Need help fast!!

[mici_marie]

I really love breastfeeding my 16th month old daughter but she just took a bite out of me. That hurt and I am bleeding. Now, how do get one off the breast that you made them need and want?? I never received that information after having my daughter. Please help. I really need this.

[madelsmama]

Was the bite intentional?

Is she teething?

It should be done gradually, for both her sake and yours. Weaning cold turkey is both traumatic for a 16 month-old and puts you at risk for plugged ducts and mastitis.

A one-time bite is not necessarily cause for weaning. It's likely that she will never do that again! Do you have some lanolin ointment? Breastmilk is also great for treating wounds.

If you feel weaning is necessary, try eliminating one feeding every week or two, starting with the least "favorite" feed of the day.

[threefunboys]

I'm not sure if I'm too late to be of any help, but this is what I think.

You can probably quit cold turkey if you are already only nursing two or three times a day and aren't getting engorged anymore. I think the risk of plugged ducts and mastitis is much less after 16 months than it would early on when you're still making lots of milk. Qualifier, though, that if you are still making lots of milk and getting engorged overnight and stuff, what madelsmama said is true.

I don't, however, think weaning cold turkey is traumatic. Of course it depends on the child...she will most likely protest if she is emotionally attached to BFing, but she'll be fine in a few days. Nobody is scarred for life because their mom stopped BFing cold turkey. That's just ridiculous.

If you don't want to quit yet, one bite shouldn't make you think you have to stop. (Although, if I were bleeding from it, I'd probably quit too.) You can learn to anticipate when she will bite. A baby can't suck and bite with their teeth at the same time--it's physically impossible. If you think she's feeling playful or not really serious about nursing, that's when, at least in my experience, they tend to do the most biting.

A local lactation consultant is probably the best place to turn in looking for weaning advice. They have LC's at most hospitals, and also there are LLL leaders all over the place. But more than that, you just have to follow your gut instinct about what the right thing is to do. If you feel it's time to stop, or that it's not time to stop, follow your gut without feeling pressure from any outside sources. Nobody really has the right to tell you what you should do--only you know the relationship you and your baby have with BFing. You make your choice with confidence, then you can find help reaching it.

HTH! And GL!

[Shaunsmom]

Was the bite intentional?

Is she teething?

It should be done gradually, for both her sake and yours. Weaning cold turkey is both traumatic for a 16 month-old and puts you at risk for plugged ducts and mastitis.

A one-time bite is not necessarily cause for weaning. It's likely that she will never do that again! Do you have some lanolin ointment? Breastmilk is also great for treating wounds.

If you feel weaning is necessary, try eliminating one feeding every week or two, starting with the least "favorite" feed of the day.

This says it all very well!