Aargh! My baby has fangs and she isn't afraid to use them.

[pixiestix]

Help!

My 8 mo has just got her first teeth - three in one week - and she is enthusiastically trying them out on everything, including my nipples! I'm getting quite scared to feed her

What can I do? Even if this is just a phase and she will get used to her new teeth in a few days and stop biting I'm not sure that I can hold out until then. I feel like a right wimp but I just can't bear it!

Has anyone been through this and survived managed to continue BF?

[RitaMorgan]

Everytime she bites, are you taking her off, saying NO and putting her down? Once she realises biting=end of feed she should stop!

Does she bite more at a particular point during the feed? My ds starting biting towards the end, so I watch him carefully and as soon as the sucking slows I take him off.

Another tip is as soon as you feel her clamping, pull her into your boob rather than away from you, as she'll have to release the nipple in order to breathe.

[BranchingOut]

Yes, and she will grow out of it. Particularly if you put her off your lap every time she bites!

[RufflesKerfluffles]

My DS went through a short patch of biting at the start of feeds, just after his third tooth came through. In his case, it was due to teething pain, so as well as taking him off for a minute when it happened, I gave him cold things to chew, used teething gel (although I now know this isn't always advised), and even Calpol when necessary.

I'd also read a tip about giving positive reinforcement when he didn't bite. I don't know if it made any difference to him, but it certainly helped me to relax!

[VeronicaCake]

Aaargh yes the biting is outrageously painful. DD has done it to me a grand total of four times. Each time I have screamed in pain and put her down in a hurry, not as part of a grand plan to teach her not to do it, simply because I am hopping about in pain and might drop her!

Each time the poor thing has cried. But she certainly hasn't made a habit of biting. So if you are calmly saying no biting and taking her off that may not be enough, perhaps try and be a bit more of a drama queen like me?!

And I second the tips about soothing teething pain in other ways. If she is biting anything and everything right now that does sound like her little gums need something to chomp on (but not you obviously).

[pixiestix]

Thank you for all the tips.

I am doing the stern NO and a bit of finger pointing but she is so little I don't know if she remembers two minutes later! Her little face looks so sad when I take her off the boob that I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.

I like the pulling her into the boob idea, thanks Rita. She seems to be doing it after the first feelings of hunger have been satisfied but way before she would usually finish feeding, so I don't want to stop the feed completely as she won't have had enough to eat.

Ho hum. Will see how we get on today.

[RitaMorgan]

If you stop the feed and put her down you can go back to it 10-15 minutes later.

[sc2987]

You have to be careful about your reaction to biting, as you might scare them into a nursing strike. So I would disagree with VeronicaCake, just taking them off with a neutral comment should do.

[FeyaB]

My DS was 8 mths when he started biting. It was quite a nasty shock! I found though that I could start to spot the signs, and I used to BF with my finger close to his mouth, and I would shove my finger in at the point when he looked like clamping down! I found the pulling him into me sometimes worked too. Def try the NO thing, and take baby off. It might not work immediately, but they do start to get the message pretty quick.

I nearly thought about stopping BFing, but I didn't feel ready and I kept hoping he'd grow out of it. Admittedly though for a few weeks it wasn't much fun at all. But at 10 mths, out of the blue he stopped biting. A few months later, I'm still BFing, and he has 12 teeth and never bites.

It's a strange phase, and not much fun, but if it helps, I'm so, so glad that I hung in there. It's been fantastic to see how much he's enjoying BFing as a 16 mth old, and one of his first words and baby signs was to ask for my milk :-)