Another OUCH - how do I get DS to stop biting me???

[nigele]

DS is teething and constantly bites me while nursing and MAN -- does it hurt! It hurts so bad it brings tears to my eyes. He has even left teeth marks...no kidding. Can somebody offer suggestions to discourage him or do I just have to settle for being a human chew-toy??

[atlbaby]

Hi Lisa,

I can only offer you my sympathy bc biting really hurts and I can imagine it is a thousand times worse when the baby is biting your breast! Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions on how to discourage Thomas from biting since Arielle didn't cut her first tooth till 10.5 months and I finshed weaning her by 10 months.
Are these his first teeth he is cutting?

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[Karenn]

Hi,
The La Leche league website has a bunch of good tips on this. What I did with Colin was take him off as soon as he bit me. I had to do this maybe twice and he never bit me again. I also kept a finger close by for a while to be ready to take him off if it seemed like he was going to bite. I think what I remember from the LLL site is that if they are biting, they are probably done eating, and just playing.

Good luck.

[nigele]

Thanks - I'll take a look at LaLeche's web site - I hadn't even thought of that! I have taken Thomas off every time and it doesn't phase him. I've also screamed from the pain and he just looks at me. I had an inkling he is doing it when he is done eating, but he is only eating for a short period of time then wants back on. Maybe he's just getting more efficient and is only wanting to play...

Rachel - these are his first teeth so I'm hoping once these come in all the way, he will stop. Tonight, he bit, then pulled off my nipple, scraping his teeth the whole way off. Yowsers!

[Rachels]

Yikes!!! Here's a link to a good thread about this from the Mothering boards:

http://mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36817

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[parkersmama]

I followed the advice that Dr. Sears gives in "The Baby Book" (and probably also in his breastfeeding book, although I can't remember). It worked for me with both my children and it didn't take long for them to learn to not bite. Here goes: When he bites, go totally against your normal reaction to yell or pull him off and instead pull him into your breast until his little nose is covered by your breast tissue. Unfortunately he's still biting at this point so do it fast! When he can't breathe because his nose is covered, he'll instinctively open his mouth to take a breath which will release you from his hold. At this point he make have a totally shocked look on his face but you can just calmly say "No biting" and then allow him to nurse again. If he bites another time, do the same thing. I promise that it won't hurt him and will probably do a lot less damage to your nursing relationship than if you yelp and gasp every time he bites (which might frighten him!). It only took my boys about 2 times each of this technique to learn to associate biting with the unpleasantness of not being able to breathe and they stopped...for good. Here's a link with this and some other good tips, too: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t029900.asp

Good luck!
Denise
mom to:
Parker, 9/1/1997
Wesley, 3/9/2000
and #3 (a girl!) due 4/29/2003

[MinnieMouse]

I used the pull in technique as well. Dd is almost 19mo and still nursing mornings, evenings and occasionally at night. It took a few times but when she would bite, I would pull her in, she'd come off and I would tell her that we don't bite. I would let her try one or two more times and if she continued (she's stubborn like her mommy!) I would end the nursing session. Dh would take her because she would be VERY upset. If she still wanted to nurse I would try again in 15min.

It took a bit of dedication to the cause, but she eventually got it. After that I haven't had a problem at all.

HTH

christine

[parkersmama]

Yipee! I'm so happy to see someone else who's actually used this method! I have a lot of people ask me about this because they know I'm so dedicated to nursing and I always tell them to give this trick a try but I usually get the skeptical "are you crazy?" sort of looks. I'm glad to know another success story!

Denise
mom to:
Parker, 9/1/1997
Wesley, 3/9/2000
and #3 (a girl!) due 4/29/2003