I've got a biter :(

[kiwilove]

She is 5 and a half months old, she got her two bottom teeth three weeks again. She bit me a couple times in the beginning and then stopped. Well the last three days have been hell. She has been biting every time I put her on for a feed, I cant get her to suck, she only bites. I have been pumping most of her bottles the last two days and only got three breast feedings in. She made me bleed tonight and I feel like this is the end of breast feeding for us. I dont want to stop but I am terrified to put my nipple in her mouth. We have a rough beginning with me stopping breast feeding for a week and felt so bad about it and started it again, it took a while to bring my milk supply back up to where she needed it to be. I feel like we were just starting to really get the hang of it and now those teeth and making me not enjoy it any longer. Does anyone have any tips or advice i could use.
I have tried waiting until she was hungry but she went 8 hours from morning til afternoon without eating. I offered her some after 6 hours but she would just bite. I am used to breasfeeding every 2 or 3 hours so going so long without a feed was shocking to me. I tried a nipple shield but I think that made it worse...it was something new for her to play with really.
Is this her way of telling me she wants to wean?
She has always gotten one bottle a day from the beginning so maybe now she is just deciding she prefers the bottle? I dont know what to do. I dont know how much to feed her out of a bottle, I just have no clue. Today after 6 hours of no feeds i gave her a bottle and she only had three ounces from it, I offered 4.
What worked for you?

 

[noon_child]

It sounds like she could be working on some more teeth. The lack of appetite, the biting down, playing with the shield - it all says teething to me. LLL guidance says all breast refusal before 18months should be considered a 'strike' not a desire to self wean (nutritionally she still needs your milk or a milk substitute like formula so there is no biological advantage to self weaning so early). Pain is often a cause of a nursing strike. Maybe something cold to chew on prior to a feed would help, or some teething gel. Once her gums feel better she might be less likely to bite?