My 6 month old daughter's two new bottom teeth are like razors! She's only had them in for about a week and a half now and I cannot get her to stop biting me, one side in particular. I nursed my 2 1/2 year old son for 13 months and he never bit me like this. I pull her off and say "no" when she does it but she just laughs. What else can I do? I don't want to yell at her or scare her, but honestly, its KILLING me. I've had to pump on one breast because it hurts too much to feed her with it and its the one she ALWAYS bites. She just has two teeth now and I'm scared I won't last long nursing her if I can't get it to stop. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I am going through this right now with my 9 month old son. Check out this link. Kellymom has some suggestions and reasons for biting. The more I react to my son the more he does it because he thinks it is funny. What she suggests is either pushing the baby closer to the breast or breaking the latch just before you see her go to bite and put her down for a bit.
Here is the link: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html
In "The Baby Book" by Dr. Sears he recommends pushing your breast in closer to the baby when she bites, covering her nose and she'll have to pull away to breathe. He claims that if you do this every bite, the baby will learn not to bite you. My son isn't there yet, so I don't know from experience, but Dr. Sears has been right about a lot of other things... Hope it helps!
I went through a similar problem with my oldest son--I remember him chomping down and leaving two perfect teeth marks in the Minneapolis airport when we were on the way home from a family trip! I found that he was biting towards the end of nursing, when he wasn't quite so hungry and was getting distracted (because of course when babies are actively nursing, their tongue position prevents them from biting). So what I did for a while was nurse him more often, but only on one side each time, and I'd end the nursing session as soon as he looked like he was losing focus. It worked to eliminate the biting in the short term, and later I was able to go back to a more normal feeding routine once we had broken the biting habit. Good luck!!!
OK, I know it sounds rotten, but I tried the "no" bit with my kids and it never worked. They thought it was a big game, even if I made a very angry face, looked away, or stopped the feeding.
So, when each of them bit me, I would say "no" and flick the baby's cheek with my forefinger by snapping it off of my thumb. It stung just enough to surprise the little stinkers, but not enough to really hurt.
As I recall, I didn't have to do this more than twice with each child, and it didn't stop either of them from nursing. My youngest nursed for 16 months.
Good Luck!
I had this same problem with my now 2 1/2 year old daughter when she was your daughter's age and she did the same thing when I pulled her off and told her no. I agree with what the other mom's suggested, which I myself read in the Dr. Sears book, about pulling the baby close and she will have to unlatch and stop the biting. I hope it works for you because I know how excruciating it can be!
Good luck.
Also, saying "no!" means nothing to a 6 month old. In fact, they may like the reaction. Try your best to not react and then try the other suggestions. The de-latching worked for me.
I was so scared of my daughter when she did this! It was impossible not to yelp, it was such shocking pain! She vacillated between laughing and not wanting to nurse at all when it would happen. It was terrible. I pumped for the first time and gave her a bottle for a couple of feeds to give us both a break. I told myself to breathe and trust her and did pull her closer in when she nursed. It lasted for about a week (although I still get nipped once in a while) -- but we have gotten through & I'm really glad that I didn't wean her early.
I feel your pain! Hang in there.
