Bite When Teething

I never "enjoyed" breastfeeding-so it makes me a bit sad that it was not the bonding experience some women have.

When my daughter started biting-that was pretty much it. I think it was the teeting stage, and also slower milk supply b/c when we weaned my milk dried up in just a day or so. But I could not stand being on edge at everyfeeding that she was going to bite...she would clamp and laugh and it was really painful.

If you do wean, go to a bottle, I do not think he is likely ready for other methods. And I learned that bottle feeding is not as convenient as it seems, having to train my self to bring the ingredients and the means to mix a bottle-it is no longer instantly ready, perfectly stored and at the perfect temp.

Just do what feels right for you.

My daughter thought it was funny when I jumped and ouched too. She started to bite down hard enough to cut my skin and then would clamp down with her teeth and not let go unless it was to scrape off without opening her mouth.

I did a bit of negative reinforcement by saying ouch and poking her gums with a fingernail then removing her from the breast for 1-2 minutes.

We got through the biting phase and went on to nurse to 21 months when she self weaned. Note, use a bit of oragel a few minutes before nursing on the really sore spots. That should help too.

Good Luck,
K.

This is pretty normal at this age. When he bites you, say 'no bite' in a very firm voice and take the breast away completely. Put him down and walk away for a minute or two, then come back and offer it again. If he bites again, then that feeding is over. I promise he won't starve. :o) If he cries, he cries. This won't be the last time he cries when he doesn't get his way! He'll learn pretty quickly that biting equals bye-bye for the breast and he'll stop doing it.

One other thing. If you have a big reaction to the bite he may decide that is funny and continue to do it to get the laugh. I know it is VERY hard, but try to stay as calm as possible. The less ouch the better. Just use your 'mommy's not kidding voice'. :o)

Good luck with this. Just be consistent and this too shall pass. :o)

I had the same problem with my daughter. For a couple of months I was able to give her a “mini-timeout” every time she bit me. I would take her off the breast and say “don’t bite that hurts mommy” I would keep her off the breast for about a minute and then go back without many problems for the rest of the session. Then one day she started to think it was funny when she hurt me. She would bit down, I would say ouch and she would laugh her butt off. The timeouts stopped working and she started to bite harder to get a louder “ouch” out of me. Finally she bit me and I started bleeding. That was the night she was weaned.

I hope you are able to get the little timeouts to work for you and I really hope you don’t end up going through what I did (I really did bleed a lot from that bite.) I just wanted to warn you about what can happen.

Good luck.

I would try and keep nursing - but poke your finger in his mouth when he bites. Say "NO" or maybe tap one finger on his cheek (soft "hit" or "slap" with one finger only) especially if you or baby are deaf.

Stop nursing, (try not to jump and pull away, that hurts, just "no" and put your finger in to open his mouth and take him off), put your shirt down, and wait a minute or two. He WILL learn that if he wants to keep eating, he should not bite. Every now and then he may forget, but if you've already trained him you will be able to just say no, or softly touch or lay your finger on his cheek and he'll remember and let go.

9 months old, you do need to talk and teach, but only talking and explaining to your baby that it hurts and etc is going right over their heads, you ALSO need to SHOW them what you mean by taking him off and stop nursing for a few minutes. So he'll understand the consequence and put it together with your language and begin to understand.

When my son did that, I just said "Ouch! No biting!" then put the breast away, pulled my shirt down and got up. I'd offer to him again in a few minutes.

I wouldn't try to explain much too him about it. Just the ouch and then end the nursing session. He'll get it. Sitting there and trying to explain that it hurt you, probably just upsets him because the breast is still close by.

Hope this helps.

T.

Hi N., I had this problem with both children and I'm pretty sure that it is universal once babies start developing teeth. When your son is latched on and starts to bite, insert a very clean finger into his mouth to stop the suction (sometimes it is hard to get your finger in because they are sucking so hard) and say "no biting". Go back to nursing and repeat this every single time he bites. It usually takes a few weeks. Sometimes they return to biting once the next teething cycle starts up and you repeat the process. I was given this advice by La Leche League and found it really took care of the problem even though it hurts like crazy when they bite. Good luck and stick with it. YOu are doing a wonderful thing by nursing your child both nutritionally but also via the body to body bond which research has proven develops the synapse conection in your son's development. It also helps us mommies because we keep producing oxytocin while nursing and that makes us calmer and more caring. Good luck.

Hi N.,

My daughter did the same thing. She would bite me so hard that I would bleed. It was very frustrating. I have read about it and they say to take them away from the boob and not to freak out or yell. Obviously snapping was a natural reaction for me. But I got her off the boob at that point because it was not stopping and it was painful. The boob rub (Lanolin- helps afterward) Other alternatives are getting a chew net and put in frozen grapes or fruit into the net and let him chew on that when he starts to bite. I would NOT get him on the bottle at this age. My daughter is 2 and will not give it up and I started her on it at 10 months. Keep trying a sippy cup or something else- you will regret the bottle later- and you should try soon to get him sleeping without the milk- I am expecting another baby and I wish I could have gotten this advice with my first. Good Luck and if all else fails check the internet, they have so many sources to help- just go with what you feel is right.

I was told that when an infant begins to bite while at the breast, you are supposed to press the baby into your breast. This causes the baby's breathing to be blocked and they will let go...after doing this a number of times, they will learn to associate discomfort with biting.

