How to breastfeed a baby with teeth?

MayMi · 2022-05-13T11:45:45+00:00

My daughter is 6 months old and had her two front lower teeth come through 2 weeks ago. Ever since then, breastfeeding has been painful, while she's on and also when she unlatches. I read that the baby's tongue covers the lower teeth while feeding so I'm not sure if it should hurt, but the pain on my nipples is located right where her teeth would be next to. Any advice? She's exclusively breastfed and won't take a bottle.

MolliciousIntent · 13/05/2022 12:48

Is she biting you during feeds or is the pain constant while she's latched on? If it's the latter then there might be an issue with her latch, she could have a tongue tie. It shouldn't hurt, even with teeth.

ChairOfInvisibleStudies · 13/05/2022 12:49

My experience was DS had to slightly adjust/re-learn the latch for every new pair of teeth that came through. I don't think it took two weeks each time though, more like a few days or a week max, so at this point you might need to be a bit more active in trying to help your DD adapt her latch, similar to when she was a newborn. I don't think I can give more specific advice so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along soon!

Glitterspy · 13/05/2022 12:49

Keep your finger nearby ready to insert, a clamp down on your finger is a lot less painful than a clamp down on your nipple

GalactatingGoddess · 13/05/2022 12:54

Eeek I remember this.
Still bf 20m DD with a full set.

If her latch was wide enough then she'd struggle to bite. But if she did bite I would unlatch her and tell her no firmly. My DD would still every so often start to bite and look up at me with a cheeky grin, and I'd just do the same.

Other than that, no advice 🦷

NoToLandfill · 13/05/2022 12:54

Little finger ready to put into side of babys mouth. So when they come off there are no teeth involved

Original poster

MayMi · 13/05/2022 13:07

MolliciousIntent · 13/05/2022 12:48

Is she biting you during feeds or is the pain constant while she's latched on? If it's the latter then there might be an issue with her latch, she could have a tongue tie. It shouldn't hurt, even with teeth.

The pain is constant when she's latched on. It feels different to the pain of a poor latch though, it's just only on one side of the nipple that is next to her teeth. She's breastfed up til now with no problem before so I don't think she has tongue tie.

OP posts:

Original poster

MayMi · 13/05/2022 13:10

GalactatingGoddess · 13/05/2022 12:54

Eeek I remember this.
Still bf 20m DD with a full set.

If her latch was wide enough then she'd struggle to bite. But if she did bite I would unlatch her and tell her no firmly. My DD would still every so often start to bite and look up at me with a cheeky grin, and I'd just do the same.

Other than that, no advice 🦷

My DD thinks me saying 'no' etc is a joke too! the thing is, it doesn't feel like she's actually biting though, feels more like her teeth are kind of chafing my nipple. I try to re-latch her but to no avail just yet

OP posts:

Original poster

MayMi · 13/05/2022 13:11

ChairOfInvisibleStudies · 13/05/2022 12:49

My experience was DS had to slightly adjust/re-learn the latch for every new pair of teeth that came through. I don't think it took two weeks each time though, more like a few days or a week max, so at this point you might need to be a bit more active in trying to help your DD adapt her latch, similar to when she was a newborn. I don't think I can give more specific advice so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along soon!

Thank you this is really handy! I did have to readjust the latch a lot when she was a newborn. I might try more with re-latching and see, I have tried it a few times but it hasn't changed

OP posts:

JesusSufferingFuck22 · 13/05/2022 13:34

GalactatingGoddess · 13/05/2022 12:54

Eeek I remember this.
Still bf 20m DD with a full set.

If her latch was wide enough then she'd struggle to bite. But if she did bite I would unlatch her and tell her no firmly. My DD would still every so often start to bite and look up at me with a cheeky grin, and I'd just do the same.

Other than that, no advice 🦷

Oh my god! I thought it was just mine who did this. I still remember the pain from 27 years ago. They clamped down, I said no and they gave a cheeky grin, clamped down further and shook their head from side to side.

ChairOfInvisibleStudies · 13/05/2022 13:37

I always knew when DS was about to get teeth as his latch would go very pinchy for a couple of days. Then once the teeth were in it could feel a lot like I was getting grazed (although with no visible signs of abrasion) until he sorted himself out again. But I think at times I did have to persist in unlatching and repositioning and aiming for that wide mouth etc as in the newborn days to encourage him to sort it out 😁

Also, now I think about it a bit more, I think one of the IBCLCs that's active on social media posted something about latch adjustments for older babies recently so you might have a hunt for that - I think it was Lucy Webber.

KangarooKenny · 13/05/2022 13:39

I stopped the BF’ing when my DS bit me and laughed.

Riceball · 15/05/2022 20:15

I have this when my little one gets new teeth. They kind of rub in the same place each time she feeds. I’ve found she eventually learns to adjust her latch but in the meantime feeding in different positions has helped.