Biting Mommy's Breasts

Pump... Babies go through enough change on their own. So I suggest that you pump as long as you can.
Gramie of 10

The biting is a phase that both of my girls went through; I was told to pull their head in toward me so their noses were covered with my breast and they couldn't breath unless they opened their mouth and let me go!! It worked like a charm, and they quickly seemed to learn that biting mommy wasn't fun b/c they couldn't breath and do it at the same time. Stick with the nursing; it gets more rewarding as the months go by!! If you 'yelp' when baby bites, it can become a fun show for baby to watch, so try to keep your pain to yourself so the bites aren't 'rewarded' with a show!

What I did was when my daughter bit (with or without teeth), I pulled her off for a few seconds and told her it hurts mommy (or ouch) and no biting. Then let her go back on, if (when) she bit again, I repeated the routine. After the third nibble, I pulled her off for longer before putting her back on. She figured it out fairly quickly though. Cause and effect...if I bite, I don't get milk. I understand that she was not biting to be mean, but that she was learning a new skill. So after nursing, you can give a teether toy and tell him that the toy is ok to bite, but not mommy. Hope this helps!

Usually, the loud, "OUCH!" and your jerking away scares them enough to learn very quickly that they should curb that urge to chomp. They aren't biting to bite us, I'm sure you know. Just get the urge to bite.

They can and do learn not to bite, though. With my daughter, the first time, I really did scream and pull away just as a reflex which scared the living daylights out of her. She only bit me a few more times after that. When she did, I simply ended the feeding session and sternly said, "ouch. that hurts mommy." She quickly figured out that biting means no more nursing.

I hope that works for you!

oh no! don't wean him. talk to your baby. be firm and say "don't bite mommy, that hurts mommy, NO" and take the breast away for a little while. say the same things when you resume nursing and then praise him for nursing correctly. baby will learn. i have 4 children, all exclusively breastfed till 1 year of age, and continued nursing till their 2's. number 4 is 16 months and growing strong. my kids have never had a major illness and have never needed antibiotics...the oldest is now 13!

I feel your pain. It may not be necessarily time for you to wean unless that is something you really want to do that. My youngest daughter did that and it was terrible. What worked for me to unlatch her, tell her firmly not to bite, and then make her wait a few before nursing again. Hope it helps and good luck.

Way to go on breastfeeding!!

You should know in general a baby will become use to "chewing" on a bottle nipple while he is teething. However, if you want him to not try the same thing on you here;'s what you do:

When he begin to bite (even slightly) thump him on the jaw. And continue thumping, gently, until he relaxes his jaw - usually he'll stop eating.

You must do it every time, the bad news is, he may get one or two more real bites in before you train him - sorry.

FYI: I breastfeed 4 children a total of 6.4 years.

Don't wean yet - they shouldn't be getting cow's milk until they are at least 1 year old, and besides, breastfeeding continues to be a valuable source of nutrition and disease protection for as long as breastfeeding continues. And, as Danelle said, their brains are growing so much right now, and the immunity they get from breastmilk is unmatched, because whenever your body encounters a "bug" (virus or bacterial), your immune system will get to work building up immunity to that *specific* germ, and it will pass that right along to your baby.

They learn not to bite, just say "Ow!" pull 'em away for a second, and then let him resume. Don't pull their hair - it's not an obvious connection, pulling out your breast is.
I usually switch sides, but that's more for my benefit than his. They're just distracted - I find if you look them in the eye whilte they are nursing, (instead of looking around or reading or whatever), they also pay more attention.

There's a kellymom page on this:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html

Mine still sometimes bites if I try shifting him around while he's nursing and he's not ready to let go. Yikes! But that's easy enough to avoid. (Or if he's really desperate when he first gets started. I try to take a second to get him calm, or say "It's coming. It's coming as I get him positioned. )

Here's 101 reasons to feel good about doing exactly what you're doing! http://www.promom.org/101/

Good luck!

Yes, it is time to wean. Rather than send your son nervous fearful energy, deal with this milestone - there will be many more. When he nudges have the formula bottle ready and hold him while feeding. If he starts to nibble/suck his thumb because of the transition to total bottle, give him a pacifier for a moment to settle him down, distract him with some activity and sneak (!) the pacifier out. Wean away the pacifier, too. It may not even be necessary. Good luck. J. G.

My little one isn't old enough to bite yet but my mom had 8! kids and she told me that all you have to do is say 'no' firmly and pop them on the cheek. She said it wasn't punishing or hurting them but simply training them not to bite. None of us ever did it more then 2-3 times and then learned quick not to bite while nursing. I love nursing and was a little nervous about when her teething but my mom said it was never a big deal for her. Hope this helps.

My first daughter started doing that after her first teeth came in and I spoke with my lactation consultant and she said it is never too early to start discipline. she said when they do that take them off and say "No" in a firm voice and wait to let them nurse for about 5 minutes if they do it again repeat the process. Sometimes the new teeth hurt them and biting is natural. My daughter stopped after a few days and we breastfed until she was 13 months old with a mouth full of teeth. Good luck!

No, not time to wean. Baby brains continue to develop and grow for the first two years. Breastmilk is the best nutrition you could give him for this growth. It's made especially for his needs.

But, oh I remember. My baby got those two bottom teeth around that time. Basically, I either unlatched her and set her down telling her "No biting please, it hurts mommy". (Wash, rinse, repeat and repeat and repeat.) Sometimes I couldn't get her to unlatch quick enough and had to use the smother with the breast technique to get her to let go. This passes, it really does. Baby is now 10 months this week, still only has the two bottom teeth, but rarely nips me anymore. Mostly it signals that she's ready to end the nursing session and get down to play, or it happens when she is really tired.

I have breastfed three kids. They say that when they start biting you should just stick your finger in the side of their mounth to release the suction and pop it out. Then they will make the connection that biting causes it to go away. I would also watch when he is using the bottle that he is not bitting on the nipple. Afterall, if he is teething that would probably feel good on his sore gums.

What I have done with all 11 of mine is either pull the hair or flick the cheek so they have a SLIGHT amount of pain when they bite. I also then stop nursing for that feeding and start again a little later. They learn quickly and you can still continue the benefits both from a health standpoint and for the bonding.

Hope that helps!

K.

Ooooo, I hated that! That was my signal to really concentrate on weaning my son when he was 9 mos. I would go ahead and wean him, you seem like you have everything in place to do this. It is a personal decision and really up to you though. the biting really can take away from that bonding experience.

I agree with Cyeda - thump him on the cheek. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to startle him. It usually only takes one or two times of getting thumped and they don't bite anymore. That worked with both of my babies and I was able to nurse them each over a year.