Biting and Breastfeeding

Tori - posted on 05/05/2010

i have a 13th month old and at about this age he went through the biting stage as well he would bite i would jump he would think its funny and laugh while still having a hold of it. which is hard not to laugh through the pain your self at times. what i would do is just a gental tap on the nose tell him no and lay him down either on the floor (i nursed in my living room alot so a pillow in the floor was great) or in his playpen i would let him cry until he was done then i would go up to him tell him no bite pick him up and start again if he did it again then i would do it all over again in about a week he got the hint if he wants "nee nee" he wont bite mommy.

Angie - posted on 05/04/2010

I have a 16 month old that got her first tooth at 12 weeks to the day. I didn't realize it was there and went to do a 3 am feed and she bit me. It hurts like heck. Lasinoh cream does help and you can feed through the biting, remember it is something new and they arent sure what its for. I pushed her lip down on the tooth when she went to bite and she never bit after that! 13 months and 8 teeth later she is still a happy breastfed baby! No milk in our house :) hang in there!!

Jennifer - posted on 05/04/2010

After 5 stressful days of pumping and bottle feeding expressed milk I am now breastfeeding all feeds except bedtime as he is too fussy. Even with a bottle he struggles and keeps pulling off/on. This morning near the end of my 2nd boob he stopped sucking and just sat there for a second- then he looked up at me and started a to put pressure and bite (he was watching for my reaction!! cheeky boy). I popped my finger in and took him off and said 'no biting, that hurts mummy' he stared with a blank face then eventually smiled but i did not return the smile. I think he understood I wasn't pleased about something. I put him on a couple minutes later and he fed for 20seconds then was done. I am just watching intently now to see if I can start to pick when he will bite so I can try to prevent another bad one or catch it in time.

Casandra - posted on 05/04/2010

When I screamed he would just smile, but so far im going on a week without a bite :) by using the alternate chew toy method and by rubbing humphreys on his gums/tooth once or twice a day

Virginia - posted on 05/04/2010

Pretty simple...I deal with it by screaming and or crying and she stops. If you don't show that it hurts how will your baby know it's not okay to hurt you?

Kimberly - posted on 04/30/2010

my daughter is almost 11 months and she bites every feeding. i dont know how to stop her other than anticipating her biting me. but your not alone.

Mara - posted on 04/30/2010

My daughter started teething at 5 months. I found that if my she was biting it meant she wasn't hungary, just wanting to teeth. So i'd stop nursing and give her a teether. If she was hungary enough, she would concentrate on eating. I also gave my daughter a bottle at times and would make sure she didn't bite on that either. I never wanted her to associate drinking/eating with biting. However, she is now 10 months and cutting her 7th/8th tooth. I've decided to wean her completely because its just uncomfortable even without biting.

Rachel - posted on 04/30/2010

I feel your pain!! My son turned 7months on the 21st as well and that 1st bite with teeth was extremely painful! I was doing some reading about biting and breastfeeding and the book suggested that if they do bite, gently press their face to your breast to plug their nose, they are now big enough to know if they can't breath they'll unlatch. They don't like the fact that their meal is being interrupted. I have also noticed that once I do that and say 'no' to my son he's starting to understand he can't do that anymore. I plan to breastfeed until 12mns. as well so we'll see how it goes! Good luck!

Natascha - posted on 04/29/2010

My boy got his first bottom teeth at 19 weeks, and has been biting me on and off ever since. In the beginning it came as such a shock and he bit so hard that I cried out in pain. Unfortunately he seemed to like the reaction, and for a while he would suddenly bite, look up at my pained expression and smile. I then started taking him off the breast when he did it, and it now only happens a few times a week (as opposed to every feed). I also try not to show any reaction, but it's hard sometimes! Hope he grows out of it soon.

Sarah - posted on 04/29/2010

I went through this for 2 excruciating weeks with my baby girl. What I did was to immediately break the latch (by sticking a finger between the gums) and tell her 'OW no biting, that hurts mommy.' and sat her down and gave her a teething toy instead and told her 'we bite on this.'

