breastfeeding with teeth ?

Monica - posted on 05/19/2009

I found my son would bite when he was teething

Sarah - posted on 05/19/2009

I'm still feeding my eldest at 2yrs 5 months, with a mouthful of teeth! He did bite when he first got teeth at 7 months, but quickly stopped once he realised that every time he did he got taken off. Just press baby into your breast so that he opens his mouth to breathe to get him off without taking your boob too!

Natalie - posted on 05/18/2009

Quoting Shenay:

Hey Natalie how many teeth does your child have now? If its 3teeth these no problem but more then 3teeth your child wel bite

hi

she hasn't any yet, just wondering as she is really teething now.

Shenay - posted on 05/17/2009

Hey Natalie how many teeth does your child have now? If its 3teeth these no problem but more then 3teeth your child wel bite

Aubrey - posted on 05/17/2009

no?? yes..sometimes when my baby giggles! it hurts a bit..but it doesn't get wounded anyway.thanks God! She is 17 mos. old now with 10 big teeths..

Meagan - posted on 05/17/2009

they are going to bite, BUT if you make as big of a deal as any normal person does when their nipple gets bit, they'll pretty much get the point after a few times. I breastfed my son for entirely too long, 22 months, so he essentially had all his teeth by the time we finished, but he got the idea after a few times of hearing me scream that that wasnt something he was supposed to do.

Maureen - posted on 05/17/2009

yeah, if they are latched on properly, they actually, physically can't bite while actively nursing. That being said, my daughter has bitten me many times and it's usually when I stopped paying attention and she's either done nursing or waiting for the milk to let down. When she was teething and biting everything else, everytime she'd bite a finger or an arm or leg, I would tell her "no biting" and put her down, and she learned what that meant. and since my reaction was a little stronger when she'd bite while nursing ("OW! NO BITING!!") she learned that was not acceptable. I started keeping my hand very close to her face so that as soon as her nursing was slowing down, I'd be ready to slip my finger in her mouth to break the suction and keep her from biting me. That has worked well and she's learned manners and at a year old and four teeth, she doesn't bite anymore. Good luck!

Natalie - posted on 05/16/2009

Quoting Shenay:

Hey Natalie how many teeth does your little one has? If your little has many then 4teeth when you breastfeeding then she going to bite. Just don't let your little one bite on a milk hole (were the milk comes out its very sore hey.

hi,  she doesn't yet she's 5 months, but i am trying to think about how long to breastfeed for (I was only ever planning  to get to three months as i thought i'd hate it !!) but was thinking if i carried on until possibly a year how the teeth thing would affect it is all ! 

thanks to everyone for your help, much appreciated ! 

Jennifer - posted on 05/14/2009

my daughter is almost 8 months and has 7 teeth and they only time that i got bit was when she got her first 2 and she was coming off of the boob. But i've had no problems since then! I think she got used to her teeth and knew if she bit me there would be no boob!! They will bite and it will hurt, she bit me so hard i bled a little, it was VERY painful but I've continued with breastfeeding and will do so until she is ready to wean!!
The only problem i have now is when she gets hungry she bites my arm to let me know!! as long as she doesn't bite my boob i can take it!!

Emma - posted on 05/14/2009

my daughter is 17 months old and is still breastfeeding happily. She now has 13 teeth and they haven't really caused any problems. She has bitten me a couple of times but i took her off the breast, calmly told her no biting and withheld from feeding for a few minutes. She ralised very quickly that she wasn't to do it again!

Emma - posted on 05/14/2009

i stopped feeding my son at 6 months because he got a tooth, didnt want to give him chance to bite. but i regret stopping so early.

my daughter bit me after she had 4 teeth, the shock of my screeming ow scared her an she didnt bite me hard again

Meg - posted on 05/14/2009

My daughter didn't, but my son tried biting. Needless to say I wasn't having that! They can't bite when they are latched on, so if the baby bites she's not nursing anyway. When my son bit me I removed him from my breast and tried again later. After giving it a few more tries, he got the drift.

Lisa - posted on 05/14/2009

I BF DD2 until she was 20 months. Yes she bit a couple of times when her teeth were just coming through, but she didn't keep it up. DD3 has 2 teeth ATM and I've found I have to feed her carefully on one side because they've rubbed the underside of my nipple. I think it was the sleep-feeding at night, I have to sit up to feed, no more laying on my side.

Shenay - posted on 05/14/2009

Hey Natalie how many teeth does your little one has? If your little has many then 4teeth when you breastfeeding then she going to bite. Just don't let your little one bite on a milk hole (were the milk comes out its very sore hey.

Marcela - posted on 05/13/2009

Hii, yes my baby does it.

He did it more at the beginning. Takes some time for them to realize that they have those sharph teeth. It is not to bad... and it is only at the beginning.. once they latch on properly it is fine. What I did when my baby start biting, I pushed him against my breast and that solved the problem. He is almost 11 months with 6 teeth and breastfeeding is great. Sometimes he bites me and I say no and he stops. I do not make a big deal about it. When he is done nursing, is when he sometimes bites me. he thinks we are playing. But, never during feeding time.

I hope this helps.

Krystal - posted on 05/13/2009

i nursed my daughter until 14 months. she had all but her 2 year molars by then. she bit me once (which is a direct consequence of a bad latch). i yelled ouch so loudly (i was SO caught off guard) . she broke the 'latch' and cried for like 3 minutes - i know i scared her, not that i meant to. i told her 'No biting' very firmly. i put her back on when she calmed down and she never bit again.

if they bite it may be because they're not actually hungry, a bad latch, etc.

good luck!