Biting During Nursing

Hi K.,
Clamping down is intentional. Not that she means it to hurt you. If she is smiling at you, then it means she isnt actively nursing and it's time to take her off the breast. A baby who has a good solid latch and is actively nursing can't bite you. Watch when her sucking slows down and don't keep her on the breast longer than that - that's when biting can occur, when they're just taking a few lazy, playful sucks, taking the breast in and out of their mouth, etc. When the eating is over, it's over.
While a lot of experts will say to take the baby off the breast and firmly say "No", when my son was a baby, he found my stern voice to be the funniest thing ever.

Good luck

Ohh I know exactly what your going through. My daughter did the same thing for about a month. I was getting very frustated with it. I read some previous responses on Mamasource and did a combination of everything. When she bit I would take her off the boob, tell her "no bite" and not put her back on for awhile. I started to realize she did it when she was tired or just done nursing. It only lasted a month or so. Hopefully it is just a phase! GOOD LUCK!

My older son bit me exactly three times - the first time, I took him off, said "NO" very sternly, and put him in his crib (it was nap time). The second time (a day or two later...), he did it again, just to test; I took him off, said "NO" again very sternly, and put him in his crib. The third time (about six months later), he got startled, bit by accident, and I let him continue to nurse. I didn't begin weaning him until he was 14 months old.

With my second son, however, he continued to bite me about every week or 10 days. I would do the same thing - take him off, say "NO" very sternly, and put him down (feeding was over!). I now realize that is his personality - he's going to continue testing and testing and testing (his current favorite is unclipping the top latch on his car seat). I began weaning him on his first birthday.

You may just have a tester. It may just be her personality. As for the concentrating...I never had any of those issues (thankfully). We never had latching issues, either, even with my second son, born 7 weeks early. He latched the first time I put him on. :-) My SIL, however, had issues with her daughter, too, and she just ended up giving up on nursing her altogether at about 8 months. (At the time, though, she had a 3 year old and a 4 1/2 year old, and couldn't mess around.) She tried all the things you did, and even tried not feeding on demand, but rather on a schedule (once she was about 6 months old...), and that didn't work...again, it may just be a personality thing with your daughter...

HTH

I just went through the biting with my son after he got his first 2 bottom teeth. The first time he bit me, I screamed out ouch involuntarily and took him off my breast. I also had to get out the lanolin cream again for the first time in months. After a 4 or 5 times getting bitten and yelling, he figured it out and I have not had a problem in about a month. My girlfriend told me the same thing happens when they get the top teeth but her daughter figured it out quickly too, so I'm hoping the same thing happens with my son when he gets his top teeth.

For most of my friends, it was a short phase. They would remove their kids from the breast, say "no" firmly (but not loudly), and put them down to sit or play. They would then nurse them again after a short break. It seemed to work, and their kiddos chilled out with the biting after just a few days or weeks.

My little guy never stopped biting. He just bit harder and harder, often drawing blood. He basically self-weaned. Really hard for me, but he's doing great!

Good luck, and enjoy the time nursing!

can't help with the bitting cause I'm in the same situation but I know my daughter is fixated to the pendant around my neck. It keeps her focused when she wants to look away.

Hi K.,
This may be the same as others have already said, but what worked for me was just to go with what my son wanted. He went through that distractable phase while nursing as well. I just had to wait until he was hungry, because as I am sure you have found, even in a quiet room there are things to look at and check out. She will nurse when she needs to, although I know that is hard to imagine, her wanting to be so active all the time. Try not to get too upset if she is not nursing on a schedule, at 7 months especially if she is eating some solids she just may not require the same amount of milk as before. The pumping and giving her a bottle may not work anyway, as she still will be looking around and trying to explore her world even with a bottle. I think this is normal- be thankful your daughter's development is on target and everything will take care of itself.

When my two daughters went through that phase, and I nursed both till they were two years, so we got through it fine, I would try to give them a very clear message re: the biting. As well as you can, clearly say something like "ouch!" and/or "no biting, that hurts mommy" and remove them from the boob for a moment. It's hard b/c you have to strike that balance of not being too harsh, while still making it clear that even if it was accidental, which it probably was, they can not use their teeth and it hurts you. They will probably cry and look heart-broken the first two times or so, but get over it soon enough. And if you are still loving with them and connected, they'll get the message that it was the teeth and nothing else.

Good luck and keep going!

When my son did this and I started to bleed, I consulted online w/ Laleche league's library of information. It is so helpful. They recommended that you slip your finger into the corner-side of your baby's mouth which will loosen the grip onto your nipple. Then slide your finger along baby's mouth to pull your nipple out and gently tell baby not to bite. It worked well for my son to stop. Check out the laleche league site for any more specifics.

My daughter is 8 months and she never bit me when she got in her bottom teeth, but now that her tops are commng in... OUCH!!! I have almost gotten her to stop by breaking her latch, telling her no, and putting away my breast. She still sometimes thinks it is some kind of game;just don't smile or she won't take it seriously. Also, while your daughter is teething, do not let her bite on people. If she gets into that habit, she may not see a difference between Grandma's finger and your nipple.

As far as distractions... all I can say is if she gets hungry enough, nothing will distract her. My daughter tends to grab my necklace if it is reachable, but usually it just depends on hunger.

Good luck!

My 7 month old has no teeth yet and the gummy bites hurt enough - so I have no advice about the biting. I say "no bites" and he just smiles and we both laugh. HOWEVER... about the distractions - this is a BIG problem with my curious little fellow. Firstly, we can now rarely nurse if there is anyone else in the room (especially any of his 3 siblings that he just loves to play with) - I also find that the only sessions that he is really into is when he is REALLY hungry (first thing in the morning) or REALLY tired (before afternoon nap and before bed). Any other time I need to keep him focused and I have uses a variety of things. Firstly I sing to him songs that make him look at my face (while staying latched) like all the various animals on the bus (the snakes on the bus go hiss, hiss, hiss, all through the town)that makes funny noises. I also have worn this string of beads that he plays with while nursing. Once I even held the ring part of a pacifier in my mouth and he flipped the rubber part around while nursing. He is focused on the "entertainment" and doesn't realize that he is eating at the same time! These measures may sound crazy but my son was constantly yanking away from his latch and trying to sit up to check out the scenery.

Good Luck!