My Breast Fed Baby Has Cut His First Teeth, and Biting When He Feeds! What Now?

One other little trick that I don't think has been mentioned is to pull a little bit of hair (if he has any) when he bites. Then he'll associate biting with that little bit of pain he feels. I suppose it's almost like the cheek flicking tips that you've already gotten.

My daughter got her first two teeth at four months and we went through a biting phase as well! I wanted to add a couple of suggestions to the ones you've already gotten. I would tell my daughter "no biting" at the beginning of each feeding (this was after she had heard "no biting" right away the first couple of times she bit), and she seemed to understand. I also gave her a frozen washcloth to chomp on for a few minutes right before nursing, which seemed to help her not to use me as a teether! The few times she did bite hard, I used some Lansinoh ointment on my nipples afterward, and it helped with the soreness.
Congrats for sticking with nursing!

Most babies will stop biting. If you watch closely you can shove their face in your chest as they start to chomp down, because they have to let go to breath.
With some kids a little flick on the cheek will get them to stop. But what worked well is to stop nursing when they bite. Say "No Bite!" and wait 10 minutes and try again telling them to not bite mommy.
I had one child who would not quit biting. When I started getting bruises and expressing blood with my milk I decided I was going to stop. That is one child out of 7. The rest all stopped.

This is the first time you start to discipline. It is a normal stage to go through. You gently push the baby into your breast when he bites so he is not able to breath & then he will unlatch. He will realize this is not pleasant & stop the biting. Or you can say that hurts mommy & unlatch him with your finger every time it happens. Right now he is probably loving that he can cause you to have such a strong reaction.
Brekka

With both my kids I yelled no and none of that worked. I was so fearful to bf until I read that if you smoosh their face into your breast so their nostils are covered that they'll learn to associate the not breathing with biting. I released quickly after the smooshing so they don't breath for a quick moment. May sound cruel but it's not like I'm keeping them smooshed in my boob for long. My youngest may have bit me once more and she was done. She's 19 months with lots of teeth and no biting.

I know just how you feel. My son first started biting me around six months old when his first teeth were coming in. He always seemed to bite while he was teething. I knew he wasn't doing it to be playful because I always ended up startling him when I would jump and catch my breath which caused him to start crying inconsolably. It wasn't pretty! I ended up telling him "No bite" in a serious voice after each time he bit me and I would end the nursing session to let him know that biting = no nursing! It didn't take care of the problem completely, but it must have helped because I was only bit a few times over the next seven months. Now 7 teeth later, I am still breastfeeding my almost 13 month old. Just another quick piece of information...if your son bites you hard enough to break the skin open on the nipple, consider going to your doctor. I learned the hard way by ending up in the ER a week later with severe mastitis due to the bite of all bites that broke the skin and drew blood! Hang in there...it will get better. You've worked so hard to start breastfeeding, there is no reason to quit now. Good luck!

I had a biter too. One thing I read is that if they are actively sucking they can NOT bite (their tongue gets in the way.) So, if they are biting, they are probably done feeding and are just hanging on for some other reason. What I did was, pull him off, firmly say "No" in a low tone, but try (and I know this is hard) not to jump or scream. Jumping and screaming gives them a reaction that makes it more likely to happen again. In the beginning I would let him try again, but if he bit a second time, we were done with that feeding. (If he seemed actually hungry we could try again after a short period, but he needed to know biting wasn't going to happen.) I won't say he completely stopped biting, but it seemed to help a lot.

My daughter Zoe bit just a couple of times at first. I started nursing with my finger right by her mouth and would put my finger between my breast and her mouth and take her off if she even started to bite down, and then wait a minute or two before letting her latch on again. It only took two days for her to stop biting, though I admit, it took me about a week to stop being nervous whenever breasfeeding, so I understand being terrified. The biting hurts! I too was worried that she'd bite again when her top teeth came in, but she didn't. We're still breastfeeding once in the morning at 18 months.

my son bit very few times. i would look at him and he would be smiling and stuff, so i knew that he was just done nursing. he was 7 months when he got his first teeth in though, so he was a little older.

but yeah, ending the feeding with a stern no is probably the best bet. i dont know what to do if he is doing it 2 seconds into the feeding... but im sure these other posts are good!

S.,
My kids all bit at one time or another, and I would watch them and anticipate it as their jaws started to close. Then I would dig my finger into their cheek, or break the suction by jamming my finger between their mouth and my breast. I would say "ouch!" really loud and look them right in the eye. After a few days they stopped.