I did this EVERY TIME it happened and after a while she got the idea that there would be no breast when she bit but she could bite on the teether instead. Good luck!

Jennifer - posted on 04/28/2010

I have been pumping every feed still. it is exhausting and I feel as though I don't have time to leave the house. The pumping, sterilizing etc takes up so much of my time. I will try feeding him tomorrow morning and go from there. Fingers crossed he learns not to bite. I really don't want to stop breastfeeding but if it continues to be a problem then it will be stressful for both of us which is not good:(

My hubby has been away for work and is back now so I am hoping to wake through the night this weekend to pump so I have a back up stockpile. That way there is not as much pressure for me to pump just before i feed it to him!

Pamela - posted on 04/28/2010

My son got two bottom teeth at 5 months and shortly after his teeth would graze my nipple and cut me. He didn't actually start bitting until 6 months. I was told by many people to flick his cheeck or take him off the breast and tell him no. This just frustrated and upset him and made it difficult to get him back on. I would aslo be super nervous and tense waiting for a bite that made it worse. Some good advice I did get was when he bites or wants to bite just take him off and give him something like a teether to chew on.
I have found that he only is tempted to bite when he isn't hungry or when he is done. Now I just watch for his cues that he is done eating and take him off quickly!
Good Luck and just cause there's teeth doesn't mean you have to stop, My son is 8 months now and has 4 teeth and I haven't been bitten in a while. (better knock on some wood, lol)

Casandra - posted on 04/28/2010

before I posted this I started with the taking him off the breast at the time, and letting him chew on something else or go play, which has seemed to work a bit, he nibbled a tad this morning but nothing severe, I'm going to keep doing that and see how far it gets me.

I just take him off when he bites and put him in his crib or pack n play with some toys and i roll over and scream a little inside. I noticed that sometimes he just wants to play other times he's just not that into eating haha. Either way its a learning process for the both of us.

Jennifer - posted on 04/28/2010

My son was 7mos on the 19th! LOL and I just got bit as well! My problem is I bled alot and he bit me each of the 3 times I tried to feed him. I was in so much pain and too jumpy/ stressed so i have been pumping for 2 days now until my cuts heal then I will have another go....eeek! I fed him this morning because my breasts were so full and I felt too lazy to pump. He grazed a cut and i flinched bad and he got scared and cried- i felt SOOOOO bad:( I put him back on and pressed him firmly into my breast hoping it would keep him latched and feeding? He fed then came off so I kept him off (too nervous to risk a bite until my cuts heal!) and put him on the other side and no biting-phew! It was a bit stressful for me as I was anticipating a bite and I didn't enjoy it like i used to:( It maes me sad and I hope I can overcome this obstascle as i too want to b/feed until 1 at least. My issue is my son has`always been a fussy feeder pulling off/on/off/on so i feel i am at high risk for potential bites during reattachment etc. I will do the morning feed again tomorrow and have my pinkie ready. I think once my cuts heal i mayu not be as nervous. His only teeth are the 2 bottom ones and they are only 1/2 showing and r jagged and razor sharp. I am letting him chew lots of things to hopefully wear them down a bit. i think i pulled away while he had me in his little jaws hence the cuts. I also read to have them on cushions so gravity doesn't assist with them pulling or biting. Not 100% how to sort this out but i have thought about quitting:( I hate pumping but will keep doing it for awhile. I think the goal is calm, patience and trying to teach them bite=no milk. Let me know if u have any tips! Good luck. x

Sorry 4 bad typing but am pumping atm!

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 04/27/2010

Here's some biting info:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/bi...

Biting does pass and you don't have to quit breastfeeding because of it.

Melissa - posted on 04/27/2010

I have experienced this too with my daughter, it does hurt but i made the mistake of showing her it was sore and she found it funny, i ended up taking her off the breast for a few mins everytime she done it, she soon learnt that if she wanted a feed she couldn't bite, My daughter is now almost 15 months old and i am still feeding her and she has only bit me once in about 7 months.