I'm breastfeeding my four-month-old son. Breastfeeding is very important to me, but just in the past few weeks, my son has started biting down on my nipple by pressing his gums together, then pulling off several times while still clamping my nipple between his gums! Thank goodness he doesn't have any teeth yet, but it still hurts a lot! I realize he may be teething and his gums hurt, but regardless of the issue, if he doesn't stop doing it before he gets teeth, the first time he actually bites through with teeth may be the last of the breastfeeding, because my nipples will probably be in shreds! I've tried saying "Ouch!" loudly when he does it, but he either just ignores me, or it startles him and makes him cry, but he does it again the next time he nurses. How can I break him of this habit before his teeth break through and stop me from nursing my little darling?
As soon as he bites you, put your finger in his mouth and take him off the breast. Look him in the eye and tell him "No biting" and keep doing this. Speaking from experience, my son starting biting me when he got teeth and Yes it hurts like hell. He also started crawling at the time and didn't want to nurse anymore anyway so I stopped.
I am currently breastfeeding my third, and have tried several techniques that have worked. You can say ouch!, but that seemed to cause confusion to me. You can press his face into your breast so he lets go to get air (this one really seems to work quickly), also, gently pull the hair on the hairline near his temple to get his attention. (Sort of a cause effect approach). I personally just push my little ones face into the breast. They understand that quickly. Good luck! You'll get him to stop. Just another phase :)
My daughter is 6 mos old & I've had this happen a few times but it was never a big issue. I have heard this problem at La Leche League meetings & the basic that I've heard is to make a loud OUCH! & take him directly off the breast. Set him down or lay him on the bed. Tell him NO & just say That hurts Mommy. He'll get the message, maybe not the first time, but he will get it. I hope this helps. Good luck & hope you can keep with the breastfeeding!
I am not sure that you really can break him of the problem since he is so little maybe you can try pumping the milk and giving him the bottle with the breast milk that way he is still getting the breast milk and you can keep your nipples. i hope that was a help to you .
N.
My daughter is the same age and doing just about the same thing. She clamps down with her gums and then pulls. Its not pleasant. I say ouch and close up shop for a little while. I'll either put her down or burp her. After some times passes I'll let her nurse again. It hasnt completely stopped, but it getting better.
Have you maybe considered, your son isnt hungry, and just wants to chew on you to relieve his sore gums? Sometimes if she is really chewing on me, I lay her on the floor with a bunch of teether and toys, and she is quite happy to chew on them...Good Luck & Keep Breastfeeding!
Whatever u do do not yell. If he bites u again gentlu press his face into ur breast this will cause ur child to let go and stop the biting
When my little one bit me the first time while breastfeeding I was quite startled (she had a tooth by then) and I took her right off the breast and put her on the floor and firmly said no. She of course cried as I took her from her breast as well as startled her. I only left her there a matter of seconds and picked her up and told her no biting and fed her again. She bit me one more time and I did the same thing and that was the end of it. She was probably five or six months old. Do not get discouraged if it takes a few more times and be consistent. Best of luck to you and I hope you can keep breastfeeding as long as you had hoped for.
B.
I have a 3 month old, doing the same thing. ( I have 3 older kids I didn't breastfeed, and a 2 year old I did breastfeed.) My 2 year old also did this, and I had been going to La Leche League, and they said to push her against my breast and of course wanting to get air she would release my nipple! It did work. She quickly stopped doing that. Then she got teeth, and still, she didn't bite. But around 11 months old she started to bite again and with all those teeth MY GOD did it hurt. Three separate times she bit down so hard I saw stars, each time I wasn't able to stuff her face into my breast because she'd bit hard and fast and didn't clamp down. Each time I hollered out in agony "OUCH THAT HURTS" and frightened her. She did it three times, three separate days. I finally QUIT breastfeeding because I was in fear of going thru that much pain again! I mean, it was serious, I had to check to see that I still HAD a nipple, it was that intense! Not to scare you! But yeah, while they just have gums and they're doing that clamp down/yank your nipple off almost kinda thing, the best way to get them to let go is just push their little face right into your boob so they'll let go, it works every time :)
