Eli: Biting

I clearly remember that when Tobey started biting while nursing, I was scrambling for ways to get him to stop. People said to flick his cheek, give a stern no, stop the nursing immediately. All of those options were hard for me to do as a first time parent. Did he know what he was doing? Does he have any concept of sympathizing with others' pain? Will he be emotionally damaged by a physical reprimand like a flick? I was timid, unsure and therefore Tobey didn't stop biting until several weeks later when we both forgot about it. Luckily, he never drew blood, which is probably why I could tolerate it temporarily.

Now Eli took his first bite a couple weeks ago. I forgot how much it hurt. Without thinking, I flicked him, said a firm no, AND stopped nursing him. No regrets, no sympathy. No biting!

And such is the difference between a first-time mom and a second-time mom.