7 Month Old Boy, Who Has Me Clueless!!

I had the same problem with my daughter and the bed issue. What I ended up having to do was put a pillow in her crib so she would think that someone was still holding her when she layed down in her bed. I would lay her head on the pillow and then bundle blankets up around her so she would feel like she was being held. The first night that I did that she slept in her bed and is now sleeping in there all the time. With the biting issue I didnt breastfeed and didnt have that problem but my sister-in-law did. When my neice started biting my sister-in-law would pull her off of her and not let her eat until she decided to stop. When she would start again she would put her fingers on Lilas mouth and make her mouth into an O shape. After the first few times of her mom doing that to her she stopped and didnt do it again because she knew that if she bit she wouldnt be able to eat anything. I hope this advice helps.

I didn't breastfeed so I don't have much advice on that topic, but the sleeping arrangements---well you really have to let him cry it out. the first or second night letting him cry and get used to his crib and he'll be fine

Hi S.,
Congrats on your healthy baby boy!
1st question about the breastfeeding, When my daughter started to get her teeth in and was starting to bite (it is only natural) I would find it very annoying. I would draw her in closer to my breast so she would open her mouth in order to breathe ( a natural relex) and she would unlatch automatically. If that doesn't work unlatch immediently and put him down firmly so he know why and then after a minute re-attach to the breast. After a few times he will connect why he is being dissengaged from the breast. This will only be a very temporary annoyance and should not be a reason to wean, in my opinion. It is so wonderful that you are breastfeeding and giving your child the best possible nutrition that a minor problem like this can be remedied. Many breastfeeding books I have read say not to scream out in pain (although that is sometimes hard) it can scare the baby off the breast and they can go on a nursing strike. Have you read Dr.Sear's book? The Breastfeeding Book.. It has some really helpful hints in that area too.

Our daughter now 2, is still sleeping with us in our King bed. so as far as that situation goes I can't offer you any advice. We love to have her near and it doesn't bother us at all, excpect for the occasional kick in the head while we are sleeping. I have heard that moving a small crib in the room for him to sleep in and then gradually moving the crib to another room may help wean him out of your bed. But whatever you do I would not suggest making an abrupt change so that he is scared or upset. Alot of parents I know have rearranged their rooms so to accomodate a crib or small child bed so the child can sleep in the same room. You know our culture is about the only culture that frowns on children sleeping in a "family" bed. It is perfectly natural though and can create a special bond.. they will grow up so fast and the time you can share so close will be lost eventually

Hi, S.,
Congratulations on a healthy baby!

My boys got teeth early, too, and I nursed them until they were 2. Whenever baby bites you, JUMP, even if it is a little nip. Tell baby, "No, that hurts me," and break the nursing as you are. He will quickly learn to nurse nicely, even with a mouth full of teeth.

As far as co-sleeping, just let him and get a good night's sleep. In a couple more months, you will be able to pick sleeping baby up and put him anywhere you want. Enjoy this all-too-short time of cuddling while you can. They get independent very quickly.

You can read the Dr. Sears website, as he is an expert. He and his wife have raised something like 8 kids.

Best wishes,
K.

First, congratulations! 2nd, it's absolutely NOT a "mistake" to have shared your bed - that's perhaps one of the most loving things you can do, especially at this age, next to BF. You are a great mom! I would never, even with a gun to my head, support crying it out - these are little dependent people that frankly NEED you - you're mommy!

All three of mine co-slept for various amounts of time, and ALL self-weaned when they reached a little independent stage. Believe me, there are no high-schoolers still sleeping with their parents, and you WILL miss this time when you send your 13 year old off to junior high. It passes very quickly.

For now, I'd continue co-sleeping. Perhaps after baby's good and asleep, try moving him to his crib or even a crib in your room.

You're doing great!

I agree with the comment below. It is normal and totally natural to sleep with your baby when you are breastfeeding.

As for the biting, what worked for me is to immediately put her down and say "That hurts mommy!" Make an ouchie face too. She cannot be nursing and biting at the same time because nursing requires the tongue to be over the teeth. After breaking the connection with the baby several times when they bite, they eventually learn that biting means no boobie!

