Scared of an impending tooth!!

[Colchestergal]

DS is cutting his first tooth. He is EBF and I am feeling absolute dread at the thought of a new, razor sharp tooth on my nipple as he chomps down on me :(

Please reassure me that it won't be as awful as I think?! Do all babies bite?

It will not be that bad :) I completely - personally and professionally - can promise you that. The first feed / day after the tooth has cut may feel a bit odd as he readjusts his latch, but some don't even experience that. No, not all babies bite, and even those that do sometimes only do the once.

You'll be fine - remember, some mum's feed for several years. If teeth caused that much of an issue, that wouldn't happen! :)

Is it on the bottom? When they are actively feeding, the tongue should cover the bottom teeth so it won't come into contact with your nipple.

The time to watch is at the end of a feed. Mine had a habit of biting then, but I looked out for it and whisked them off before they could inflict any pain!

Is it a bottom tooth? If so, then when he's latched on properly he can't bite you, because his tongue will be between his teeth and your nipple. You need to watch out for his loosening/shifting his latch when he gets full or bored and then take him off before he gets the chance to experiment with his new tooth.

Ha! Cross-posted...

It is a bottom tooth! Thanks for the replies, I feel a little better about it now :)

I am still feeding a 3 year old with a full set of teeth - he only bit once and never again!

Don't worry, it will be fine.

I'm feeding a teething 14mo who has gone from 2 to 8 teeth on a month, only been bitten once.
If your LO does bite, resist the urge to shriek as baba will more than likely cry! I felt so guilty when it happened here :(

The first few feeds can be quite uncomfortable and you may have one or two 'bites' that actually hurt.

But from my experience and speaking to those whom have also breastfed - once they feel you wince/you remove the breast when they bite, they soon position their mouth accordingly for feeding.

It can be a bit achy for me now but rarely is painful and DD has 6 teeth, trying to cut number 7 and 8 - so it can be done. I was also very worried about this too.

My girl used to feed 'hard' when teething - marks on the nipple - but apart from that she was fine. We weaned at 16 months or so, when she had 12 weeks. Bit me about twice!

Er - 12 teeth!

kellymom has some reassuring words

My ds only has his bottom two teeth. He has bitten me many times, more often when he has a cold or is not really wanting to feed anymore. Or is playing. It seems to come in phases as the teeth push through (they're slow growers - 1mm in a month). So I've had a few periods of a few days of biting. Back to lansinoh and taking care of the latch. Everything heals, I forget it ever happened and we're back to our happy bf relationship.