Bitten.

I've been bitten.

Sure, it had happened once or twice before, but he is doing it much more frequently, and since both Gabriel's bottom and top front teeth are now in, the biting at the breast is a whole new level of painful. In all seriousness, his top front teeth are some of the sharpest little front teeth I have ever seen. Yowzers.

Oh woe is me? Yup, I think I'll wallow a bit. I've been trying some of the "dealing with baby biting" tips on kellymom as well as hints I've been given by some helpful Moms on twitter (thank you!!), but as of yet, nothing is deterring my little Goober (... or shall we refer to him as Jaws this evening?).

It's not like breastfeeding has always been easy for me-- our first week of latching was rough, as was an entire month of feeding every two hours due to a sleepy, jaundiced baby-- but things ironed out beautifully. My supply stayed up as I began working part-time in March, and it's been a great ride.

And after seven months of almost-bliss, we're in a rough patch. Because it hurts like hell when he bites me, and I scream, yelp, and/or cry when it happens. It has happened about five times at least today, and each time I said, "No," broke suction, and stopped nursing him. To this I got smiles and babbling. I tried handing him something to teeth on and said, "It hurts when you bite Mommy. You can bite your teether." To this I got smiles and babbling. Oh, and the last time I yelped so loudly in pain it simply resulted in him crying hysterically because it scared him half to death.

So nothing has worked for us just yet. But we're trying. I just hope something starts to work soon because I'm sore and somewhat teary about the whole issue. Frankly, I used to dread pumping at work because I missed my baby, and today, for the first time, I felt relief I was pumping instead of nursing. And that made me feel awful inside. So, come on Gabriel, figure out the messages Mommy is giving you and please, stop biting me! I do not want to start pumping for your every feeding, and I honestly don't think that would work for us.

Now, I have to go work on packing for our trip to Shenandoah National Park this weekend, as well as, hmmm, put more lanolin on myself. Please share some strategies that have worked for you on stopping the biting!