12 month old is biting while nursing

[Francine84]

My daughter has just turned 1 this week and has been breastfed since she was born. I've been so lucky because I found breastfeeding a total joy, to be honest.

But in the last few days she's started biting my nipples and it really hurts. She'll feed for about 20 seconds, then pull away and bite me. And she's smiling while doing it, like she knows she's doing something she shouldn't!

I don't want to stop breastfeeding but can't carry on with her biting me!

Does anyone know what I can do? And any tips on how to stop breastfeeding in the best way (and avoiding mastitis!) would be massively appreciated.

You probably won't get too engorged if you stop.

You're supposed to do a big yell, detach them and put them down when they bite, so they learn they lose the feed. Or pull them in to the breast so they need to detach to breathe.

I used to poke mine in the cheek when he bit me. Then I learned the signs and said you dare when he got the look.

It could mean she's not really wanting a feed that much so is messing. Just take it away.

With my son, I gently flicked his cheek. Said no biting. Put him down for 5 mins, then tried again. It stopped the biting

My son used to do this. i would take him off and say that hurts each time He stopped after a few times of doing it.

Hey,
I know this was a while ago but my son is about to turn one on monday and doing the EXACT same thing-the smiling too. It's new and has been constant over the last few days, he's biting more than feeding tbh. What helped your little one?

Mine was doing this at about nine months. I immediately detached her, glared at her, said NO very firmly and loudly and put her down.

Think it happened twice and she got the
message never to do that again.

Sorry this is happening for you too! Unfortunately for us the biting was the end of breastfeeding - she just wasn’t interested in it anymore. I stopped feeding her and she never once asked or tried to feed again. So I think she was done, even if I wasn’t ready for it to end!

But the biting can definitely be down to teeth (especially molars) coming through so I’d say it’s worth persevering if you want to.

Other commenters said that it worked to firmly say “no” - definitely didn’t work on my daughter! But like I say she was ready to stop, she just wasn’t interested in it anymore.

Let me know how you get on with your little one, and hope they stop biting very soon!

If say no and take the breast away every time she bites you. She'll learn if she wants to feed not to bite.