, nap 1, nap 2), before bed, and during the night. But, it seems like this is too much, especially the last last few days... she sucks for a minute then chomps down OWWWW
I plan on weaning anyways, so maybe, I just go for 1 morning, 1 afternoon, and before bed? That makes the decision for which feeding to eliminate easier!

 

[BrandyBestPal]

Thomas did a lot of biting at that age, but weaned at 17.5 months. And only because I made him.

Sophie never bit, she just suddenly refused the breast at 11 months.

How did you deal with the biting? Did you take it as a sign that your LO wasn't hungry?

 

[Leids]

My LO usually only bites when he's gotten enough and is bored, really. There are times when it's accidental (if he moves or something) but it's pretty obvious if that's the case. Since I've gotten pregnant it's become worse, so I make sure his latch is great from the beginning and it's helped a good amount. That's more due to slow let down and my supply diminishing though

If he bites I stop nursing him because his teeth are like little razors and it stays sore for a few hours.

 

[Peggy O]

I have a 10 month old biter now too. She is definitely hungry because she gets mad if I take her off....I don't know what to do about it. Just started a couple weeks ago. OUCH. Iwas planning on one year, atleast, so I hope to figure something out.

 

[Zephram]

My LO only bites when he isn't actually hungry. When he's hungry he just gets down to business. If she's biting just stop and try again later.

 

[Bevziibubble]

It could just be a phase. Holly went through a phase of biting when she was around 14 months but she's shown no signs of wanting to wean yet.

 

[Jo.t]

My lo bit me when she was about 7m - so hard she made me bleed & bruise !

I switched straight to bottles :-/

 

[DancingSheba]

my daughter went through a phase like that. I either attributed it to boredom/playing or teething because usually it happened around a tooth. I would just pull her off when she bit and say "no biting" sometimes it pissed her off but i havent had any biting since unless it was accidental and usually in that case its not very hard

 

[HHenderson]

Ouch maybe I shouldnt be reading this, now Im a bit scared! At least I know majority of you have biting issues at 10 months so I will be aware!

 

[Tacey]

Alice had a long biting phase towards the end of her first year, but is still enthusiastically nursing now. Self weaning at that age would be very unlikely. Teething can be a culprit, or in my case, she didn't want my milk to let down when she was comfort sucking.

 

[seaweed eater]

For my LO it was a precursor to stopping BF, yes we had a really bad biting phase for about 1-2 weeks around 10 months, then it stopped, then a few weeks later one day he would only bite and not latch. And that was the end. I know it could have been for any number of reasons, but if I could do things over again, I would want to try nursing him less frequently to see if that would help. He was still nursing a million times a day and in retrospect I'm not sure he really wanted to be nursing that often...maybe sometimes he just wanted cuddles. I'm afraid that I missed his cues and he got fed up and decided to just stop. Maybe not...but maybe.