Will It Hurt Me to Nurse My Baby When He Gets Teeth

I never personally had this problem but one of my old neighbors breastfed her son until he was 2. He bit her one time and she unlatched him, told him no biting and set him down and refused to feed him for about 20 minutes. he got the message!

I breat fed my oldestr for a year, he bit me once, and when he did it startled me and I screamed realy loud, not at him of course but out of shock. It startled him to and he never did it again. My youngest however thoght it was funny when I screamed, and he started to do it to hear me scream. His Dr. told me that as long as he was eating, he couldn't bite because his tounge would be over his bottom teeth, and if he was biting he was done eating, and to end the feeding. It worked for us.

It isn't the teeth that are the issue, its the teething. Babies know how to suck properly and their teeth won't get in the way. But my experience was with the teething. After they were done eating their mouths would clamp down on the nipple and they would do a big stretch while tugging on me. I would have to shove my finger in between the gums and push down to release the bite. And say "No Bite! That hurts mommy!" Not that they understood what I was saying but it wasn't a pleasant reaction for them. Eventually the biting stopped. Not all mothers have the same experiences. You may be in luck with your little guy if he decides to be a gentle feeder. Good luck.

I nursed 4 children including twins and I was never bit. Stick with nursing as long as you can! You won't be sorry.

I agree with a lot of the moms advice. I have 2 boys they are now 5 and 7. I nursed them both until they were 1 year old. I only remeber being bit once. It was with my youngest and he did it because he fell asleep. I just put my finger in the coner of his mouth to break the suction and never really had a problem after that. I wouldnt give up it really didnt hurt that bad. Good luck and I hope everything goes well.

The teeth won't hurt as long as he is latching on correctly. His tongue should cover his bottom teeth, and the top teeth shouldn't scrape the nipple.
If you have trouble getting the latch correct (or any other problems really) call a La Leche League leader. They're very helpful. http://www.lalecheleaguestlouis.org

My daughter 19-mo-old has almost a full set of teeth now, and the only time they hurt my nipple is after she falls asleep. It's a convenient signal that it's time to put her in bed.

I have a friend who when their daughter was born in 1975 she had her two front teeth already. So, what they did was take a bottle nipple and put it over each brreast as they nursed. That way the parent and child can still bond and not cause any pain to neither the parent or the child.

It just so happens the day after my daughter got her first tooth at 5 1/2 months, my breasts dried up. It happened over night. We had to switch to bottle quickly. I wish I could have continued. I've heard and apparently others agree that it does not hurt. It couldn't hurt worse than the first 4 weeks of breastfeeding. I'd never felt anything like it! Anyways, if you can, stick with it. It is a wonderful experience.

The baby's teeth are really not the issue. If they force their gums together tightly, it hurts too! The main thing is, if the little angel bites you, put a stop to it immediately. Break the suction with your finger, and end the feeding. It will not take many times before the baby figures out "don't bite the breast that feeds you". Good luck, & thank you for giving your baby the very best!!

No, I nursed my son all the way through every new tooth. If he bites firmly say no after you remove him (gently) from your breast. You might want to join La Leche or post on www.breastfeeding.com for more nursing moms answers.

Well L., I can tell you that that did happen to me with my last child, same age and everything. My first two kids didn't get their first tooth untill they were 8 months old. It did hurt! i jumped every time he latched on but then he got the rhythm of sucking going and then it wasn't a problem, his tongue just went into place over his bottom teeth and didn't hurt. My husband was of no help though, he couldn't fathom why I jumped all of the time even though I told him. Made me wanna say how about I bite you and see how it feels. It didn't go on for too long, it almost seemed like he was just doing it to "feel things", you know texture and the like. I think he quit a few weeks later. I quit nursing when he was 6 months old because he was bored with it (so was I by then) and he was a very good bottle drinker and eater. He's a pretty tall 4 yr. old now, he started out at 10lbs. 13oz. and 22 1/2 inches long, very heathy. I'm 5'2" and my husband is 5'10" , we think he takes after all the tall people on both grandpa's sides. Sorry didn't mean to write a book. Good luck with the nursing, if it gets to be a "real pain" just quit, you will both be ok.;)
M. B.

i just weaned my little girl at 13 months. she had 7 teeth when we stopped nursing, and i only stopped because i started taking some medication that would not have been good for her. fiona bit me once, and it was an accident, i think. she was dozing off and i guess got the urge to bite. i sort of yelped, and it startled her quite a bit. whether it was my yelp that scared her from never biting again, i'm not sure, but she was probably 7 months when that happend. so i don't think you need to worry. just make sure when not nursing the baby has something safe to chew on, like a teeher, to satisfy that urge to bite down.

happy nursing!

No, it should not hurt, 99% of the time the teeth do not get in the way. I will tell you that you may get one of the 1% times and it doesn't hurt as much as it catches you off guard. Every once and a while the baby may scrape the tooth across you, but as I said it is more of a shock. I will also say that that won't happen for a while. My daughter got all of her teeth very early and the teeth didn't start getting in the way at all till about 6mo. Good luck, and keep going, it's worth it!

