The biting!!! :( please help!!! Anyone?!?

[tuckie27]

It's been almost a month since my DD had her bottom 2 teeth erupt and she bit me before the teeth, but now it's sooo much more painful! we have days that she doesn't bite me at all & days she bites me repeatedly. I always keep my finger by her mouth now & as soon as she stops getting milk I unlatch her, but its the waiting for my letdown that she usually bites now. I think she bites out of boredom and frustration. Last week, she hurt my right nipple so bad that I didn't let her drink off that side all day & then finally at night I had to let her feed off that side because it was going to explode lol thank goodness she didn't bite again (that night anyways!) it's to the point now where I'm scared every time I bf her. My being anxious about feeds probably doesn't make my letdown happen any faster either! when she does bite, I pull her off and say "no! That hurts mommy" & I do the sign for 'hurt'. Sometimes she cries and sometimes she just laughs at me like its a game Any advice is appreciated!

 

[seaweed eater]

One reason babies can bite is to get attention. If that's the case for her, it sounds like she is succeeding in getting your attention. I would try maybe toning down your reaction -- especially since she is laughing sometimes -- and, in addition to taking her off, putting her somewhere else and not engaging with her for a few minutes before continuing the feeding.

I'm sorry you are experiencing this. My son has just one tooth and it's horrible when he bites. I can imagine why it makes you anxious every time.

 

[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!

 

[tuckie27]

She bit me again in the wee hours this morning I tried not to make a big reaction but I was startled and gasped pretty loudly. I pulled her off and she cried & it was 4am so I put her back on the other side so she didn't wake the whole house up. Now my right nipple is incredibly sore. I don't know what to do!! I give her teether toys, chilled rings, & she has a Sophie tether too. I feel like this is ruining our BF relationship

 

[tokyo]

Poor you sorry you're having a rough time of it. 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. Hope that you find the trick that works with your lo soon. Let us know how you're getting on, I know when my lo went through a stage of hitting and pinching during feeds that I got really disheartened and disliked feeding her for a while. It was hard not to resent her and to try and remember she wasn't doing it on purpose, support from here was really helpful in keepi ng me going. Good luck!

 

[tuckie27]

Thank you for your responses. I had read the kellymom page on biting a couple months ago, but it was good to re-read and refresh my memory. My LO is still biting. She went several days without biting and i was beginning to relax at feeds again & then bam, she bit both of my nipples yesterday I might have to start exclusively pumping. I am all tore up about this. I worked SO hard to breastfeed! Both of my nipples are flat (inverted) I bled from initial feedings, used a shield, weaned off the shields, cluster fed nonstop, struggled with foremilk imbalance, baby not gaining enough weight, & on & on. I am so upset because I worked my ass off to BF her and now it seems like its ending I have tried everything and I don't know how to make her stop. I'm desperate for any last ditch efforts/advice???

 

[Zephram]

How hungry is she when she's biting? My LO has bitten me a couple of times and it is always when he's not very hungry and doesn't really want/need the boob. If he's hungry he goes on smoothly and never bites. Just a thought.

 

[lsmith073104]

When my son would bite, i would removehim and immediately say NO then put him down. It only took a few times and he stopped but it was tramatic and no fun.

Im sorry and i hope she stops.. have you tried expressing by hand to get itstarted before offering?

 

[Leeze]

my LO went through a phase of doing this. The best advice I was given was to actually pull her in closer to me. Not sure how but it seems to work.