breastfeeding- VS- losing nipples

[BadgerBadger]

DD2's just turned 1. She's got her two bottom teeth but now has a top one one the way. Today she has bitten me, hard, during each feed, she still demand feeds loads throughout the day.

Nothing has stopped her, from ignoring, removing, saying no, etc. It's agony!

Would you call it a day? Or risk losing your nipples?

(I had a friend who did lose a nipple when her baby bit her, so it is a serious Q.)

Ack. DS1 once drew blood, my boob was bleeding for a little while.

I would:

• stop the feed when she bites (duh) put her down in a cross way and leave her to howl for a minute or two. (Don't shriek when she bites, if you can stop yourself.)
• watch out for the signs she's about to bite, and pull her off if I think she's about to bite.
• consider pressing her into the boob very briefly when she bites. So she can't breathe. This is not a nice thing to do, but it works.
• consider tailing back feeds. Stopping suddenly may cause you problems, anyway - I was in agony this weekend from not completely draining one side in the evening, and my baby's 11 months. Consider offering cow's milk during the day, and boob just at start and finish or something?

hi my dd did this, she had teeth from about 5 months! it is horrible it felt like russian roulette when i went to feed her. she only did it when she was teething so i would try and give her a teething powder before a feed. i tried to follow the standard advice but tbh i just used to shriek and take her off the boob pronto. dd did get better and continued until about 15months when she decided to stop.

good luck

can you not just feed her morning and night when she's a little more sleepy

during the day she can surely drink water or diluted juice when thirsty

and did your friend really lose a nipple or is that an exaggeration for shock value (it worked )

Badgerbadger - blimey at your friend!

Frankly I would stop....

I was a massive wuss and stopped breastfeeding at 6 1/2 mths as soon as I received my first bite...

I think I'd call it a day too TBH

I stopped when my ds started biting - and that was at the evening feed when he was in theory more sleepy.

Yes Twiglett, she certinlay did! Her baby was about 6 months at the time, needless to say, she did stop feeding. (I was when I heard!)

So far today she's only had one feed, no bite. I'm nervy now though, hence feeding's not that enjoyable.

I think I will encorage feeds to tail off, not refuse exactly, just keep her too occupied to notice

Thanks for all the advice! She seems to have honed this to a fine art though, no warning and a wicked little growl to accompany the bite, followed by fits of giggles!

TBH, I think the entertainment factor is so high for her, it would be nearly impossible to stop her from doing it, if she wanted to.

That said, even with a specific reason to stop, it's still not easy, is it?

I went through exactly this when DS cut his top teeth. Agree with the othere re: stopping feeding without a reaction. I used to have a teething ring on hand as well. It stopped as soon as those teeth came through and he never did it again. It is soooooo miserable and I was very close to giving up - DS was only 6mo at the time.

at losing a nipple!

It took me about a week to train my six month old not to bite, but she's now 14 months feeding happily and has never bitten since.
We had a couple of days of biting at every feed, I used to say NO firmly, take her straight off the breast place her on the floor and walk away.
I think after the first two days she only bit a few more times but it was about a week until she stopped completely.
I think if you're consistent most children can be taught that biting means losing the breast for a time.

similar happened to me & I was upset because I didn't want to stop. I had a look on the web & read that babies CAN'T bite if they are feeding - which makes sense. So that night, instead of surfing e-bay I kept my beady eye on DD. Immediately she stopped sucking, I stuck my finger between my nipple & her mouth & sat her up. DD was very surprised, indicated she wanted to feed so went back on again. Did this for the rest of the feed & for probably a couple of other nights & she never bit again & she fed until she was 2.
Perhaps the thought of losing food did it ? Perhaps it was just a phase. (BTW I had also screamed very loudly & shouted, something like, don't you ever do that again , which didn' make any difference !)