Dear N.,
My mom told me that the "old school" line of logic was that when your baby is old enough to have teeth and start biting you, it's time to be done nursing.
Believe me, the first time my son bit me, and I mean HARD, that was the first thing that came to my mind because I was like...Having to get my nipple sewn back on is not worth this.
But, I decided that I would try just taking the breast away from him every time he did it. And, if he kept biting me, he was going to have to go on a bottle.
If he bit, I took the breast away and told him if he wants to bite, he can bite something else. I would give him a teething ring or a bagel or something else. But there was no biting Mommy.
Trust me, he got it figured out and I was able to nurse for 15 months.
All I know is, little tiny teeth are razor sharp and if a baby won't stop biting, you aren't left with a lot of choices.

I got bitten once here and there starting about a month ago but there was one morning 2 weeks back that my daughter insisted on biting me everytime I tried to latch her on. This was her top up feeding before going to daycare. I told her no quite sternly a couple of times and she kept doing it. I then remembered something my mom said to me that babies don't realize that biting hurts and that when we were a little older (toddler age) she had dealt with us biting her by gently biting us back and that stopped it right away. In desperation the next time she bit me I pinched the skin on the back of her hand and told her it hurt mummy. She burst into floods of tears and I gave her a big cuddle and she gave me the biggest hug. I then latched her on again and she bit me again at that point I told her no that it hurt and my husband needed to get out the door to daycare so I sent her without her top off feeding. I called her day care provider and explained what had happened and that she might need some extra cuddles and a bottle when she arrived.

She has not bitten me since. I'm not sure in hindsight I would pinch her again, whether it was that that worked or sending her off without getting any milk. But something worked. She continues to be generally mouthy but she hasn't bitten me.

C.

Yep. When my youngest drew blood, I quit nursing and put her on a bottle. In my opinion 9 months is too young to put on only food or sippy cup as mine were still getting a lot of their nutrition from their milk.

Do what works for you and feels right to you. Trust your instinct. You are his mom, you do know what is best for both of you.

This is normal. My daughter goes through phases of biting. In the beginning, I had to firmly say "No" and take her off the breast. My harsh tone would cause her to cry and I would comfort her (off breast) and tell her that I was sorry to have to be stern but that hurts mommy and she can't do that. Then I would put her back on the breast. I would do this a couple times and if she was still biting, then the feeding session would be over. We'd try again 3-10 minutes later if she showed interest.

Now, I only have to say "No" and not take her off breast. Of course, now I think it's because she gets impatient that the milk isn't letting down fast enough so I say a firm No (less harsh than in the earlier days) and tell her she needs to be patient... and I concentrate on relaxing so my milk will let down. Of course, she doesn't understand anything I'm saying - it's more the tone of the voice she's listening to.

If you're stern and strong a couple times, your little one should get the message and stop. You want to be careful not to scare him off the breast permanently so it's important to be reassuring that the breast isn't off limits forever - just when he bites and just for a few moments. Then gently re-latch him with comforting words. This is why I think it's also important to offer it again in a few minutes if you've had to end the session due to biting, but he shows interest that he's still hungry a few minutes later. Be stern that biting isn't allowed but persistent in showing him you still want him to breastfeed. I hope this makes sense and isn't just more confusing to you!

This is all normal.
Good luck!
Cassie

Hi N.!
I think all of us who have breastfed have gone through that biting thing. This is the first test of your boundaries as a mom! I know we want to be all soft and cuddly all the time, but we also have to assert ourselves. With my son, he bit me once or twice and then I told him very firmly after pulling out the breast "No, that hurts me. Mommy doesn't want to be hurt." It is hard to say it so authoritatively because we think we don't want to hurt their little feelings. but they get that your serious because they feel the different vibration in your tone. And, don't worry about him crying, he'll get over it. This is just his way of protesting and not getting what he wants. Unfortunately, you will have 100's more opportunity to get tested and reinforce your boundary.
If he doesn't respond, take him off the nipple completely for that session. Give him something else. Then when you have another session, talk to him really smooth and calm, and tell him "remember what happened last time when you bit me? That hurt mommy, so if you want to keep nursing, you must not bite."

If you stay consistent and firm, he will get it. Amazingly, his little 8 month brain will understand reward and consequence.

Good luck!

M. S.

If you're really into breastfeeding overall, I suggest that you get some good advice on this from someone like a lactation consultant or La Leche League. I think I had a biting phase with my daughter but it passed and I was really glad that we kept breastfeeding. I know that everyone's different, but that was my experience. good luck!

I breastfeed all my children until they are 5 or self wean sooner. I have had every child of mine go through this biting phase. First make sure your child is hungry when you nurse. A baby cannot bite when he/she is sucking or they would bite their tounge. This will help but most of all you need to show him/her that what he/she is doing hurts. Everytime my boys (I have 3 boys and another on the way) would bite me I would flick their cheek with my finger and yes they would cry but we only went through this routine 2-3 times because I did it immediately when they bit and they figured out very quickly that biting hurts (both of us) then they very quickly stopped.
You will need to take consistant action if you want to continue breastfeeding if you do not show him/her that it hurts he/she will just keep biting and you will need to start with a bottle instead.
It is hard to do but for me it's harder to let my child bond with a bottle than to learn he is hurting me by using this method.
I hope whatever you decide turns out for you both.
Shalom!