S.,
It is perfectly normal to still be breastfeeding your baby. Breastfeeding is recommended for the first year of your babies life. With my son, I flipped his cheek and he would cry, but he also stopped the biting. With my daughter, I would say firmly and loudly "NO." She would be startled and cry, but this also stopped her from the biting. I noticed that you said your son is 7 months and almost walking. I believe this might be considered to early for your baby to walk, you may want to mention this to your pediatrician. I had a friend whose baby started to walk at this age and her pediatrician strongly advised her to encourage him not to because of the bones not developing properly in his legs. Like I said, you may want to ask your son's doctor about it.

Best Wishes!
J. F.

S.,
Be patient! It is sooo hard to keep sticking your nipple where you know it's going to be bitten! A gentle flick on the cheek (just enough to get their attention) and a quiet, but firm "no biting" worked for me with my first (she nursed to 14 months and got 6 teeth at 5 months). My second was so sensitive to correction that the very first time she did it, I let out an "Owww" and she refused to nurse from that point on. I had to give her a pumped bottle because she wouldn't eat from me again at all. My third is now five months and she has started pulling on me a little. I haven't had to flick her yet, just a "no" and withholding the nipple for a moment ot two has worked so far. Good luck!
Have you tried leaving the door ajar when you put him to bed? My youngest was sleeping great and just a few days ago started crying (for a really long time) when I would put her to bed. A friend mentioned something about noise and her baby needing to hear the chaos of the house, so I tried leaving the door open the last three times I've put her down. She hasn't cried at all. She just didn't like being shut off from everybody else. (Of course, she prefers to be sleeping on a blanket in the middle of the family room with her two sisters screaming in a circle around her, so I should have known...) Again, best wishes!

L.

Tell him no when he starts to bite and pull the breast out, using your fingers, so he gets the idea it's not ok, b/c if he's biting he's not sucking. You could try putting the crib or a pack n play in your room and transfer him to that after he's sleeping, once he can sleep not in your bed all night then it may be easier to transfer him to his crib in his own room.

Hello S.,

Hopefully I can give you some advice. About the breastfeeding, I can say that it is normal at his age to still be breastfeeding even though he has his teeth. Biting is another issue that I hear a lot of mom's talk about. I only breastfed my son for one month, so I never got that far as to biting.
Sleeping, I had the exact same issue. Only I would rock my little guy every night to sleep, sometimes over an hour. Finally, I realized that this had to stop. As much as I enjoyed holding him, he needed to know how to fall asleep on his own. Without the white noise, rocker & mommy. Luckily I had help when I had him go to a nanny's house. She didn't have time to rock each child to bed, so they had to learn how to sleep on their own. And with him having to do that there, we reinforced it at home and he was okay. Sure he cried every now and then, and I give him a 20 minute crying period. If after 20 minutes, he's still screaming, I go up and reassure him again. But honestly, the crying usually stops at about 19 minutes. And it's not the sobbing tears cry either, it's the whining one. If you can differentiate his cries, try the 20 minute rule. Good Luck!

Hello S., I can not help with the breastfeeding i was unable to. Now the bed problem, I had three kids all who slept with us till around the age of one, The trick i used was almost like weaning them from the bottle. I got them a big kids bed and the frist thing we did was to take turns laying down with them and reading or telling them a story in their bed, and explain the best u can for their age that they are big kids now and they have a special place to sleep all their own. It took a couple months but it became our special time together and they started looking forward to bedtime in their beds. hope I helped a little bit, good luck and let me know if u try my trick, in a few months haha. L.

I nursed my son for 14 months. When he started to get teeth things got a little tricky. I learned this from a few sources ..when your little guy bites. Gently but firmly press him into your breast so that he stops. My little guy caught on really quickly. You can email me personally if you want. I had a great time breast feeding him. I also had a problem with the sleep thing. I made things really boring for my little one when he woke up in the middle of the night. As far as him sleeping alone...it just takes placing him in his own bed and reassuring him from time to time without continuing to pick him up.

Maybe you could make a video of daddy saying goodnight? Or an audio tape of him reading a calm bedtime story that your son could listen to?

