Breastfeeding

[Boo2]

I am breastfeeding my first baby and he is now 6 months old. He has just started to get his first tooth and I was worried about him biting me while I'm feeding him! Do any of you have any tips on what to do if this happens? Thanks.

[kick3m0n]

Hi Boo. If you're lucky, it'll never happen! My wee guy got his first tooth at 20 weeks, and the others followed rapidly. By the time I stopped breastfeeding him at 16months old, he had all his teeth except his very back 4. He only bit me once, and it was when he was quite young and had very bad colic....he just got a bit distressed during a feed and bit down. It was painful and drew blood. Bit of a sore nipple and I had to express milk from that breast for a few days till he could feed from it again. Your wee guy might never bite you. Mine was always way too interested in getting as much milk as poss to worry about biting. Even when he was teething, the sucking at the breast calmed him down a lot and he didn't seem to need to chew. Just keep an eye on him if he is ever feeling particularly poorly or grouchy when feeding, or towards the end of a feed where he may become distracted. After the one biting incident, I was always careful, and if needed, had my pinkie (wee finger) at the ready to unlatch him quickly incase he chomped down, but he never did it again. Good luck, happy feeding!! xx

[yummymummy]

Advice I have read is that if he bites you, take him off and stop the feed for a few seconds. Repeat this every time he does it. He should hopefully learn that biting means losing out on food, so will stop doing it.

Never had this problem myself so not sure if it works or not!

[enigma]

I agree with the other posts. I was chomped on by my little vampires who cut their teeth at two - three months and they were terrible for doing it whilst taking a breather during their feed ie during a pause they would clamp down hard and drag their teeth across my nipple .Very painful - like a little razor blade ! My health visitor told me exactly that - unlatch baby from the breast and wait a few seconds before latching on again and they will soon get the message that biting interrupts their feed. It does work , or at least it did for me x

[Solarjunkie]

I fed both of mine with teeth - one was still feeding with a full set of teeth. And I was never bitten. My health visitor told me that in most countries it is common for children to still have the occasional feed up to 8 or 9 years old, and I'm sure they wouldn't do that if they bit!

Good luck with the feeding, you are giving your little on the best possible start in life (& removing any excess pregnancy pounds the easy way!)

[tntmoz]

I have four kids and one of them went through a short phase of biting for fun! The first time it happened I yelped loudly and sat up quickly and that totally cracked her up. So it helps to stay calm. I would take her off for a minute hold her chin (gently please!) and say "no bite". After this stage passed she would start to grin while eating and her eyes would sparkle as she slowly closed her jaw while watching me. I'd tell her "don't you dare!" and she would laugh. I see now it was her first joke.

Other than that babies sometime clench their jaw as they are falling asleep on the breast. Obviously they are not trying to bite but resist the urge to yank the baby off, you'll only cause eye-watering pain!. Instead pull baby in towards you so his nose is pressed to your breast and he'll automatically pop his mouth open for air. This is done quickly so no worries!