Breastfeeding - Washington,MO

It's very very normal for your 5 week old to sleep all the time. It's what babies do :) They eat, sleep, and poop! :D You won't have to worry about teething for a VERY long time yet! The best thing to do is to take it as it comes. My first daughter never once bit my nipple. My second, however, was a biter. OUCH! I would break her latch with my finger, sit her up, look in her eyes and say "NO! NO BITE!" then I'd let her nurse some more. If she did it again, I would do the same thing, but then I'd put her down. Honestly, it was still a little hit and miss, but she bit much less after I did that a few times. Each child is different. You may never ever have and issue with biting. You just won't know until you get there!
If you want to pump, I would recommend keeping and eye on your milk supply. Do you still have a lot of milk in your breasts after nursing? Do you have a time of day when you're most full? I was always really full of milk in the mornings, so that's when I did my pumping. I was a SAHM, so I didn't have much need for a HUGE amount of stored milk, but it was nice to have some on hand. You can pump whenever it's convenient for you. Your body will respond to the pumping and begin to make more milk. Our bodies work on supply and demand. The more the baby nurses (or you pump) the more milk you will produce.
There are some "experts" that will tell you that your baby should nurse for 30 minutes each time he nurses, 15 minutes on each side. My daughters were more fond of snacking. They would nurse for about 15 on one side, take a break and want to nurse again after about 30 mins. You can only feed him for as long as he wants.
Babies will sleep through the night when they're ready, at least that's how I feel. I'm not a fan of sleep training or the CIO method. My oldest is 13.5 months and she just started sleeping through the night. We co-slept so it wasn't a big deal. I highly recommend co-sleeping to all nursing mothers. You don't actually have to get up to feed him, just roll over! :) That said, if you are or decide to consider co-sleeping, make sure you are doing so safely!
Congratulations on making the decision to give your little man the absolute BEST start in life!

I breastfed my son for almost a year. When he first started getting teeth, I worried he would bite. He tried once, and I jumped and screamed naturally. That scared him enough that he never did it again.

Teething wasn't a problem for us at all, I nursed until he was 18 months old (he weaned himself). At that point I was only nursing twice a day and pumping everything else he drank, from a cup. When I first started pumping I pumped right after a meal, it helps increase production. Then when I started replacing those meals, I pumped when I would have nursed (while he was at daycare and I was at work). I gave his first bottle right about 5 wks, his 2nd at 9wks, just randomly when I needed someone to help for whatever reason. I didn't introduce the bottle completely for any one feeding until he was 3 months old. That worked well.

As for sleeping at night, your child's stomach is only big enough to hold a few oz of liquid, so therefore, no matter what you feed, you'll be up every few hours. Right about not you can start spacing the feedings on when the baby wants them. The easiest way to do this is to have the baby sleeping in another room, if they slightly wake and smell you, they want to nurse. They will still need to feed during the night until between 6 and 9 months, depending on how well they're growing, you can ask your doctor they're opinion. I hate when everyone says 6months, then people just stop feeding the baby and they have problems, every baby is different, your doctor and you can figure out the best time, but it will be a little while longer.

Good luck!!

I breastfed both of my children and I was worried as well about the teeth thing with the first one. Amazingly, it doesn't affect the comfort level, etc... (at least it didn't for me). I nursed both of them until they were 12 months old with no problems. Neither of my children really took to a bottle so I didn't have to wean them off of that. If you wait long enough you can introduce a sippy cup instead of a bottle. Once they reach about 6 months, they don't really need that middle of the night feeding. If they continue to wake up it will be something that you will have to wean them of. It's really hard to get them on a schedule until they are at least 4 months old (in my experience). Unfortunately, neither of my children slept through the night until they were about 10 months old. :( Goodluck.

My little guy in 13-month-old, has five teeth, and is still feeding. I am in the process of weaning, but I am not pushing it. He has nipped me a few times and it hurt, but it was on accident right after he got his teeth. He has it figured out and doesn't bite me now.

Your baby will start eating less frequently and will also sleep longer. As far as pumping goes, you can feed on one side and pump on the other or pump between feedings. I personally hate pumping; I did it for awhile then my son started refusing a bottle. Luckily by that time he wasn't eating less frequently and was starting solids, so I could leave him with my mom for a few hours. It is common for a baby to not want to switch between the breast and the bottle. Since he refused the bottle, I do not have to wean him from that because he drinks out of a cup instead.

