Breastfeeding and teeth

[Scally]

My LO got her first tooth today! yay!!!! I didn't think I would be feeding this long so never really thought about it, but how does them having teeth affect feeding, is it more painful? do they bite? x

 

[staralfur]

We had issues for a few days when her top front teeth came in, it's like they interfered with her latch or something... but it fixed itself quickly. She's never bit purposely. Sometimes when she's just comfort sucking and her latch gets really lazy her teeth kind of pinch. But we've really had no big problems, it hasn't been too much different than nursing without teeth!

 

[kittylady]

My daughter now has 5 teeth and a sixth on the way, she did have a few problems with her first teeth but nothing that left a mark and no problems since then

 

[LDC]

I'm with the other two ladies, Los teeth have not interfered with teething. One thing she did do twice though was bite me when her teeth were hurting which bloody killed, but this only happened twice (literally straight after the first time)

Xx

 

[CandyDay]

Teeth don't affect the feeding. My LO has most of hers now and we are still BFing. She did bite a couple times when she first got teeth. I would just tell her no that hurts and put her back on. if she did it again I would say the same thing and then put her down for a few seconds. After that she didn't do it again. And it hasn't happened for a long time now.

 

[DragonTamer]

I was just going to ask the same thing and you beat me to it, thank you

 

[bananaz]

My LO has 7 teeth and they've never been a big issue. She has nipped me a couple of times recently because she was upset or tired and therefore not latching properly, but she's never bitten me on purpose.

When babies latch correctly their tongues are over their bottom teeth so there should not be any tooth-to-nipple contact in the beginning anyway.

 

[seaweed eater]

Bottom teeth are just fine because they're covered by the tongue. I don't understand how the top teeth stay out of the way, but apparently they do (my LO doesn't have any yet).

Sometimes if they get bored or distracted, or are in pain, they may want to use your nipple as a teething toy. It has only happened to me twice, but it's a good idea to watch for signs of changing their latch, especially when the tooth is brand new, so you can take them off.

 

[rainbowskin]

I haven't noticed any difference with nursing and he hasn't tried to bite my nipple yet thank god! If he ever tries to bite me I was told to tell him "no" firmly and put the booby away as babies only bite if they are not hungry.

 

[Marie000]

I am one of the unlucky ones who had problem with teeth early on. She did bite occasionally for a while and her top teeth were rubbing against my nipple, which was really painful.
The biting stopped fairly quickly. I said "ouch" loudly every time, and took her off the breast and she learned. She had actually started biting before the teeth came out.
As for the teeth rubbing against my nipple, that has been harder to fix. It happened mostly when her gums were sore and it went away with time. It was most likely a latch issue (she has a shallow latch) but she did not take easily to corrections to her latch.

I don't meant to discourage you. I just wanted you to know that if problems do happen, they don't last forever.

 

[Kazorina]

My DD has just got her bottom two teeth and sometimes she tugs away from the nipple as opposed to letting it go, this is reeeeeally painful now she has her teeth because my nipple is being pulled along her teeth. They are razor sharp at this stage too I keep saying Ouchies but at 4mths she just thinks my new facial expression is funny.

I actually came on here to look for suggestions and saw your post.

 

[Leids]

My LO has loads of teeth and I've never had a serious problem. Generally if he does bite it's when he's comfort sucking and dazed (half way asleep type) and he doesn't quite realize it. If I try to unlatch him while he's asleep he'll sometimes bite too. Otherwise he's fine. There was a small blip where he enjoyed biting but he didn't bite hard and he got over it quickly because I would jump and it would scare him.

Sometimes after he nurses you can see indents where his top teeth were, but those have never caused me pain.