gumballs!
Can you guess what I’m going to do with these? You probably can. But if you guessed that I would give them to Baby Bug, you would be wrong. Poor Baby Bug. She is one ticked off toddler these days. The gumballs are exactly what she really really really wants. They’re so astro bright pink and round and small and they fit perfectly in her mouth! What a mean mommy I am for not letting her choke on them. I let her hold one for three seconds but that ended up being more torture than it was worth so I had to take it away. It’s tough being a baby.
It’s tough being a mom. Did I tell you she’s been biting me lately? While nursing? I was planning on weaning her naturally. Things were already going that way anyway so I thought it would be easy. But then she started biting me and YIKES! I’m all for weaning yesterday. I hate nursing her now.
I feel like I’m voluntarily putting a very tender part of my body in a paper cutter. I never know when those choppers are going to bite down and draw blood. It makes me shake in fear. I tried the scolding and withholding but it seems like she doesn’t even know she is doing it and the whole thing turns into a crying screaming mess. She usually does it right when she’s in the middle of falling asleep and scolding her then shocks her awake and freaks her out. She doesn’t even want me to comfort her. So she sits on my lap trying to push herself away from me, crying. It’s all very sad. I hope this goes away soon.
She’s also having a tough time because she’s still getting over that cold. The worst seems to be over but she’s still pretty congested when she’s sleeping. She coughs in her sleep and wakes herself up. Of course I’m scared sick she has asthma so I’m constantly checking to see if she’s still breathing. It’s funny how new fears crop up just as old ones are finally fading. I’m so glad she’ll be a year soon and I can stop worrying about SIDS. But now I worry she has asthma and I’m going to have to get rid of my cats. Sigh…
Anyway, lets talk about gumballs! Gumballs are fun and happy! They taste nasty though. But who cares. They’re pink!
16 Comments
Sara
No matter when the weaning comes, that biting is hard. My daughter went through it too, before she weaned. Have you tried plugging her nose when she does it?
My girl has asthma and we didn’t have to get rid of our cat. It depends on the allergy; we were afraid too. But she can’t have any dairy or wheat or bananas (due to other allergies) and those things are tough enough to navigate.
Your party is going to rock! Best of luck to you.
Kuky
Oh I’m soo soo very sorry about the biting. My baby bit a few of times, well more then a few. Not ever enough to draw blood but hard enough to hurt. The first time I screamed really loud and she started crying. After that I would just be prepared and have a finger ready to pry her off of me. But pretty much screaming in pain scares her off. And after that she pretty much stopped.
And that crying face is so cute!! Is it mean that it makes me giggle?
jailgy
Is she toddling already?
carrien
The best thing for biting was to push their face into my breast really fast when they did it so they couldn’t breath without opening their mouth and letting go of me. It doesn’t scare them, they just learn that biting equals no air and they stop pretty quickly, at least mine did. They would get pretty angry sometimes, but I’d give it back right away and they rarely bit a second time. Hope that helps.
Alissa
SAJ sorry about the biting. I know it hurts. It seemed to be a stage that my son went through. It dosen’t sound like BB is doing it intentionally if she is falling asleep. The approach used by Carrien is one I used with my son with some success. kellymom.com is a great resource for breastfeeding moms. This page is about biting and looks like it will be very useful for you – http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html . Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Sarah
Like the mums above, Felix and I went through a biting phase too. One thing I found was that the biting increased when he had a cold. I try to make sure that I hold my breast up a bit when I am feeding him so that if he needs to cough he doesn’t have to worry about it slipping away. Although, in the beginning he just didn’t realize what he was doing. But, as you pointed out, this will soon pass and something else will replace it. (That doesn’t make it hurt any less.) It never became a routine for us so I didn’t make a big deal about it.
Felix is starting to show some of the not-so-fun sides of being a toddler. This morning he got ahold of my cell phone and would not give it back. I had to pry it out of his hands before he starting making phone calls. (It is a flip phone and I can’t block the keyboard.) I have to keep reminding myself that he can’t control himself and I just need to distract him with something else…but ahhhh!
I just wrote a paper on dealing with behavior during toddlerhood and I found this website very helpful.
josephine
Wow. Thank you guys… I read somewhere that she was doing it willfully and I was supposed to scold her but it just didn’t feel right the way she would respond… what you all are saying makes so much more sense. Especially the part where maybe it’s worse because she has a cold. I can’t believe I haven’t read kellymom.com yet. I know about that website but I guess have been too busy.
Jailgy: She’s starting to toddle between handoffs from Mommy’s hands to Daddy’s hands. Does that count?
Heather
Hello! My little bug went through a biting phase, too. I made a point each time to pull her away, make a stern face and say, “No biting. No biting. No biting.” If she bit me again, I’d say, “No biting. We’re done.” Her feelings were hurt a couple of times, but she got the point. I started to anticipate her bites and would gently say, “No biting.” I’d get the look, but she wouldn’t bite.
As for the gumballs…I see some lovely centerpieces, perhaps?
Wendy
My little one is just beginning to cut her first teeth and I am dreading the biting! She already pulls off with out opening her mouth so I can only imagine how it is going to be with teeth! OUCH!!!
Laurie
I missed what the plan is for the gumballs….decoration or treat bags for the party? I can’t wait to see those pictures!
Momo
If you chose another life to live would you be that pink too?
Two or three hours after reading your blog I have that feeling- missing the pink!
josephine
Interesting question Momo… I could definitely get into other colors just as much as I am into pink right now. I can imagine going nuts over blue or tangerine or even bottle green… there are so many possibilities. Who knows maybe next month will be the month I finally get over pink.
BeachMama
I really hope that the biting stops quickly for you. We went through an early bout of it, before he even had teeth, thank goodness. And the sheer shock from me was enough to cure him. My older Sister weened cold turkey when her little guy bit so hard it drew blood.
Too bad the gumballs don’t taste that great, they sure look yummy and I wish I had one right now :).
Tara
Oooh, owie… fortunately withholding worked for us… hope you find a solution
comfortablycrazy
You know BB and what’ll work best fot the both of you. Maybe switching back to the pacifier when she’s almost asleep would stop you from getting bitten. SUperChic and Rapunzel never drew blood, but both went through at least a few feedings without finishing because of it.
Bethany
My daughter went through a biting phase right around her first birthday, too. She would bite as she was falling asleep, and it took lots of me taking her off and saying sternly, “No biting!” before she stopped. While it lasted, I almost dreaded nursing her, too. At least she didn’t have teeth till she was 14 months so she never drew blood! She did stop after a few weeks and from there weaned very g r a d u a l l y till at age two she was only nursing for about two minutes at bedtime and naptime. Then I started offering her the chance to choose between nursing and reading an extra book, and she chose the book every time, and that was it. :-) It was very trauma-free for both of us.
I really hope you’re able to find a solution to the biting so you’re able to finish nursing in a positive way. I mean, if weaning is the only way to get her to stop then wean away! But it seems sad to me to have to stop for a negative reason. (I hope you get what I am saying and know that I am not trying to guilt you into nursing till she’s 4, or anything like that! :-) You know what’s best for you and your daughter–just sharing my thoughts.)