N of 2 here, take it for what it's worth --

I have two children.  Both have nursed on cue and neither has ever
had a bottle.  With the first we used a pacifier sparingly for about
8 months.  He bit me a handful of times when his first teeth were
coming in, and gentle correction worked such that he didn't do it
again.

My second child has never had a pacifier and he is a persistent
biter!  In fact I am nearly at my wits' end.  He started biting with
his first teeth, around 4 months, and is going strong at 12 months
now with his first two molars in.  He bites me anywhere he can get
his teeth on me, and he bites other children too.  I have not found
any mother-substitute (LOL) to satisfy his urge to chomp.

It is my observation that my children's biting habits are reflective
of their personalities -- one is more contemplative and cautious, the
other more spontaneous and daring.

Margaret
Longmont, CO

>I don't know if anyone has done a study on this, but my observation is that
>there may be a link between pacifier use and biting in older babies. I've
>recently had another call from a mother with an 8-month-old who is
>persistently biting her, and, like the ones I've seen in the past, this baby
>uses a pacifier quite heavily. When he's teething, he tends to alternately
>suck on and bite on the pacifier, and now he's transferring that behaviour
>to the breast. I've found it quite difficult to fix. Anyone else seen this?
>
>Teresa Pitman
>Guelph, Ontario
>

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html