1 year old keeps biting me - help!

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

DD has just turned 1 and is teething. She got her first teeth at 11 months, so very late, and currently has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. They're still a novelty to her and there are more to come. She was ebf until I went back to work when she was 10 months old and discovered I couldn't express enough to send to nursery with her. She's at nursery 3 days a week and DH is off with her one day, and on those days she has formula twice a day and I bf her morning and night. On the other 3 days when I'm at home I just bf her as normal through the day.

I don't want to stop bf yet, despite everyone I know in RL asking if it's not time for me to stop yet (Mum, MIL, stepmother etc all bf but stopped at about the year mark, so no one is sympathetic to my desire to keep going). However, DD will feed as normal and then look up at me, grin evilly and bite down! It really hurts, and sometimes I poke her in the lip/gum in my haste to get a finger into her mouth and detach her. Sometimes I yelp in pain and that makes her worse - it's a game to her. I do sort of giggle while yelping because I don't want to scare her, so she thinks it's funny.

I wondered if there's anything I can do - maybe I should be very serious and say 'No darling, that hurts' firmly? Or I could adapt a puppy-training technique and 'cry' when she bites me, so she realises it hurts? Has anyone dealt with this successfully? Most babies will get teeth much earlier - how do you all keep bf through the teething stage?

I have a 1 year old who does the same. I find she has two kinds of bites.

The first are playful nips where she looks at me and tries to get the nipple in her mouth to have a bite on. I say firmly "Ow, no biting", then take her off the breast. Leave her a few minutes, then if she is still likely to be hungry I will reoffer and repeat if she bites again. She does these if it was just a 'snack' feed and she is not really hungry, but not very often now. Dd1 was a biter too, I did this and she soon stopped (I breastfed her until she was two).

The second type are the hard, lock-jaw type bite mostly done at the end of a feed when she is fast asleep. Even in her sleep she responds to my "Ow" and will relax her jaw enough for me to get a little finger in and prise it open.

DD got her first teeth at 11mo (not very late really, up to 18 months is normal) and only bit once or twice. I knew it was coming as it was at the end of a feed, she'd make eye contact and grin. I responded each time by making no noise, unlatching, putting her down and moving away. When she protested I explained 'no biting' and bf again. If she even looked like she was going to do it again, I unlatched and repeated 'no biting'. She got the message.

DS was harder. First tooth at 6 months and bit whilst teething. I found with him that he was sore and trying to self soothe so we gave him a cold flannel or some cucumber to gum on if he looked 'bitey' and actually cool gums pre feed helped during those times.

It stopped pretty quickly with both.

Well done for bfing and sticking with it.

Thank you, everyone! That sounds very similar to what DD is doing, with the eye contact and the grin. I will try unlatching her immediately and saying 'no biting' calmly. She doesn't/hasn't bitten me in her sleep yet, Stitch - it's the play-biting. It tends to be at the end of a feed, even if she then wants back on she usually won't feed for much longer.

I feel much more hopeful now, thank you!

Hi tooextra - love the name btw. Made me chortle.

My DS, also just turned one, does the same. If he does play biting (he also accidentally bites sometimes when farting mid feed - oh the joys!) - I look at him directly and say 'biting hurts mummy' whilst shaking my head no. He seems to understand shaking head no as he does it to me often enough now and somehow it makes him less likely to challenge than the actual word no. I have no idea why!

But that's similar to the advice you've already had and I mainly wanted to reply to say I'm in the same boat with regard to not really having RL support about continuing bf beyond 12 months now. I went back to work early and expressed as I was able to do this luckily with my working routine and whilst people were supportive of that, now we're just down to morning and evening (plus a night) feed with him enjoying some daytime feeding at the weekend more for comfort than milk really , I'm getting pressure to stop and comments about having 'done the 12 months' . Or comments that I seem v tired (I am but it's having a young baby and working f/t - not feeding him that does it). Most days I rise above it but some days it really gets to me. It makes us happy, it's easy and going well - why this pressure to stop?! I have no intention of stopping but it makes me so sad that I feel I have to hide it/not discuss it. I get the impression they seem to think I'm being some kind of martyr and continuing feeding whilst it offers no benefit when they dont really understand how bf is stil beneficial. Sigh. Going to have to continue to be a closet bfeeder now. Gives me an easier life.