Hi L.!! I am nursing a 5 month old little girl. She has not cut any teeth yet, but has bit me. I unlatched her immediately and looked at her and told her no biting. She wanted to go back and nurse, but my ped told me to let her wait a few moments so she knows you mean business. I waited about 5 min, and I have not had any more problems since then. My daughter too is trying to cut teeth and I am keeping my fingers crossed that won't become an issue. Good luck to ya!

~S.

I nursed three boys....We all survived!!! If he bites...you will let him know you don't like that...he'll stop.

Enjoy the process!!

Kat www.agingyounger.net ____@____.com

I nursed my daughter until she was almost 7 months. The first teeth to cut are on the bottom, and when she is nursing, she uses her tongue to help her latch on. Her tongue will be between her teeth and your breast, so it should not affect you at all. This will give you an opportunity to see how it works for you when she does start getting more teeth. Good luck to you and I applaud you for being a trooper, wanting to stick it out despite a new obstacle!

I am nursing a 9 mth old right now and she has 3 teeth. She has only bit me once. As long as she is nursing she will not bite me, but she got bored one time and then she bit. I immediately unlatched her, so that she would know that was not right, and she hasn't done it since then. I recently read that as long as the child is actively nursing, teeth should never be an issue.

Good luck!

My baby's teeth came in late but I nursed her all the way until 17 months with a mouth full of teeth! At first, when they figure out they can "bite", you may have to just set some boundaries. When mine would start to bite, I would gently tap her cheek (just to get her attention). It only took a couple of those for her to realize. By the way, I did that with 3 kids so I know it can be done! Good luck!

If he bites (can be done with gums as well as teeth) just remove him from the nipple and tap his nose gently with your finger telling him "No, that hurts mommy, no bite" softly, but with punctuation.

It does not hurt to nurse a child with teeth any more than it does to nurse one without them.

Hi L.! I am currently nursing my second child. He is 7 months old. I nursed my daughter until she was 16 months old. I never had a problem with biting. I know it can seem scary when they start getting teeth, but it does not hurt. If your son does bite, just take him off and say "no biting." They get the message pretty quickly!

I nursed my children until 16 months, 13 months and almost 20 months respectively and teeth were a non issue because I delt with it as they came in. They will try to teeth on you a bit and with each of mine it only took a couple of times taking my finger and abruptly give one firm tap right at the mouth and nose while saying "no bite". My daughter accidently bit as she was changing positions at 11 months. By this time I had already established the no bite so verbal "no bite" along with my "ouch" was all she needed. Of course because she didn't intentionally bite me she was heartbroken because I told her not to bite and she said "I di-nit bite" as she cried pitifully. So she clearly had the idea it hurt me. They can understand. Just be consistant. I have seen some moms talk about how it hurts and they don't do anything to let the child understand it is a problem. I have a friend that started off by telling her daughter she could no longer nurse if she bit. She would remove her for 5 minutes and try again. It took a bit longer that way, but it also worked. Her child also had issues with wanting to take her fingers and stick them in her mouth right after having a bite of food and then she would proceed to put it in her hair. Her mom had to take her food away for 5 min and tell her to keep her fingers out of her mouth if she was going to paste it in her hair. She learned that one pretty quick. My daughter did the same thing, but I just had to ask her "would you like to eat now?" she would answer "yah" and then I would tell her she couldn't put her food in her hair then. She loves to hold her hair. So this was hard for her, but she knows enough now that at 21 months she looks at her hands at mealtime and if they are dirty she says "wipe it" and won't put them in her hair unless they are clean. Good luck!

B. :)

As far as training your child not to bite or chew on you, it's a matter of consistency and persistence. You are going to be bitten occasionally, but if you use the following method, it will be very rare once they learn not to do it. When your child starts to bite down on you, using your finger, break suction, tap the child's mouth with your finger and say, "No biting." I am not saying to slap your child, so please do not misunderstand. It's a light tap with your finger tip just to get the child's attention so that they understand that the reason they've lost the satisfaction for the moment is because of their mouth. There is no pain involved here at all. If the baby bites again, do the same thing, but put the baby down for a minute. When you come back, just repeat the process and say "don't bite" every time. You don't need to be loud or angry at all...just a slightly firmer voice will communicate to the baby that there's a problem. After all, they've never been reprimanded before and this is all totally new to them. When he resumes nursing without biting, just be really soothing and encouraging. He'll notice the difference and he really will try to please you by not biting. This method has worked with all four of my children. I know some women say that babies can not be trained not to bite, but it just take patience and consistency. In my experience, it took me about a week or two of consistent correction to train my babies not to bite.

I am still nursing my 1-year-old daughter. She has 2 teeth on the bottom, and it doesn't hurt at all. I have had the same experience with her biting sometimes when she's bored or just experimenting. Unlatching her, telling her no, & waiting for about 10 seconds to start nursing again only worked temporarily for me, so now I'm trying to actually remove her & set her on the floor for about 30 seconds before starting to nurse again. So far, that seems to be more effective. Good luck & stick with it!

Hello there. I nursed my son for a full year. When he got some teeth I didn't have too hard a problem, but once or twice he did get me. I told him no, I am not sure if he really understoodt it. I am not sure what to tell you to help, but it wasn't bad at all.

I'm sure there are limits onhow long you breast feed. When the teeth come, I'd say it's time to ween him away. use rthe b reast pump