my 6 month old is my first baby that i have successfully exclusively breastfed. how fair is it that he got his 2 bottom teeth in at 4 months, and 2 top teeth at 6 months??!!!! when his bottom teeth came in, we had a couple episodes of biting, but i was always careful to watch for his tongue under my nipple, as a barrier from the teeth! but now, he has the 2 on top and i can feel them! it also doesnt help that he is so nosey, he pulls off constantly to look around and see what he is missing :o) now, it almost feels like going through nursing an infant all over again! any advice on taking care of the soreness? anyone able to tell me that this will all be over soon and my nipples will "toughen up" to the top teeth? my desire is to breastfeed a lot longer. i appreciate any words of wisdom:o)
thanks for all of the encouragement ladies. things have gotten much better. he stopped biting and my nipples "toughened" up i guess ;o) either way, things feel just fine! here's to many more months of breastfeeding!
I did not know any other methods, so i came up with my own. I would gently push on their nose and say no no. This seemed to work for us. I have recently told my sister and she decided to give it a try. I wish you luck :-)
I breastfed all 3 of mine. The shortest was 13 months and my youngest is going strong still at nearly 20 months. Needless to say, they all had/have mouthfuls of teeth well before they stopped. The idea can make you nervous, but once they get through those first front teeth and learn they better be nice if they want milk, I never had any problems. I know what you mean about the looking around and that can be sore, but the only thing you can really do is as best as possible (I realize it's tough with 3) to nurse in a quiet place so there is less desire to look around and be distracted. If he would ever actually bite or nip to test it out, take him off and put him on the floor facing away from you. It should only take a couple times to get the point across. That's what my ped instructed and it always worked. They'd test out the feel of their teeth one or 2 times as they first came in, but quickly learned and never bite again. I actually can't even call the "testing" biting - more just seeing what it felt like.
Just wanted to shout out yeah for you for breastfeeding. I'm a big advocate.
I think you've already gotten the best advice. It will pass and keep distractions to a minimum.
Good luck and enjoy the non-nipping cuddle time.
It is very normal for a 6 month old to stop nursing to look around. I assume he is eating solids now, too, so he isn't as hungry as he was as a baby. Nursing begins to be more like "snacking" when babies have added solid food to their diets.
the problem with the biting is that he's not sucking. when he's sucking, you shouldn't really feel his teeth, and he certainly shouldn't be biting you. My sister had one child who had 4 teeth by 4 months, and she always said that it was the kid with teeth who was the most gentle nurser. I found that hard to believe, but whatever. . . .My child #3 had teeth (later than yours) while I was still nursing, and she somehow figured out that biting was a sign of affection. She would chomp down on shoulders, while hugging, almost anything, as part of a hug, and she would also bite me. I would jump, and she'd laugh. I did finally give her a two fingered little slap in the cheek to let her know it hurt and wasn't funny. As it ended up, she was basically done nursing anyway. She spent so much time unattached and not sucking that I stopped nursing unless she asked for it, and that meant she nursed less and less and in the end, gave it up fairly quickly.
I nursed all 4 of our kids, one as short as 3 months, the others longer, and my first had breast milk in bottles while I worked until she was a year old and on whole milk. It's great to be able to provide that wholesome milk to your kids, but when it gets to the point of being more frustrating than it is not, then I would think about providing other options and not trying to push the nursing thing. It's harder on us moms to get weaned than it is for the kids, but it's most important to have a good and healthy relationship with your children than it is to be frustrated with them due to how or how often they do or don't nurse.
I hope you get tons of advice and are able to turn this into a win/win situation !
barb
My first got all 4 incisor teeth at 6-7 months, the youngest had 6 by 6 months. I found that when the older one bit, I said no and stopped nursing. Usually they bite when they're near the end of feeding and are sucking for comfort. She quickly learned to stop biting if she wanted more food. We nursed for 15 months. The youngest didn't do it, so that wan't an issue. Each kid's different!
