Biting me while nursing on purpose!

WhatFor

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:54 am

amother OP wrote:

How do I stop though? I'm trying to night wean and can't even figure that out.

Didn't read the whole thread, so if repetitive, please just ignore.

The problem with going cold turkey at night is if a baby is used to relying on their calories from night feedings, it's really not nice to suddenly stop. Would you randomly deprive a 3yo of dinner when they were expecting it? What worked for me is giving a minute less every night until it's almost nothing. This way, they still feel mostly full and can start compensating in their eating the next day. And you won't leave them actually hungry.

For biting, I'd have teethers nearby, and when the baby bites, without visibly reacting, just say in a neutral voice, "it seems like you want to bite something. Here you go. Teethers are for biting." As much as they might be doing it for a reaction, they might also be teething.

If they're specifically waiting until the end of feeding, I'd sooner guess that they're doing it because they're done and happy and want to play with you, than that they're doing it because they don't care about the consequences of eating stopping. I'd do the teether thing personally, because redirecting behavior is usually more successful than saying no, but you can also just say "oh you're done? Let's go play." But then maybe try to predict when they're nearly done and pull them off before they get a chance to alert you.