8 month old keeps biting whilst breastfeeding

[MarLiz2026]

My 8.5 month old baby girl has been breastfed since birth. Currently, she has 3 meals a day and is doing really well on solids, however she still loves the milk and I am still breastfeeding throughout the day and night.

Recently, my daughter has started biting me a lot whilst feeding. She is currently teething and has about 3 teeth all cutting through at the same time which I know must be tough for her, but the biting is getting a lot and she has drawn blood from my nipple and ripped a bit of skin off. Granted, this was probably due to me pulling her off (I know you shouldn’t ever do this but it hurt so badly my instant reaction was to take her off) but it has really hurt me and this is the worst one it has been.

Whenever she bites I take her off and calmly say ‘no’ and then I put her down and say ‘do not bite mummy’. I do not let her feed again for a little while (if she is asking for it usually a few minutes and if she is not usually until she next asks for it or next feed is due)

I have tried putting teething gel on her teeth but this hasn’t seemed to help either. I feel I am trying everything and I really don’t want to stop breastfeeding but I don’t know if I can continue with her biting me like this. It has probably been going on for around 2/3 weeks now and it is really getting me down.

She is not the best with bottles, she will take them eventually but she is not reliable with them. I know sometimes it may be because they’re not hungry but I usually feed on hunger cues or for comfort.

If anyone has any suggestions please, this is making me really upset and am desperate to try anything.

Just stop breast feeding. She doesn’t need it any more and why let her hurt you? Bonkers.

The main form of nutrition for babies up until 1 year old is breastmilk or formula actually 😊She is 8.5 months old so still way under when she no longer ‘needs’ breastmilk/formula.

Given that I have said she doesn’t take to a bottle too well it’s also not convenient to ‘just stop’. Thanks for the really great, helpful advice though! Bonkers x

For most babies it's a phase but it's a tricky one.
Mine was quite bitey a few times on and off but fortunately she never broke the skin. That sounds very sore!
For what it's worth I think you're doing the right thing.

It’s been around 2/3 weeks sadly. She has been very unlucky that 3 of her top front teeth are all cutting through at around the same time so she has been teething continually for a few weeks. I keep hoping that it’s just a phase with teething but it is becoming really difficult for me when it’s happening daily.

Thank you x

Similar to you whenever mine did it I would use my finger to break the latch and say a firm ‘NO’ if I was annoyed enough I might put them down on the floor or something and move away.

They both learnt pretty quickly that it wasn’t allowed. 2 weeks is a while but the phase will
pass. The latch does change a bit as their teeth come in, they have to learn how to
feed with them. I fed both of mine until they were 2 so teeth didn’t stop us!

It’s hard because they want to feed more for comfort too.

Maybe give no and immediately putting baby down/moving away a try.

I couldn’t help it, I yelped whenever this happened. Both kids learned quite quickly that this was not ok. I know the FB breastfeeding groups say to stay calm but I just couldn’t. On reflection, I think it’s good for little ones to learn cause and effect on this though, that if you bite someone they get hurt. I kept feeding them 23 months with DS and 14 months with DD (because I had to stop early with her due to a medication I had to take, where the doctor refused to prescribe an alternative). Good luck OP!

This is random but during my ‘conflict resolution’ training at work, we learnt that if someone bites you, instead of pulling away, you should push into their mouth, and they’ll open their jaw to breath. I remember thinking I wish I’d known that when my son went through his biting stage, it would have saved a lot of nipple trauma!

Ebf my 11 month old. She started biting around 7–8 months and those little teeth are no joke. I just did a firm NO then removed the boob and broke the latch with my finger. If she tried again we paused the feed for a couple of minutes...
It didn’t take long for her to understand that biting - no milk. It’s horrible in the moment but consistency really does work!

I think removing her from the breast straight away is the right move but I would be more firm with your ‘no’. They need a clear signal it’s a hard no and at this age that comes from your tone.

I breastfed both of mine and had this happen a handful of times. Each time I said no firmly and raised my voice slightly (nowhere near shouting, but a harder and slightly louder tone). It was enough to shock them a little and cry, which I know sounds bad, but keep in mind, to them I was always speaking in soft and soothing tones, so a firmer one will feel different to them.

As I said, for me, this was enough to knock it on the head quickly and I was able to continue breastfeeding well beyond their first teeth coming in. Good luck!

To add to my comment. My ‘no’ came with being immediately removed from the breast too, in case that wasn’t clear!

What’s bonkers about feeding your child the most nutritious alternative available?

Thank you! I didn’t make it clear in the post as I know I said I ‘calmly’ say no, but firmly would actually be the more appropriate word. I am similar to you that I do not shout, but I make my voice firm. I think by calmly I meant that I am not erratic or shouting or give a loud reaction.

At the moment it still doesn’t seem to be getting through to her sadly. Thank you for your support!

Some people just love to moan about anything on here I think! Thanks for the support xx

Thank you! I will try this and see if this helps as nothing else I do seems to be working at the moment x

Oh I had a horrible biting phase with my second. I would do the firm “no!” and he found that hilarious and want to do it more. So I just ignored him and didn’t react even though I was wincing with pain and eventually he stopped.

With my first, he would bite too and again, I just ignored and he also stopped.

It’s painful but very common unfortunately!

Ignore such nonsense OP. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

It will stop as soon as it starts.
Don't forget she's only a baby, she doesn't understand that she's hurting you and doesn't understand that you stopping her having it till she stops biting.
I get it, I have scars from my first - she's 8 now 🤣 but it will stop. I actually found (like you, you can't help your reaction because of the pain) an ow or an eep! Generally makes them jump and they let go