Hi Moms, My beautiful six-month-old daughter has her two bottom teeth coming in. So far, she's experienced all the normal fussiness and drooling, but what I'm really concerned about is breastfeeding. The teeth are now quite sharp and she has taken to scraping them along the nipple as she detaches. It is truly painful! She seems surprised when I say "ow," but I can't figure out a way for her to not use her teeth on me. I'm pretty committed to breastfeeding her for at least a year, so any suggestions would be really appreciated!
I went through the same thing! This just brought back memories that I can now smile about! What I did was I got to know when she was about done and I would put my finger between by nipple and into her mouth to unlatch her myself. This helped some, but I guess I just toughed it out. It will pass, I believe, as this is a phase because you baby has a new sensation with having teeth. Good luck!
Although I myself have not experienced the teeth scraping (my baby is teething & chomping down on me, but no teeth yet), but my friend who breastfed two babies said the following;
When the baby hurts you try not to yell out in pain (hard, right?) but instead immediately unlatch her (with your pinky at the corner of her mouth). Follow this by looking her in the eye and telling her firmly (not yelling or anything, just a tone that lets her know you are not playing with her):
"No. Don't bite mommy. It hurts mommy when you do that." Or whatever phrase works for you.
She may not understand all of your words right now, but your tone and pulling the breast away will let her know that its not okay to bite. If you don't catch her before she unlatches, still tell her the phrase immediately.
Supposedly this will help condition her without scaring her. I hope this helps.
Both my sons bit me at about this age. I was able to train them not to in about a week. Here are the do's and don'ts:
Don't say 'ow' and pull away. (This one's hard). You might scare her and cause a nursing strike, OR (as in my son's case the first time) it might become fun to "see what I can make Mommy do." Shudder.
When she bites, pull her close until she lets go. (Pulling her close will plug her nose and she'll have to let go to breathe.) Takes a few seconds at most.
Then, bring her up to your face, say firmly but gently "no bite" and put her down on the floor. You don't need to leave her there long. 10 seconds at the most.
She'll hate it and start to fuss or cry, and you can pick her up immediately. Do this EVERY time.
(You might add "that hurts mommy" sometimes for later, when she does other things that hurt (and she will) so that she'll know you pull away when she hurts you.)
She will hate being on the floor. And when she learns cause and effect, she'll stop. It really won't take that long.
Here's another thing -- don't try to latch her if she's not hungry. She may bite just because she doesn't want to eat, is bored, and because her teeth hurt. If she bites you 2 times in a row, give it a rest and give her a teether instead.
Believe me, I felt your pain. But it doesn't take long to train her to stop. Good luck!!
I think it's trial and error until you find what method works best for you and your baby. When my son went through this I quickly learned to notice when he was getting ready to pull away and would insert my finger to break his latch just prior to him hurting me. After a few times he seemed to get it and we've hardly had any problems since. Good luck.
I remember that, owww! When my son was doing that I got to the point where I would push him into my boob a little when I felt him starting to pull off. It took awhile for him to get over it. Your daughter is just trying to figure her teeth out. I hope it stops soon.
My best advise, try to anticipate her coming off the nipple. Usually when she is drifting to sleep. Use your finger to be a wedge. She may bite your finger but who cares.
Sounds like you already know this but some moms think they are doing it on purpose or quit breastfeeding. Not true.
PLEASE DON"T DISCIPLINE HER!!!! (Saying NO! and putting them down with a toy, etc....) Some people advocate this. She may go on a nursing strike. My son did.
At least try lots of other stuff first is my advise....
I assure you, this is temporary. She will figure out how to stop doing this. She's just new at these new teeth things!!!
Thanks for being patient and such a good mommy!!!
Thanks for breastfeeding!!!!
Love,
Deb
The advice is good so far with using a finger to detach and orajel if the teeth are really hurting. I would add a teething toy. Keep one handy if they are using you as a chew toy. Say that hurts, you must want to chew, let me give you a chew toy.
I have BF my two sons for a while...dedicated to go to two years for each of them.....(I'm on son # 2). Anyway, the best tip was provided by a pediatrician friend of ours...any time your baby bites you, reply with a stern 'no biting' and do not let her feed for 5 minutes. It will seem like an eternity, but she will learn. If she doesn't, go get some lanolin from Target, lol. :) You will still get the occasional bites, but stay committed and realize that you are doing something amazing for your baby. :) Good luck.
Great job breast feeding, keep it up! Just readjust her latch until she gets it right. Find a Le Leche League meeting/specialists near you at their web site.
I say try to break the latch while she is still latched, don't wait for her to detach. If she is latched then her tongue will be covering her bottom teeth. So you stick your finger in the corner of her mouth and break the seal and move your nipple out of the way before she has a chance to pull her tongue back and expose the little teeth!
Just wait till the top ones come in though- I haven't figured out how to avoid those! My son is 14 months and still bfing! He is not bad about it, but his top teeth do kinda sink in while he is nursing!
Oh well, Good luck!
Hi A.,
My 9 month old daughter is getting her 4 top teeth and it hurts us when they first start to come in. I noticed that if I put orajel on her before I nurse it takes away her urge to rub her teeth on my nipples. I only did it a few times, but it really did help and she seemed to stop right away. If I would say ouch don't bite or that hurts she would think I was playing and start to laugh. I don't believe they realize that it hurts when they do that. They are just looking for some way to relieve their itchy gums. Anyways, good luck. Remember it's just a short phase.
A.,
It is normally a very short lived problem as the new teeth come in. In my experience, it only happens with the front two bottom and top teeth and only lasts about a week (two kids). Good luck and hang in there. She WILL figure it out. It is annoying/painful but it should be very brief. If they did that for long, no one would breastfeed past when their kids got teeth!
:-)T.
you might unlatch her yourself right before she does so herself as to prevent the pain.
good luck and good job on breastfeeding,
a.
Hello A.. I had this issue as well, with my son many years ago. The only thing that worked for me was paying attention to when I thought he might be ready to detach himself, and use the finger in the mouth method. I would open his mouth, placing a finger on top of the teeth as I did it, and gently pry him away. Most of the time it worked, sometimes it didn't, like if he wasn't done eating. Good luck to you!!!
