Biting

[AnneD]

My daughter has got her first teeth recently and she often bites while nursing. Mostly it's just a quick accidental nip, but the last three times she chomped down hard and wouldn't let go for much longer than usual. It really hurt at the time and I didn't know how to get her to stop and rescue my nipple. She's still feeding in her sleep right now and where she bit it's still very unpleasantly painful more than 30 minutes later. What can I do to stop her biting? How do I get my nipple out when she chomps on and refuses to lt go?

And, this is me hiding my head in the sand, can she actually do any damage by biting?

 

[Care76]

Anne my son has been biting me and just got his two bottom teeth. It hurts and I can't imagine when he gets his top teeth. I went to see a lactation consultant yesterday and I was told to push his head in hard to my breast so he can't breath and he will let go. Also to not look at him or react. Sounds mean, but this is what they said. Haven't done it yet as he thankfully hasn't bit me today.

 

[tokyo]

It hurts doesn't it! My lo doesn't do this all the time but right before her teeth erupt we have a week or so where she bites lots. I've found that taking her off and puting her down for a bit and completely ignoring her works well, it doesn't stop it every time but she seems to learn over several feeds that biting isn't getti ng her anywhere. Also try giving plenty of toys and objects (wet flannel, crushed ice in a baby sock and , mashed banana and yougurt frozen into lollies are big hits here) for your lo to chew and cool their gums on in the day, seems to lead to less need to use you as a chew toy!

There's some more info on biting here from kellymom

https://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/biting/

May be some suggestioms on there to help. Also there's some links at the bottom of the page for info on biting from other sites.

Good luck!

 

[AnneD]

Thank you both! Xx

 

[MrsChezek]

Jumping in as I'm having hte same issues!

How old are/were your LOs when they started biting? Mine is 4 months and 1 week and just "bit me" (I am using this term loosely as she doesn't have any teeth yet so it's just clamping down hard) for the first time tonight. I was doing my final feed and she just suddenly clamped down super hard that it hurt like hell so I yelped loudly and pulled her off instinctively and then yelled "no". She just looked at me confused. I waited 30 seconds and relatched her and she did it again!! This time I yelped again and pinched her cheek as she wouldn't let go. Then I yelled no again and took her off. She just stared at me wide eyed and confused. I called DH over and told him what was happening. We changed her diaper and put her into her sleepsac to distract her and sort of reset things. I then relatched her and she just did it again I yelped again, pulled her off, then firmly said NO. We put her into her crib and she cried for about 15 minutes and finally went to sleep I'm just so sad...I was hoping to BF her until 6 months but now I'm losing hope.

She's already been difficult latching on and off every 5 seconds (literally) after 5 minutes of real sucking, as well as pulling on my nipple and snapping it like it's chewing gum! She pinches super hard too on my breast while she eats. Now add in the biting and I'm heartbroken. I don't know what to do with her!

 

[tokyo]

My lg was probably about the same age and, as you say, even though she had no teeth it really hurt! We also had lots of issues with pulling on and off, pinching, hair pulling etc. It was not a fun time I started to get quite disheartened and for a while didnt enjoy feeding her - it even felt a bit like she didn't like me any more! A few things realIy helped:

Talking to other bf mums and realising I wasn't the only one and it didn't mean my baby didn't like me!

Waiting for lo to be hungry before feedngs and taking her off once she was finished properly feeding. Apparently babies won't bite when they are feeding properly so it usually happens at the end of a feed when baby has had enough.

Feeding baby in a darkened, quiet room. This helped for 2 reasons - firstly there was less for baby to be distratcted by which helped stop the on/off business and also it means lo had my full attention - babies also sometimes bite for attention.

Feeding lo when she was sleepy. Combined with the darkened room this means I usually feed lo before naps. Im quite happy to feed lo to sleep but if youre not then feeding when theyve just woken up can also be good.

Getting a nursing/fiddle necklace to keep lo focused and her hands busy duri ng feeds. Stops the pinching, hair pulling etc. I bought a gumigem but they are really pricey and I've since discovered that you can get some really pretty ones on etsy and facebook far cheaper. This also helps with the pulling on and off as it encourages lo to focus on something close to you so they can get on and nurse. Helps when feding out and about too.

Giving plenty of other things for lo to chew/mouth/teeth on during the day. As well as the usual teething rings and toys you can give things like breastmilk lolipops (really!) which as well as being lovely and cool on the gums (great for soothing teething pains) also helps up their bm intake if they are not feeding so well at other times (https://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/breast-milk-lollies.html)

When lo does bite then try not to over react as this may be frightening but equally don't sit there stony faced as you need lo to realise its not ok. Taking them off for a minute or two really helps but it can take a while. Your lo was clearly confused when you did this, it will take her a while to work out that it was because she bit and that biting=no boobies! Persevere, every mum I've spoken to said their baby got the messgae in the end! If lo won't let go, then the advice I was given was to pull her head in close - this is uncomfortable and a bit hard to breathe easily so they let go (Dr Sears recommends this in 'The baby book' and it s not as cruel as it sounds!)

Good luck! x