I nursed my son for 17 months and he had alot of his teeth. Similar to what others said, if he did ever bite, I would pull him off, say no and stop the feeding. He wasn't a bad biter to begin with, but he seemed to bite towards the end of the feeding, so I just paid closer attention to when he was done and took him off the breast before he had a chance to bite. After a few weeks, I never had an issue even after he got more and more teeth. The hardest times are when the new teeth are coming in b/c they are in pain and sometimes biting relieves the pain for them. Just try to stick it out and it will get better. In the meantime, Lansinoh cream was always a godsend for sore nipples even without the biting.
When my son started biting (it's not their fault, by the way...they're just trying to figure out what these new things are!), I just pulled him off, said "no biting" and then let him eat again. It only took a few times and he figured out that biting=no more milk and he stopped. I'm sure not every baby is that easy, though but that's what worked for me!
IT ENDS! The best thing I found was when they bite, don't pull them off, but push them in closer to the breast. They can't breathe and open their mouth and let go without scraping the nipple. It sounds harsh, but it means less pain for you and one or two times and they don't bite anymore! I nursed my son to 20 months and my daughter is now 10 months. It does seem like when a new tooth is coming in, they bite down more (maybe it feels better?) but giving a little tylenol first when you know that is going to be a problem helps. Also, if you think he just wants to bite, offer a teething toy first and if that does not satisfy him, then nurse. Hope these ideas help.
GOOD FOR YOU for toughening this part out...it will end soon..and you are doing a GREAT job breastfeeding..gold stars for you, Mommy! :)
I have 4 years experience breastfeeding ( as many do here on the board) and I can tell you I understand completely. I also concur with taking the baby off immediately for 2 minutes after they bite. He will get the message soon. I think that this method should be tried instead of the slap on the cheek/smothering method offered by other Moms (sorry...just have to put in my two cents). Perhaps that worked for them, but I think the first year is all about establishing trust with your infant and the "take off gently" method is more condusive to that end.
Good luck! :)
Hi J.,
Congrats on breastfeeding your baby! That is great! If your baby is biting a little bit now, you can use lanolin cream to treat your breasts, just like you did when he was an infant. To stop the biting the best thing to do is to take your baby off your breast, say "no biting" or "you are hurting mommy" and then wait 2 minutes before putting him back on. Keep doing this every time he bites and he will soon learn that if he wants to nurse, he has to stop biting. It does pass. The pulling off to look at everything stage also passes - right now he is very interested in his environment and what is going on - but soon he will be more aware and won't have to pull off to look around. Try to nurse in a quiet dark place so that he doesn't feel the need to pull off. Good luck!
J.
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I breastfed my kids long past their teeth coming in... I took my kids off my breast when their teeth were an issue, talked to them, then put them back on...like many other things with parenting, it's not always easy, but the endurance is worth it! Good luck!
hey J.,
there is life after teeth. i tried to whole pulling the baby off and facing him away for a second. that didn't work out for me. screaming briefly in agony jolted him from what he was doing and didn't emotionally or physically harm him! i think i pumped and fed him a bottle or two when it happened, which he wasn't thrilled about....
anyway, this is a brief phase where the baby is checking out these new sharp white things...it passes once he re-learns the right way to latch on. i nursed for 15months and only stopped b/c i was pregnant with #2....i'm not good with pain, so if i could do it so can you! good luck!
My youngest got his bottom teeth in at 4 months & top not long after as well. I agree with the post that if the baby begins to bite gently push the head toward the breast & or if need be pop him off using your finger. I wouldn't say a word if you do this consistently he will get it.
For the sore nipples you could try a compress.
Good luck to you! I breastfed my oldest until 16 months & still nursing my 14 month old- you can do it Mama!! You got through the toughest part already....newborn time!!! This is just a bump!!!!! Keep going strong!!!
A lactaion consultant taught me a trick. When you feel pressure or biting just press them into the breast gently and it is instinctive to release. My son did this and it turned into a game when I told him NO. It was a bad behavior that I was then reinforcing:) Hope this helps...it worked for us.