It sounds terrible, and I know you don't want to scream at your baby, but if the alternative is that you fear and dread nursing, the long term outlook is not good. A six month old can definitely learn not to do this.
G.

S., yes i know this feeling all too well, i breast fed also for a year with my kids, when they bite remove the breast, tap thier little cheek and say no, its ok, but if they think its a game, then they wont quit playing the game, its ok to scream, but better to keep a firm no in mind, they will get the message, and quit biting and learn only to suck while at the breast, and i know its hard to trust them from doing it again, but i would let the kid get hungry and he will behave to eat, but if he gets food another way , he may not care to quit biting, he might just say i get food this way when i bite , either way he is being fed, just give a firm no, and maybe a little finger tap on the cheek, hang in there, and keep on feeding that little one, youll never regret haveing that time of bonding, D. s

I think you did the right thing to scream when he bit you and take him off the breast for a minute. I went through this with all my kids, I have 5 and i breast fed most of them until they were two. One son stopped on his own at 11 months, because my milk dried up when i was pregnant with twins. Your natural reaction is to be startled when bitten. I would put my finger at the edge of the babies mouth and pry off his teeth. switch to the other side if it is really painful. If he continues to bite then stop the nursing. He will learn, like it sounds like your son did when you screamed. You can talk to him too when they get a little older and tell him no, it hurts mommy. good luck

Thought I would add my practical 2 cents: I had a nipple shield that I was given in the hospital as a nursing aid (nipple extender) that I popped on occasionally when he was in the biting phase and it provided a little relief from the tenderness for me as well as piece of mind that those razor sharp teeth probably wouldn't cut through the silicone!
That might help in the meantime while you teach him that biting isn't acceptable.

http://store.babycenter.com/product/breastfeeding/nursing...

When he bites, you should say in a slow, but stern voice "No biting!" I think he will understand eventually. Or maybe not, because your screaming should probably do the same. If he never stops, I guess your only choice is to pump and feed him bottles. You could always try breastfeeding again later and see if he no longer has the urge to bite. He'll probably only bite when his teeth are coming in, because it feels good. When they are in, he should stop. I nursed my son for over a year and he bit me maybe twice, and that was it. Just lucky I guess. I probably screamed too, so maybe he got that it hurt me. Who knows. Good luck.

When he bites down pull him in closer to the breast so that he will have to open his mouth to breathe, then he will let go without you screaming and scaring him, remember that he still has no idea that you (or anyone else) acctually experience pain! In his mind he is the only one who gets hungry, scared, hurt, etc. He is not capable of empathy yet so don't expect him to know that he hurt you, even if you scream he just thinks that you are making scary noises! I found the method of holding the baby closer so they will open their mouth to breathe very effective, just don't smother him obviously! And after he lets go you can put the breast away and tell him in a firm but not mad voice "no biting" He will come to understand that when he bites the breast temporaraly goes away. Also, my babies sometimes would fall asleep at the breast and then clamp down uncounsciously, so I just made sure that when they fell asleep I gently removed them so they would not clamp down and bite. The biting WILL stop, don't give up on breastfeeding, it is so worth it. Good luck!

Hi S.,

I was concern when my now 21mo got his teeth. He only bit twice. The first time it didn't really hurt. But man the second time I was sore for many hours. Good thing was that after I yelped that second time, he never really did it any more. A couple of times he started, but never very hard. I just kept telling him 'don't bite'. I nursed until he was 20 mo or so. I heard at one point, don't remember where, that they like the feel when they bite down. It is just a matter of training him not to. Unfortunately, it might take a couple bites before he learns. What I would do is if he bites, tell him 'no biting' in a stern voice, but not loud, and pull him off. If he cries because he wants milk, hold him, rock him, what ever until he calms down and then nurse again. Babies are smart and learn quick, especially if they have positive reinforcement. That's my two cents worth. Good luck!

Hi S.,
I went through the same thing with my daughter just recently. I posted on Mamasource and got some good advice. Here is what worked: ending the feeding if she bit me (it was very hard, but ten minutes off would do the trick), starting the feeding by saying let's be gentle and gently stroking her cheek, removing any distractions and maintaining eye contact, ending the feeding after about ten minutes, and lastly saying "no biting, or all done" which she seemed to understand. It took some trial and error, but we got through it. I was not comfortable with flicking her and pushing her face into my breast as others had suggested, so I didn't do that and my daughter learned not to bite pretty quickly. She now has four teeth (just cut one today!), and it has not been a problem at all this time. Good luck and keep going with, it is worth it!