B. (cringing from remembering teeth clamping on breasts) OUCH!

Hi S.!
I can identify with the biting. My son (almost one now) bit me even when he didn't have teeth! The first time he did it, I was so startled I didn't do anything (he was only 4 months and had no teeth). Then he did it again the next feeding, and I flicked his cheek and said "NO BITING" in a really firm tone. I could tell that it hurt him even though I didn't mean to, because he cried and cried, but he didn't do it again! Believe me, this works! It may sound mean, but you only have to do it once. My son has 8 teeth now and does not bite me. All I have to do now is say "NO BITING" in that certain tone of voice and he will pull off and look at me and stop.

As for the sleeping thing, we just moved 3 months ago, and my son's sleeping pattern has completely changed. I asked my ped. and he said it's not likely to ever go back to exactly the way it was. Also, I would wait maybe another couple weeks to even try a different sleeping arrangement. I've been trying to get my son to sleep w/out having to rock him, but I didn't even start trying that until about 1 month ago, because everything was so different and they have to have time to adjust to the change.

As to the walking, mine started pulling up around that age too, and started walking about 1 month ago. My ped. said that was fine and obviously if he was attempting to do that, then his legs must be ready! BTW, I was walking at 7 mos. too.

Good Luck with the little guy!

hi S.,
congrats on your little boy i also have a 8 month old boy who is still nursing and has four teeth(three on bottom one on top)he got his first tooth at four months and when they bite it hurts!! I would try everything people told me to do(break the suck, saying ouch when he did)nothing worked he would just do it again then my mom and aunt told me something that i thought was just mean till i tried it and after doing it twice it worked! they said to flick him in the cheek when he does it and say no biting-don't flick them hard just enough to startle them and get their attention. As for the co-sleeping thing i can't give you any advice cause my son still sleeps with me cause its easier to just roll over and feed him then get up and make a bottle lol! I enjoy my sleep and he doesn't sleep good in his crib.I even bought bed rails so he can't roll out of my bed now at nap time he sleeps in his crib.Hope this helps
Good luck!!

Hi and congrats. My daughter is also 7 months :) As for breastfeeding, I'm sorry but I cant help you there, maybe your DR can give you some tips. As for sleeping, if you want him back in his crib, on a schedule, you're going to have start with a routine. Like, give him a bath, sing to him, read a book, something relaxing, then put him in his crib. Does he have a mobile or anything? That can also help soothe him. I know it may be hard, but the best thing to do to is let him put himself to sleep. If he's not hungry, not in pain, not wet or dirty, a little crying won't hurt him. It's actually good because it helps him soothe himself. All I have to do is put my daughter in her crib and within 5 mins she is sound asleep, with no crying. If you want him to sleep by himself, do it now and don't wait until he's any older. There is no reason why he should still be sleeping with you. Babies at this age can go up to 12 hours without a feeding at night. Establishing good sleeping habits now will make all the difference. I have a friend who co slept with her baby and now her daughter is 3 and won't sleep anywhere but her mom's bed, which is driving my friend crazy. Trying to break her of the habit now that she is a toddler is proving to be very difficult.

You've got to break him of sleeping in your bed now, before it becomes even more of a habit. He's already rolling over and will only become more mobile. He could easily fall right out of bed! It will be hard to break him of an already bad learned habit, but you will just have to put him in his crib every time it is time to sleep. It will take a few days (or weeks) for him to relearn a new sleep behavior, but it has to be done. It's not good for him to be awake until very late at night, and it isn't good for you or him for him to sleep in your bed. Get a good routine going for him before bedtime- read a book in his room, give him a kiss, lay him down, put on a lullabye CD, say goodnight, and then leave and don't come back until the morning. Make sure he doesn't have anything to play with in his crib- that is his place to sleep, and if he has toys, he'll think it's playtime, not time to sleep. Also, let him play in his room during the day, so he feels a stronger connection to it. I know this will be hard, but honestly, you've already realized that it needs to be done (otherwise you end up with a 6 year old sleeping in your bed- because it will not get easier when they get older to regain your bed back).