Son of Satan

You know how people say that kids with Ds are really angels in disguise, sent directly from Heaven? I disagree. Finn, I am convinced, is the son of Satan. Maybe even Satan himself. I'm making this judgment based on the kid's teeth and his propensity to bite the hell out of me.

I kid, I kid. He's not Satan, or Satan's son. I never even slept with Satan ;)

Anyway, just trying to find the humor in all this. These are trying times, I tell you. We had such a beautiful nursing relationship until recently, and now it's just . . . not beautiful at all. He has gotten over his fear of the boobs and my yelling out in pain. But it's a real struggle to get him to latch on and nurse and not clamp down with those razor-sharp little teeth. And he doesn't just nip me - he bites down and holds on, and I often have to literally pry him off of me. Sometimes I can get him to actually nurse, but I would guess that he's only actually nursing about half as much as he was up until a few days ago - which tells me also that he's only taking in about half as much fluid. I'm concerned, to say the least. And I am so tense now when I sit down with him that my toes curl in anticipation of those sharp little daggers in his mouth. It's frustrating too, because honestly, I think this is my first experience of him just not getting it. No matter how many times I yell in pain, no matter how many times I pinch his nose to get him to let go and firmly say, "No biting!" he keeps right on biting. Maybe he's just stubborn, I don't know.

I appreciate all the suggestions. Finn doesn't take a pacifier. He won't lie in bed with me anymore, he's too restless and just wants to climb around on the bed. Even in a sleepy state, he bites. Last night he woke up crying, as usual, and I went in to nurse him, and even in his half-asleep state, he bit me over and over until I was in tears.

Ack. I am going to try the nipple shields. I don't want this to be the end of nursing him.