Ebf and teeth!

[Sistermoondance]

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Was feeding my 5 month dd today and she bit me... Took a look and her first tooth is coming through. I am excited and gutted. She keeps biting me and it really hurts... Any advice as to what to do now?

She won't take a bottle or formula in any vessel and she is only just 5 months and can't sit up unsupported yet so I can't start weaning :-(

Any advice?

www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html This is useful.

I feel your pain (literally!) as ds does this when he is really sore.

There are ways round it, honest!

When DS bit I'd say no firmly and take him off. Or pull him quickly to my boob so he'd come off. He only did it with the first tooth - never since.

Dd1 bit me once as an accident. Did as suggested and she never did it again. dd2 bites quite often or pulls her teeth across the nipple if I'm not careful. She also sometimes bites my arm or cheek and then laughs. Bless her....

Hope you have the former experience. :)

Scream! That gave DS a good shock, and he didn't do it again (for a few months, which is a long time for a baby!).

My DD (8mo) now has four teeth (two each top and bottom) and she was biting me for a while - absolute bloody agony! At first I was saying 'no' firmly and taking her off the boob but she thought that was hilarious and went straight back for round two! My HV suggested that I try my best not to react at all (not even flinching if I could help it!) and just stop feeding and do something else. This worked almost immediately - I guess that it's no fun for her if there's no reaction.

Don't scream! (unless you have plupedantic's ds).

dt1 found screaming, saying no, being put down, all hilarious. She only stopped when I

• stopped screaming
• when I took her off, I started putting her down on the floor and walking away (for a few seconds)
• not continuing the feed till much later

I feel your pain - she only stopped 2 days ago and nipple is still recovering. Good luck. The key is consistency - once you pick a reaction, stick with it.

I shrieked the first time ds4 bit me, when he was around 7 months - he screamed and then refused to feed for 12 hours - got him back on when he was dozing. I have found quietly breaking his latch and distracting him has worked better. He chews a bit when he gets new teeth but only for a short while at the start of a feed.

Now I'm feeling bad for having traumatised my child!

It just happened, though! [bublush]

I yelped the first time and really scared ds too - he sobbed and wouldn't go back on, I felt awful!

Thanks everyone, I will try the distraction method then. Bless her, when I say ouch she smiles and thinks it is like 'boo' or something.

Fingers crossed we get through this untraumatised....

My ds1 only bit me once and I shouted in pain and surprise, which I think shocked him! Ds2 bites me more often and I just put him on the floor for a few seconds he had stopped but is getting another tooth at the top and has started again. I also find he mostly bites when he is getting to the end of a feed so I must pay attention then or before the milk comes (I have quite a slow let down) and he's getting frustrated. Good luck with which ever method works!

My DD bites me when her mouth is sore and as others are saying she laughs if I react. I say ouch (normally because I cant help it) say no and put her down and dont feed her until she stops which she does eventually. She is 13 months though and is not learning. She tends to like to bite my arm when she is hungry too so I have some nice bruises at times. Think I will try and not react and see if that works. She likes to nip me too whilst feeding, BF is not always a calm experience.