Breastfeeding

Pamela - posted on 04/21/2010

My sons got two teeth at 5 months and his swollen gums made breastfeeding a little difficult. I tried th epushing him to my breast and that seemed to work really well.
Telling him no or making any sort of noise either scared him or made him laugh; niether of which i wanted.
His 8 months now and still breastfeeding. I've noticed now tho that when his done he'll start playing around and moving his tongue so his teeth scrap my nipple, ouch! So when he's done immeaditly put the boob away and everything has been going well.
Dont give up!

Emele - posted on 04/21/2010

Yep, mine has 4 teeth already and gave me a nice hard CHOMP and drew blood the other day. YIKES!! He also only wants to nurse before nap and bedtime... We do water at meals. idk if that means i should wean, or maybe pump... I want to go at least a year. But, anyway the bite hurt for 2 days. I think the NO worked because hasnt done it since.

Karen - posted on 04/21/2010

Some interesting comments here - my daughter bites and then grins! Cheeky monkey - its when she has had enough and is only in her daytime awake feeds and so she knows exactly what she is doing!

Amber - posted on 04/20/2010

All 3 of my kids got teeth really early and bit me while breastfeeding. I learned that your instinct is to pull them away from your breast (because it hurts so bad!!) but that only damages your nipple. Instead do the opposite of your instinct and gently push them into your breast. It pushes their nose up against you and they open their mouth to breathe and release your nipple without damaging it further. With each of my kids I only had to do this once or twice while saying NO and they never tried it again. Good luck! It will get better!! Hang in there!!

Rebecca - posted on 04/20/2010

Oh thanks. Great advice

Tricia - posted on 04/20/2010

Firmly say "no" right when he does it and give him a little flick on his cheek beside his mouth, I only had to do that about 3 times and my little girl figured it out!! I found the biting thing to be more of a problem when she was teething!

Sally - posted on 04/20/2010

I read that when baby bites, you can hold baby closer to your breast, so his nose is blocked and that way he will come off himself. Then in a stern voice tell him "no biting, that hurts" or something like that.

Hope you can figure out something that works for you!

Rebecca - posted on 04/20/2010

It's already pretty stopped

DANIELLE - posted on 04/20/2010

Both of my babies did this and my 8 month old just started, I think it is something that they do very shortly. I think telling them no no at this age, they think itis funny! I hope it dont last long for you.

Rebecca - posted on 04/17/2010

Thanks

Emily - posted on 04/16/2010

I went through this with my first child... I would simply tell him, "no bite," and end the nursing session. He got the idea.. only had to tell him once or twice.

Rebecca - posted on 04/16/2010

Thanks heaps for this advice Heather.

Heather - posted on 04/16/2010

Hi, Rebecca. I am breastfeeding, also, and my daughter is almost 8 months old. She recently went through a bout of biting me while teething. I have a great book published by the American Academy of Pediatrics that's called "The New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding". The book suggests that whenever baby bites you, use a single finger to very quickly (but quietly- otherwise your yelp can be a funny sound to baby and they repeat the behavior to hear you do it again) break the latch, say calmly but firmly "no", and then make them wait a few seconds to latch and try again. I had to do it a few times with my daughter (maybe a dozen, maybe a bit less), but it's been several weeks now and she hasn't done it again. You can do it! Hang in there. =)