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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Biting. Time to give up?

5 replies

MajorLook · 27/05/2014 13:37

My DS is 10 months old. I ebf until introducing solids around 5 and a half months, continued bf only plus solids until he started nursery at c. 7 months, and then went on to formula.

He currently has 2-3 bottles of formula at nursery (5 days a week), and we give him at least 2 bottles a day when not at nursery so I don't get my supply reboosted.

I still bf him though first thing in the morning, when I/we get home from work (about 6.15pm), before bed (around 7.15) and then during the night if needed.

The problem is his teeth. I know it shouldn't be a problem, but it is. He got his bottom two teeth around 7 months, and is cutting his top two at the moment - and I can see another top one waiting to come out as well.

He tends to bite towards the end of feeds, I think as either boredom or sleepiness kicks in and it ranges from a sharp nip to a full-on clamp-down. It's making bf stressful as I'm constantly braced for attack, and often sore.

When he bites, sometimes he grins, sometimes he cries. It's very difficult as I don't know if he's finished

His latch isn't great - he'll often pull back (with no teeth) to encourage flow, but I don't know if it could be corrected at this late stage, especially as he's constantly readjusting for his new and growing teeth.

So do we give up? I'd been hoping to go to a year and truly believed it would be so much easier than this by now! But I'm being bitten almost every feed now.

Does it get easier? Anyone have any advice for while he's teething?

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makeminea6x · 27/05/2014 13:42

Basically they do bite a bit when teeth are coming through but it settles down when they relearn to latch. There are some things that might help:

Put teething gel/powder on about 5 mins before feed so they're mouth isn't sore.

Try calpol for similar (or ibuprofen) but about 30 mins before.

When they bite unlatch say no and don't let them relatch for a minute or two.

You can work it out in most cases. My DD cut her first teeth at 4 mo and she fed until 14 mo. So far DS teeth have been kinder to me...

This too shall pass!

BertieBotts · 27/05/2014 13:49

Biting is separate from teething I found and needs to be dealt with as a behaviour issue. Some people go for the "No" and stop feeding, I used to watch like a hawk - you get to notice the just before biting signs and then I would unlatch as quickly as possible! I didn't continue the feed but if for example he was very sleepy or something else told me he wasn't finished I might let him back on after 30 seconds if I felt like the urge to bite had probably passed.

MajorLook · 27/05/2014 13:54

Lol at this too shall pass!

We've had a fairly smooth bf journey so it seems silly to end it over this, especially if there's potential to continue.

Apparently this was the reason my mum stopped feeding me when I was about 1 - I'd bite and find it hilarious. Karma? Confused

OP posts:
tobiasfunke · 27/05/2014 13:57

I gave up about 10 or 11 months due to biting. Ds was basically not intersted any more in the actual feeding- just the biting and laughing.

MajorLook · 27/05/2014 13:57

Bertie I got very good at spotting it before these top teeth started cutting - he'd shift his mouth to one side before biting down so I would gently push him back before he got the chance.

That pattern has changed now and, combined with his readjusting and pulling back (presumably to increase flow - my boobs very suddenly stopped filling up properly a couple of weeks ago, I think because they're more efficient and can produce milk at will, although it has slowed the letdown considerably), it's very difficult to spot when he's just readjusting or going in for a bite.

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