Breastfeeding with Top Teeth Rubbing

everyone has great ideas but i wouldn't go with the nipple shields either. i am still nuring my 22 month old and nursed my son until he was 24 months. this is a common thing with the teeth. they just have to learn to adjust as well with the new chompers coming in. it will pass i promise but just stick with it it will get better. this happened with both of my children at that stage. i never really had sores though just pretty tender. sometimes i would have impressions of their top front teeth.

I would re-latch her, so she's getting a better mouth-full and doesn't have her teeth resting right on your nipple. Another idea, is to rotate her so her top teeth don't hit the same spot. For example, if you normally cradle her when she nurses on that side, try the football hold, so her teeth hit a different spot. I nursed well into toddlerhood with kiddos that had sharp little teeth, and we did just fine. Don't worry about the happy nursing moments vanishing; they only get better!!

Have you tried lying down to nurse so the teeth are at least positioned differently? (Warning - lying down to nurse you child can lead to unintended naps.)

Don't worry that "it'll never be as much fun" - once they learn to adjust, you won't feel the teeth at all. At least that was the case for my 2 kids, and from what I hear on the websites for kellymom and la leche league, that's pretty typical. The usual pattern is, you get nipped a couple of times, but if you stick with it, the baby adjusts and everything goes back to normal. Even if you did absolutely nothing to discourage biting at all, they can't nurse when they bite down - the baby has to push his/her tongue against the roof of the mouth.

I agree with Dannelle about the nipple shields - they usually cause more problems than they solve.

Those 2 websites I mentioned have just oodles and gobs of information on breastfeeding:
www.kellymom.com
www.llli.org (la leche league)

I think this has to do with her style of nursing. I have nursed babies with teeth without feeling the teeth at all. See if you can get her to latch differently and be sure she is not latched on unless she is really interested in drinking.

You poor thing -- she must really have gotten you good!!! Don't worry, the boo boos will heal and she'll learn (has learned) that biting is a bad idea. Why don't you get a nipple shield for the time you're waiting to heal? That'll protect the bite enough to let it heal. You can get them, I know at the hosp. lactation consultant offices -- probably at places like Babies R Us too.