Scratch scratch scratch!

ks4e

So, when did I start breastfeeding a demonic cat? My chest is covered in scratches from my daughter! We trim and file her nails but she just loves to dig her nails into my chest while nursing! She is almost 1 and telling her no hasn't worked. She laughs when I tell her no. And then she uses me as a scratching post while happily enjoying a meal.

I can't wear v necks or anything like that anymore. I had relatives visit and ask me what happened to my chest because I was wearing a tank top. And I'm also getting dark marks all over as the scratches heal.

Any tips on how to stop the clawing?

kcasey155

Put mittens on her before she eats? After a few days of breaking the habit the clawing might then stop perhaps??

jls8209

I don't have any tips, but you're not alone! My daughter is going on 13 months and recently started scratching, and some times she hits and kicks while nursing... She's also started biting (not while nursing, but when she's playing climbing all over me). Hopefully all of this is just a phase! I'm going to ask the doctor when we see him next month, especially about the biting. I don't want my kid to be "the biter" in the group!

ks4e

Put mittens on her before she eats? After a few days of breaking the habit the clawing might then stop perhaps??

She freaks out over mittens. Like screams and cries. :sigh:

And she has been biting for about 2 months now. That is much worse than the clawing, I must admit.

ramsx1991

I hear ya! My LO does the same, but not only when she nurses... When she falls asleep she claws my face, when I try to stop her then she cries and won't sleep. If I stand up and wear her to sleep she doesn't. But most of the time I am so tired and I just want to plop into bed with her and sleep lol.

ldrosophila

oh lord they dont tell you in the manuals about this...thats it breastfeeding mothers should all be given houses and maids for all that the endure to feed their kid

redheadmommy

hahaha,
Do you all are talking about my little girl?Also did you noticed that this type of complaint tend to come moms of little girls My son have never did this, but this baby is vicious

Pepper2185

I have a boy and he claws the crap out of me. He's either scratching me or pulling out my hair. I have all these weird broken hairs instead of bangs now Sometimes I just put up with it because I know he's getting sleepy, and sometimes I give him a blanket in the hopes that he'll play with that instead. He pulls off mittens, too.

If anyone has a good solution, I'm all ears!

jls8209

I have a boy and he claws the crap out of me. He's either scratching me or pulling out my hair. I have all these weird broken hairs instead of bangs now Sometimes I just put up with it because I know he's getting sleepy, and sometimes I give him a blanket in the hopes that he'll play with that instead. He pulls off mittens, too.

If anyone has a good solution, I'm all ears!

The "weird broken hairs instead of bangs" are likely your normal hairs growing back. When you're pregnant you don't shed as much hair as when you're not pregnant, which is why (most) pregnant women have awesome, thick, beautiful hair. After you have the baby and your hormones start to go back to normal, all of those extra hairs on your head start to shed, which is why you feel like you're going bald around 6 months PP. Then a few months later you suddenly notice you have "baby bangs" and short hairs everywhere (but mostly at the hairline) as your hair's growth cycle returns to normal. If I pull my hair away from my face I have a ring about 1.5" wide all the way around of these fine, little hairs. They're about 3" long now, but still a long way from blending in. I can't wait for them to grow out, I'm sick of my new-found sideburns! And then we get pregnant and do it all over again, and then we hit menopause and it just thins out and doesn't come back... :laugh: :noway:

Pepper2185

I have a boy and he claws the crap out of me. He's either scratching me or pulling out my hair. I have all these weird broken hairs instead of bangs now Sometimes I just put up with it because I know he's getting sleepy, and sometimes I give him a blanket in the hopes that he'll play with that instead. He pulls off mittens, too.

If anyone has a good solution, I'm all ears!

The "weird broken hairs instead of bangs" are likely your normal hairs growing back. When you're pregnant you don't shed as much hair as when you're not pregnant, which is why (most) pregnant women have awesome, thick, beautiful hair. After you have the baby and your hormones start to go back to normal, all of those extra hairs on your head start to shed, which is why you feel like you're going bald around 6 months PP. Then a few months later you suddenly notice you have "baby bangs" and short hairs everywhere (but mostly at the hairline) as your hair's growth cycle returns to normal. If I pull my hair away from my face I have a ring about 1.5" wide all the way around of these fine, little hairs. They're about 3" long now, but still a long way from blending in. I can't wait for them to grow out, I'm sick of my new-found sideburns! And then we get pregnant and do it all over again, and then we hit menopause and it just thins out and doesn't come back... :laugh: :noway:

I miss my pregnant hair! Mine looks like crap now.

Jenny_Rose77

I'm going to share with you something that worked for me (re: biting) that may work for the clawing. However, I want to add a disclaimer that I'm not sure it's actually a good idea! It just happened to work for me.

When my son was biting, I consulted with every breast-feeding mama I knew as well as my lactation consultant. I got lots of reasonable advice about what to do, which I can't remember now because before I had the chance to implement any of it, my son bit me hard enough to make me jerk back and scream. This scared him enough that he cried (for like 15 seconds)...but he did really look terrified...and he hasn't bit me since (it's been 2-3 months). I've heard scaring babies can cause them to go on a nursing strike, so I wasn't planning to do it. It just happened. And, of course, I got lucky that it worked for me.