2 new teeth, 2 sore nipples... heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!

[WLD1000]

My lovely 6mo has had a tooth for a while, but in the last fortnight he has cut another one. I was so proud!

But now, right, he has started biting me as he leaves the breast. He sucks merrily away, and then as he pulls off he jams his jaw together so his teeth scrape the bottom of my nipples. I have tried hoiking him off by sticking my little finger in, but he seems to have cottoned on to this and if my finger gets anywhere near his mouth, he gets in there first!

Anyone else had this problem? Any top tips? I've started dreading feeding.

By the way, isn't 6 months an amazing milestone!? He has also started sitting up endlessly, investigating everything with hands and feet just like a monkey, trying to roll himself out of his baby chair AND trying to climb out of the bath/ carrycot. All that in the last 48 hours. He changes so fast it's hard to keep up!

Am keeping an eye on this posting. My DD1 (19 weeks) has no teeth yet, but she has this (bad) habit she develops about two weeks back.

She will pull off (quite violently) while feeding with her mouth closed or arches back with the nipple in her mouth if she is distracted (eg: someone apart from me starts talking, the tv is on, any sort of non-mommy noises in the background). Have resorted to feeding her in the bedroom and not allowing anyone in, or if someone else is in the room we talk softly, or whispers.

Dreading feeding her in public and am just thinking how painful it will be when she starts teething.

Oh poor you, it is awful when they bite. I've just stopped feeding my DS who is almost one and we went through a few biting phases. You'll be pleased to know they don't last long and needn't be the end of breastfeeding (we were always stopping at one!). We just tried quiet feeds for a few days with few distractions. I was advised to watch carefully and as the feed came to an end to stop it before they get bored. They tend to nibble as they lose interest. He also did it when teething so I made sure he had calpol regularly and if he bit me I said no firmly and offered him something he could bite (like a cool teething ring) I'd 'say bite this NOT mummy' and the feed was over. Mostly it worked and only once or twice did we have to put him to bed with no milk as he bit at bedtime but he very quickly learned. Remember- half the world feed their babies with teeth so they can't all be biting- they realise quite quickly but you have to be strong. Initially I'd put him back on but I'd be so tense that no milk would let down and he's bite even more... little monkey! Good luck and hang in there- you think 6 months is cute- they get better and better!

Thanks TheJen- the trouble is my DS seems to know when I'm about to stop the feed! It's not exactly nibbling that he's doing (when he has done that in the past I have given him a firm no and pulled him off and it seems to have done the trick). It's more scraping with his teeth as he comes off. I have said 'no' but he is usually not focussed by then!