S.,

My son was a biter, but at a little older age (11 months or so) when he was getting the top two teeth. It was horrible (I had a post up here at that time, thinking about weaning). We got through it. I would take him off, tell him no biting, and set him down every time he did it. I think it was because of the teething that he was doing it, it must have just felt good to him. I think it lasted about a month before he stopped. I know that sounds like a long time, but at 6 months your baby is probably just starting solids, and nursing him longer would be better (as you know).

I know someone who kept a teething ring right near where she sat to nurse and if the baby bit she took him off, and said BITE THIS and gave him the teether and ended the nursing session.

Good luck to you, hopefully he will learn quickly that biting gets him no rewards, and that he should bite something else if his mouth is bothering him.

J.
SAHM to Charlie (3) and Joey (17 months) #3 due in Nov.

S.,
Hang in there. You've done such a great thing for your son by sticking with nursing. It's way trickier than you'd think. My son also bit me a couple times. The advice is to try not to scream so you don't scare him etc, but sometimes I couldn't help it. Ouch! If it's any consolation, what I did when he bit me would be to take him off the breast while saying we don't bite and ending the feeding. It made him mad, but he didn't do it very long. Also, for us those first teeth were the issue, he didn't bite be after those first teeth were in and it didn't happen again when his top teeth came in. Just make sure he knows it isn't a game. If you have to end a feeding, don't put him back on. You can move up your next nursing session or give him a bottle. Exactly what you did.
This is usually a short phase if you handle it well right away. Also, I found that if my son was bored at the end of a session or if I was trying to nurse him for comfort or whatever and he was too upset, he'd bite me then too, so I got good at watching for those signs and keeping my breast away!
S.

When my daughter bit for the first time, I reacted as anyone would, with a loud "Ow!!" She actually jumped and pulled away from the breast. I put her on the floor, said no bite, and would not let her nurse for a little while. She was so distraught about not being able to nurse that she never did it again.

Hi S.,
Please don't give up... I am a mom to a beautiful 2 1/2 yr. old daughter and a 3 1/2 month old son. I breastfed my daughter for 27 months,(until just before her brother came) so I went through my share of biting.. I think what finally worked was flicking her cheek a bit when she'd bite. I know that I also took her off and said "NO" very loudly... I'm sure usually through tears because it does hurt;-)!!! My husband used to say "Don't bite the nip that feeds ya".... LOL Also, I took her off immediately when she was done eating. When she was just suckling at the end is when she would become more playful and want to bite and tug. When they are actually eating they usually won't bite because they are sucking... Eventually she did get it. When she was older I just told her that if she bit she'd be done with the nursing and she understood that , to some extent, and that did the trick. I'm hoping that my little guy doesn't bite when his teeth come in but he's already tugging a bit. My daughter's teeth also came in at six months. I think that my son's are on their way... I remember being so excited about her 1st tooth but scared at the same time;-) Stick it out because it's worth all of the benefits to your baby and you! Good luck and Happy 1st Mother's Day!

Melissa

Mine's a biter too :), he kind of nurses like a barracuda. He got his first teeth at around four months and when he bit me I "flicked" him in the cheek. I'm not sure what the official term for it is, but its when you put your index finger behind your thumb (like you're making an okay sign)and then push your finger forward, like shooting a marble or getting a bug away. Their little cheeks are so strong from extracting the milk that you're not going to hurt him- it will surprise him though. So I started flicking him in the cheek and saying "no bite". He's six months now and he doesn't bite anymore, he hasn't since about that first week, now he'll smile while he's nursing every now and then like he's about to and all I have to say is "no bite" and he'll go back to nursing. I hope that helps, I know it can hurt when they clamp down!! Good luck!

Hi S.,
What worked for me was immediately removing baby from the breast, use your finger to unclamp baby's teeth. Then put your baby down and say "No bites." (When my now 4 year old was teething, he only bit me twice. My now 2 year old bit a few more times than that, but not too many times.)
Hope that helps!
R. :)

I nursed both of my children until age 15 months and I remember the few times I was bit well. The best thing to do is remain calm (which isn't easy when your nipple is being bit!). Firmly say no and remove your son from your breast. Wait a moment and then relatch him on and try again. It should only take a few tries...and once he's learned not to bite you shouldn't have to worry about when his top teeth come in...he already knows "I bite = no milk" :)

And kudos to you for asking for advise and not just throwing in the towel! Best of luck!

