Too many teeth!

I have a teething machine. Joseph had 2 teeth come in at 4 months old, and now at almost 8 months of age he has 7 teeth (with more on the way!). I'm glad he's healthy and so "advanced," but sometimes I really, really wish he was a late bloomer who didn't get any teeth until he was 1 year old!

Thanks to the teeth, this past week we have been having problems with feeding. Joseph is a "hasty latcher," meaning that he clamps on very quickly. This wasn't a problem until recently when he started using his bottom teeth instead of covering them with his tongue. I was trying to work with him to get him to open wider, but he was struggling against any interference so I just dealt with the pain and figured it would get better.

Then, on the eve of Mother's Day, he bit down very quickly and got my nipple. Can I just say OUCH!!! I started bleeding and was freaking out a little bit because it's very emotional (and painful!) to feel like you can't figure out how to feed your own child. I was even down on myself a bit because, as a working mom, I sometimes feel like I'm not truly a mom in any way except in being able to breastfeed my son. He spends more time with his auntie and grandmas during the week than he does with me, which, although I am grateful that we have family to help, does sometimes make me concerned about his attachment to them vs. to me in the long run.

I ended up pumping that night and twice the next morning. Joseph wasn't having my interference when I tried to get him to latch in the morning, and he actually reached for the bottle that was sitting on the table nearby. (Talk about rejection.) I also was very nervous about getting him to latch on because I was looking at those teeth just waiting to clamp... Yikes!

I wasn't sure how things were going to end up this week, but (thanks be to God!) my Mother's Day present was being able to work with Joseph to get him to latch on pain-free! Yay! :)

In case anyone else is dealing with a similar problem, this is what I did: I used the hand that's not aiming the breast to push the bottom of his chin open as wide as possible - kind of like you're about to milk a snake (haha). The information I found online recommends cupping the hand underneath the chin, but that's a) uncomfortable and b) he doesn't like that even more than he doesn't like this! I also aim the breast at his nose per the recommendations found on kellymom. (It sounds weird but it does help!)

My husband also wrote me a really nice note in which he reminded me that mothering is about more than just feeding our son, and that he thinks I'm a great mother to Joseph. Of course, that made me start crying again, but it was really nice and it did help me to get out of the emotional valley I was stuck in.

Has anyone else had any special breastfeeding hurdles they've had to conquer?