Hello. I'm breastfeeding my 6 month old and plan to go the full year. She doesn't have any teeth yet but she likes to chomp down when she's eating.
Does anyone have any advise to stop her? It's bad enough now but it's going to be killer when she gets teeth.
Thanks.
Thanks so much for all of the advice. What I ended up doing was detaching her with my finger and gave her a firm, loud NO! It really hurt her feelings but she's no longer hurting me. I only had to do it twice.
Again, thanks to everyone who responded.
Stick your finger in between her gums to get her to let go, then end the nursing session for a few minutes.
My DD did the same thing and she quickly learned not to bite.
Stinks though, huh? Those gums are pretty tough :)
I did the same thing with the finger and a very loud NO BITE!!! and ending the nursing for two minutes. She was startled, and cried. But after a few minutes of hugging, she calmed down and nursed again. I only ever did this twice, and she learned. I was able to nurse until she was 14 months. Good luck!
Hi A.,
I went through this with my kids, too -
You can gently put your finger in her mouth to release the latch and say "no biting" then try again.
If she's teething, you might also find it helpful to keep a cold washcloth or teething ring nearby while you nurse, and if she tries to bite you (or suceeds, lol) you can give her the cloth or ring instead.
Good luck!
- A. Burns, LCCE, CD(DONA)
Birth Talk
You need to put a stop to this one NOW. I did a "3 strikes and you're out" with my son around that age (he's now 16 months and still going strong with the breastfeeding). They bite. You pull her off and say NO BITING. Then offer her your breast again. Repeat 3 times. If she bites a third time, end the meal and try again in 30 minutes or so. She will learn VERY quickly. I think it took about 2 days with my son and he's never bitten me since. He cried with frustration when he wanted to bite but knew he couldn't. I think it's important to give them an opportunity to correct their actions immediately before stopping for a break.
It sounds cruel, but I was told to press the baby's face into the breast so they had to release to breathe. I did that with my daughter when she bit me the first time, and she never did it after that.
Its interesting. I don't know if other long-term nursers (toddler nursing still) have had this experience but my 2 1/2 year old has had teeth for a long time and her biting is much less painful with teeth than it was at your stage in the game. Before they get teeth it is way more painful for me cause their gums are so ripe and the teeth are cutting underneath so they also bite much harder. I actually don't think it'll get more painful due to this reason. In regard to stopping it all together, you may go through phases but more or less they stop if you take them off the breast. I squeeze her cheeks a little to loosen the suckling grip and then pull away. You can do other ways as well. But the key is that if they bite, a negative response is given to a negative behavior. You also could tell your baby that they are hurting you when they do that and sometimes they get it, sometimes they don't (or they don't care) Either way, I wouldn't play it up cause that reinforces negative behavior. Good luck and I would be hapy to share any more that may help you with this but most of all I want to tell you WAY TO GO!!!! Don't get discouraged by this cause you are doing an awesome thing. Breastfeeding only gets significantly better after the first year and if you make it to that mark that is great too. You should give yourself a pat on the back!!!