I am breastfeeding my second child now for 18 months and counting. My first I breastfed for 19 mos.

My advice: Let it get ugly. Scream with pain when he bites. Let him get scared over your cry of pain. And...put the milk bar away. He needs to learn the consequences of his doing. Here: Biting hurts and will not be tolerated.

Once you've yelped your pain (you have every right to. After all they still are _your_ breasts), reprimanded him sternly that biting is an ouchy and a no-no (don't think he doesn't understand, cuz he does.), and packed everything away, then it is time to comfort him and distract him. I wouldn't try to breastfeed again until Griffin gives some signal of being hungry again. My experience shows me, that when a baby is hungry, they eat, and don't play around with their food.

Another thing you might try, would be to give him piece of fruit or veggies to gnaw on. Like a slice of apple, piece of carrot or cucumber sticks. Don't worry about this starting the weaning process. From Griffin's standpoint, he's got these two nifty things in his mouth that need to be tried out. What better way than with healthy foods? He can't really eat them yet, but it will get him used to the idea of solids and different flavors of food. I gave my daughter apple and cucumber pieces to play with with 2 months, and nursed her exclusively for 7 months.

This maybe more than you wanted, but I personally think that the nursing relationship is to precious, valuable, and short-lived to be thwarted by a couple of teeth :-)

Good Luck
Angie

Since you mentioned bottles, I thought I'd respond. My son went to daycare at 3 months and was fed exclusively breast milk...obviously from bottles. Around 6 months, when he cut his teeth, he tried cutting them on me--and never quit, which is why we stopped at 1 year! But--one day when I went to daycare and watched him take his bottle, I learned why he bit: he loved to bite and chew on the nipple of the bottle, and he got more bottles a day than he did breastfeed, so it was somewhat a learned behavior. I never figured out what to DO about it, but I still thought it was an interesting observation.

When he bites, pull him into your breast so his nose is covered by your breast, so he can't breath. He'll automatically release to get air, and it will only take once or twice of this for him to get that if he bites, he won't like the consequence.

Keep going, biting is a phase, I think all babies do it... mine did! And it lasted about the same amount of time with both of them. Congratulations for breastfeeding!

My son bit me several times when he got his first teeth and I ALWAYS screamed. This usually scared him and he screamed. This is kind of a natural negative feedback, so he may stop since he doesn't like being scared by your screams! Of course, it means you may have to suffer through several more bites!

If that doesn't work, when you nurse, be ready to pop him off your breast the second you feel him start to bite done (have your finger near his mouth so you can quickly take him off). Then after he is off, sternly tell him "No biting. Biting hurts Mommy." Then let him start nursing again. If he bites a few times in a row, he is probably done with the nursing session since this is his idea of playful behavior, so it is OK to stop that session.

Also look on LaLeche League's site http://www.llli.org// for more info or tips.

Keep at it, I know I'm thankful that I suffered thru several bites (even though they brought tears to my eyes!)and was able to nurse my son until he was 16 mos. Now I'm enjoying BF my 2mo old daughter!

My friend had a biter, but she would only do it when she was bored (after about 5 minutes. Not starving any more) She resorted to stopping the nursing session at about 5 minutes to avoid her daughter getting bored and biting. She nursed more frequently, though.
Not sure if you're baby has this pattern, but good luck.
When mine bit, I would yell "Ow" and jerk away. It only took trauma like this a couple of times before they stopped. They never bit after that, even if their other teeth came in.
Good Luck

You do whatever you want as far as feeding goes. My daughter and third child bit me hard at nine months. I just could not relax again to feed her. She could tell I was tense and she would not latch on because of it, and when she did my milk took longer to let down and this just pissed her off! So I'd get bit again of course. Needless to say, I did stop breast feeding her. I pumped for about another month, but then soon enough realized she was eating more and more baby foods and was getting good nutrition elsewhere. We did formula for a month and a half and then switched to whole milk at her first b-day. It is hard to stop nursing, especially for me when I knew she was probably going to be my last baby. But truth be told, after I got over greaving for being done, it was really nice to totally have my body back! My kids were 15 months apart, so I was either pregnant or nursing for 3 years straight. So it was great to finally be past that stage. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Set aside guilt and just do whatever is best for you and your baby.