Biting whilst breastfeeding

[Ami100]

Hello all

So my last post was about my 8 month old son biting during breastfeeding because of a cold ... turns out that he's also teething and has a new top tooth (to go along with the bottom two). And there's another top tooth on the way .

His cold is better but he's still biting ... help ? Everything I've read says this is a temporary phase. Have any of you lovely mummies overcome this? Any advice very welcome please

Try not to shout when he does it or you'll feel really guilty! It's a phase, I've not really been able to stop it other than being ready to latch DD as quickly as possible. It doesn't happen often though. I've also got her feeding whilst sitting on my lap now she's big enough (still quite a little baby at almost 12 months!) and the change in position has made feeding a lot more comfortable and she seems a bit more purposeful in feeding. I think before she was getting a bit bored from feeding for too long (but not really taking in any more milk) and then biting at the end of feeds because she was in more of a lying down position.

No constructive advice but I always think teeth appearing is mother nature's way of saying breastfeeding is over!

@Pipandmum

No constructive advice but I always think teeth appearing is mother nature's way of saying breastfeeding is over!

Well in that case Mother Nature apparently wants my baby to starve; he's monumentally not interested in actual food!

@Pipandmum babies can be born with teeth!

My little one does this very randomly and sporadically but it can hurt!
As it’s so unexpected I always let out a big ow which makes him stop, but I’ve also had to slowly tug his mouth a little & get him to latch on again otherwise he can give 2/3 big bites and bring water to my eyes

@Pipandmum what?! 😂 natural term breastfeeding would be around 2-7 years if we behaved like other primates, teeth appear within a few months in most babies, sometimes very soon. The human race would have died out if everyone had stopped feeding their babies when they got teeth. They’re called milk teeth for a reason.

Mine got teeth at 8 weeks old, so obviously far too young to stop breastfeeding. When he bit I purposely shouted Ow! No! and removed him from the breast immediately. Then he would cry. But he soon got the message that biting = no more boob and he stopped it.

A super hard bite is what ended my breastfeeding journey. It was so unexpected it made me shout out in pain and baby cry. It was 13 months in. Although I wasn't quite ready to give up ultimately it felt like the right decision as I was only doing feeds first thing in the morning and at night time by then.

Apparently you aren't meant to react to it which is near impossible!!

Why aren’t you supposed to react to it?!

@SockDrawer

Why aren’t you supposed to react to it?!

No idea. Reacting to it was how i got DD to stop. Loud OW, stern "no biting" and removal from boob for at least a minute.

She cried a bit each time, and then realised that biting mummy = big shock and no milky, and then she stopped.

Dd did this about a month ago at 9 months. I said 'no biting ' and stopped feeding her for apeox 30 seconds. She bit me 4 times in a row that night and now nothing since.

This is quite normal and usually just a phase. I'd say 'ouch, no biting' and then remove him & try again. It's not very nice. I hated the biting stage & made me anxious before feeds but it does stop.

Reacting to it was how i got DD to stop. Loud OW, stern "no biting" and removal from boob for at least a minute. This also worked for me pretty quickly.

@SockDrawer sometimes they find your reaction funny and so do it again. Sometimes it scares them and they go on a nursing strike which is upsetting all round.

I think by no reaction they mean don't shout though, not ignore it

I thought you were supposed to hold baby's nose just for a second or two. They will stop biting quick smart

Yup , it’s a phase ( or at least it was for me).

My DS started doing this when he was 7 months and got his bottom teeth . I firmly told him “no biting” and took the boob away for 5 minutes. A few times I yelled ( out of surprise , not on purpose ) and he got upset . I felt horrible . The biting went away after a couple weeks at most. At 10 months he got his top teeth and we we through it again but only for a week at most .

A hard bite at 8 months was the end of breastfeeding for me and DS2. I didn't mind, didn't want to be doing it much longer and he was on solid food by then anyway, this being back in the days when we weaned around four months. Official advice for the time, before anyone has a go at me!

@Pipandmum

No constructive advice but I always think teeth appearing is mother nature's way of saying breastfeeding is over!

'milk teeth'

And what if they get teeth at 3 months???

That makes sense @KatieKat88 Thanks.

Thanks everyone so he does it when he's very awake for feeds but not sleepy feeds during the night or before naps. I'm having to give formula once or twice a day as I can't feed him when he's in bitey mode and he's screaming with hunger. So now my supply has gone down which might have led to more biting ... argh ! Thank goodness this should pass ...

Good luck OP, I did a lot of promising myself that I'd give up the next day if it was still bad and it never came to it.

@KatieKat88 thank you that's so good to know . I'm not ready to give up breastfeeding yet

Fennel tea / porridge and oat biscuits will
Help Your supply/

My big baby now almost 2 rarely if ever bites unless he falls deeply asleep on the boob.You now have nipple tinkering to look forward too

The joys!!!

Good luck

I'd heard that you can press baby into the boob, the opposite of trying to yank them away.