BFing a baby with teeth. How?

[lyndyloo]

My LO hasn't got any teeth yet but I can feel them coming through, her gums are really hard. When I feed her now it can feel quite sore (we're 9m into bfing so I know it's not latch issues).

I am just wondering exactly how I can continue to feed her when teeth break through! My understanding is that when feeding baby massages the breast tissue with their gums - well surely that means the teeth will dig in. or am I totally getting the wrong end of the stick.

Please reassure me it won't hurt!!!

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ds fed til a year (by which time he had molars, the lot) - once bit me gently, never a problem
dd fed til 9 mths (had 8 teeth by the time she stopped - did nip more often (& smile as she did it, sadistic madame) but never painful enough to be a problem - just a bit of a shock!

Essentially, I think the whole never bite the boob that feeds you thing works quite well

I only got bitten once by both of them - I think they are genuinely shocked by your reaction when they do it. Sometimes Izzy has a bit of a toothy latch - doesn't actually hurt as such but is a bit uncomfortable. It really wasn't a problem at all.

The massaging bit is done mainly with the lower jaw, they just use the top one as a sort of anchor, and as they stick their tongues out to feed, their tongue is actually between your nipple and their lower teeth. The sensation of feeding a baby with teeth IS a bit different but you get used to it. Biting as opposed to nursing if they do it, is usually done to get your attention! Having said that I do get fed up if my DD (30 months) nurses for too long, if she is not latched on properly it does get a bit ouchy and then I just say "quick quick" and she usually lets go!

I am currently Bf a 16 mo and he hardly ever nips. just when he is messing about really. He is then really upset by my reaction - you cant help but yell/shout and then i dump him on the floor so he busrts into tears. so he doesnt do it very often.

I bf my first until 18 months when he had most of his teeth. It really isn't a problem when the teeth are through. I seemed to get sore as a new one got ready but then it would be OK. We both adjusted. As someone said I think they just use the jaw to lock on and most of the work is done by the tongue. If you watch a bottle fed baby through the bottle (if you see what I mean) you don't see the jaw move.

Mind you I got bitten A LOT - took advice here which seemed to help. If they bite don't make interesting noises just squash their face into your boob for a moment. It effectively stops them breathing - not nice. Everything else made him worse, this was the only thing which worked.

hth

DS1 had 2 top and 2 bottom at 4.5 months. DS2 had 2 top and 2 bottom at 7 weeks and it didn't affect feeding. It does feel a bit different than a gummy feed and feeds were a bit uncomfortable for a few days after the teeth came through but then it was no problem at all.

I think there was a thread the other day about being bitten and the advice seemed to be to push them into your breast and then put them down.

I did the 'No' said very firmly with DS1 and it worked, however some mums were saying that it became a game and resulted in even more bites!

Ds got his first tooth at 12wks and I was horrified from a bf point of view!

He has bitten me a good few times and there have been a couple of times that he's drawn blood but that's because I've pulled away suddenly (as you would!).

I got great advice on here which was to push his face gently into my breast. That works like a charm. I also take him off and say "no biting" but get the big grins...

Most of the time it's been completely fine though. I'm rather hoping that the upper ones take their time coming in though.

Another person saying it's okay! My 9 month old has had bottom teeth for a couple of months and that's been fine - his tongue covers his teeth when he feeds. But when his top 2 teeth first came in it was a bit uncomfortable - rubbing a bit, especially towards the end of a feed if he was getting sleepy. But it's now getting better (over the course of about a fortnight) and hardly rubs at all. They basically need to learn a slightly different latch as their teeth appear, and thankfully he seems to have sussed it for himself - I'd guess when their teeth do rub it's not such an efficient latch so they get less milk which motivates them to sort it out!

DD also had teeth by 6 months, the 2 top ones included and I fed her until she was over a year.
She only bit me twice as both times I swore veyr loudly and shouted at her, you really can't react calmly when it happens, so it scares the shit out of them and they don't do it again!

I'm still feeding dd (18m) and she's never bitten me. The only time its hurt is when she heard something interesting and yanked her head off to look.

Just keep going - it won't be the painful problem you're expecting.

Mine has a few teeth already at nearly 7 months and it's not been a problem except when he is tired and sort of falls off the boob at the end of the feed, when the new teeth have grazed me a bit unpleasantly. I find using my little finger to break the latch when he looks like he's in that state has sorted things out though.

Thanks for your advice ladies! I will just wait and see what happens!

I never had any problem with bfing ds when he got teeth. I don't even remember him biting me. Dd did much worse damage with just her gums.