Teething wasn't a problem but once the front top and bottom teeth came in, there was a problem. Breastfeeding ended with the first bite. Fortunately my daughter was 13 months old so I didn't feel too guilty about it. I started pumping, freezing milk and giving her a bottle when she was about 3 months old. That way I could have more than 2-3 freedom and my child didn't have to starve! Another reason I expressed milk was so that her father could feed her occasionally. Babies need to bond with Daddy and vice versa. The best time to pump for me was upon getting up in the mornings. I think it the best time to pump varies from Mom to Mom. My husband would often feed our daughter expressed milk when he got up for work in the morning so that I could sleep in a little. On those mornings I'd wake up ready to burst so pumping relieved the pressure. I had a co-sleeper for my daughter that fit right up against my side of the bed so I wasn't always entirely awake when I fed her throughout the night. I think she was about 8 months old before she stopped waking up to feed in the night.

Congratulations on breastfeeding! These are all normal questions to have, by the way. Is there a La Leche League near you? They are an amazing resource.
Teething babies do occasionally try their teeth out on you. But it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If it happens, the first reaction you may have is to cry out a bit--that will naturally surprise your baby, which may cause him to cry, breaks his latch, and teaches him quite natural consequences that this is not the thing to do. If that doesn't happen, remain calm, use your finger in the corner of his mouth to break the latch, and say to him very firmly, "no". Give a moment off the breast before giving it back to him. He will come to understand very quickly. There is no need to do anything punitive. He's just trying things out and those new teeth are quite interesting and strange.

Pumping is easiest in between feedings, and especially during night time if he sleeps a little longer then. It's totally normal for a new baby to eat every couple of hours or so--that's pretty much all they do for awhile. I would wait until he is a couple of months old, if you can, before you start to introduce a bottle feeding--and I would ONLY do that for breastmilk, so you can have others feed him your milk when you are not around. When you do get to that point, the obvious time to express milk is the time when he's being fed that bottle instead of nursing, since your body will produce the most milk then. I also quickly taught myself a little trick--if you want to increase your milk supply to help you pump, try nursing your baby only on one side at a feeding, and then expressing the milk from the other side. It takes advantage of the natural letdown reflex, helping you express your milk through artificial means. Since your baby will naturally suck more on the one side than if you are nursing on both sides at the same feeding, it will increase your milk supply within about 24 hours to match. Just try to remember which side you nursed on last, so you can switch sides the next time. Many moms use a safety pin on their bra to help them remember which side they started with last time anyway.

Your baby most likely has a time period during the day or night that he sleeps for 4 hours. If this time period is during the day rather than at night, I would suggest that you wake him every hour during that time period and nurse him. Over a period of time, he will gradually move the 4 hour period into the night. If the 4 hour period is already during the night, you are good to go. As he gets older he will gradually decrease the night feedings. By 3 months, he should be waking only once during a 8 hour night and if your lucky, he may sleep 8 straight.

As far as the nursing a teething baby fear, on all three of my children (they all had their first tooth by 4 months) I would pop a leg when they bit. They would open wide to scream and I would calmly say "No biting". After a few times they quit. Other moms have said that they would slide a finger into their mouth to break suction and tell them "No biting" wait a few minutes and try again. This took longer than I intended to take in getting those teeth loose. Other moms said they broke suction and put the baby down and would try again later. If the baby is obviously through nursing and is just playing when he or she bites, just put it away and put them down.

Once I let mine know that they would get a leg popped if they bit, they didn't try again. All it took was a few times. The problem I had with my children was them pulling off without breaking suction. It was just as painful as biting. That rewarded them with leg pop too. My middle child would release and study my breast ever so often and then reach out and pinch my nipple. That earned him a leg popping too and he finally quit.

I breastfed my oldest till 7 months and only quit because I was suffering from muscle spasms in my back and was prescribed muscle relaxers. I was told to pump and dump for 24 hours after each muscle relaxer I took. I was taking them about every day or every other day for several weeks and so I just put him on a bottle. The other two children were breastfed until they turned a year old.

Just make your mind you are going to do it and stick to it. You have apparently made through the first hurtle of those painful first 2 weeks. If you can stand that, a little nip ever so often isn't quite so bad.

In regards to introducing the bottle, the sooner the better. My lactation consultant told me that there is a magic window from 3 - 5 weeks when a baby will easily accept a bottle. After that you will have a harder time introducing the bottle or may even have a baby who wont accept it at all. Which is my case, but I waited way to long. I tried at three months. It is easier if you can have someone help you with the first few feedings until baby has accepted the bottle. Your little one cansmell your milk and may be confused why you are offering a cold plastic nipple instead of your breast, and may not take a bottle from you at first. If you could have a doula or lactation consultant help you get started that would be ideal. Another mom suggested La Leche League. I think that is a great idea too. I went to a few meetings in my area with my first baby and found everyone to be very supportive and willing to share there experience with me.
Good luck! And enjoy this time with your little one. It goes by so quickly. The bond you have with your baby while nursing is precious.

Baby won't bite any more with a tooth than without a tooth.
If baby bites, remove him from the breast immediately.
If the latch is good, baby will not hurt your breast.
S.