Bf with teeth

[backinaminute]

I bf Ds1 till he was 9 months but he didn't have top teeth so was never really an issue. He's only had bottom ones a few weeks when I stopped. Teeth aren't the reason I stopped.

I'm now ebf Ds2 who is 5 months old and this morning we appear to have a tooth! He's been grumpy for a couple of days but I never even considered he might be teething

So, what I'm asking is what are the secrets of bf a baby with teeth. I've already been nipped once today. I have no plans to stop anytime soon but I'm guessing we might have top teeth soon. How does it all work without ending up with a severed nipple?

Thank you

Once they get practised the nipping generally stops, or at least it did with mine. It sort of happened while they got used to the first one or two. Then she got the hang of it and it just didn't happen again. If you suck your thumb you can't feel your teeth either so it's just a case of adjusting grip I think. Others here will know specifics, that's just my experience.

Also half the time I didn't know when dd was teething either so don't feel bad about that.

Back to basics. By now you are probably a bit sloppy with your latch which means you might be more likely to end up with tooth in contact with nipple. So go back to basics, back to using opposite arm to support shoulders, nose to nipple, head back, bring baby in for a big mouthful of breast.

If he does bite then take him off at once and say "no" sternly. TO take him off you can either stick your finger in to unlatch or press him right into your breast. Some people also find that as well as saying no it helps to sit them on the floor for 30 seconds or so. They scream at the feed being interrupted and then you pick them up and latch back on. Yours may be a little small to understand why you are doing that though.

Also pay attention to when he nips/bites, is it towards the end of the feed when he has had enough? If so you could anticipate it by paying attention to his suckling and swallowing and end the feed before he bites. Or he may be biting when one breast slows down and he wants to switch to the toher side, again you could anticipate that.

Mainly though it is all about latch and going back to basics as a good latch does not involve teeth :)

Mind you some are just biters. Ds2 is my 3rd, all bf through getting teeth and ds2 is by far the worst, he just bites and bites and bites. he bites anything and everything though not jsut my nipple which I suppose is of some comfort .

They can't actually bite whilst feeding, but sometimes they do at the end of a feed. I used to have my little finger ready to delatch quickly if it looked like she was about to bite. You can try a firm 'no' but at 5 months I doubt it'll have much effect and you can induce a nursing strike if you are too firm/scream too loudly.

Also I didn't find the bottom teeth to be as much trouble as the top ones.

Thank you, all very much appreciated. I think I might go to the breastfeeding support group next week to get my latch checked. He's really big and my saggy boobs don't help so I know we're in a pretty rubbish position (that worked really well before the tooth arrived). Back to basics it is......

I've already had comments about him clearly being ready for food and I will be stoping feeding soon then. I'm bracing myself for the barrage along those lines over coming weeks.