YOWZA - booby biting baby!!!!

[toomanystrollers]

OUCH - attack of the teething 8 month old!!! She's been testing the waters so to speak with a little nibble here and there, but today she really clamped down. I looked down and sternly told her "no bite". Poor Neve promptly burst into tears :(

Tess only bit me once and well Shea had teeth at 4 months - and nursing him became quite an adventure. What do you mamas do to discourage becoming a chew toy??

[bluej]

I have no idea. I've learned not to look away from Ryden that's for darn sure! He has this thing where he eats away happily, focused straight on, and then out of nowhere he'll make eye contact w/ me, smile and then nibble. I tell him 'no bite' and he giggles and goes back to eating. So I decided to ignore him and not look at him so he can't make eye contact. Yeah, he out and out chomped down then. I have no idea how to get him to stop. Sure the other two bit once or twice, but after telling them not to bite they stopped and didn't do it again, they didn't laugh at me like Ryden does. Right now I put feeding to an abrupt end even when he just nibbles. He doesn't seem to be connecting nibbling to end of eating b/c he just does it again at the next session. He's either not that bright or stubborn.

[lizajane]

i tried EVERYTHING. i tried "mommy doesn't like that." i tried taking it away. i tried a sharp, loud, "NO!" i even pinched him once just out of instinct because he bit down so fast and hard.

EVERY SINGLE ONE of these responses was met with LAUGHTER. even the pinch! i tried to use my meanest, scariest voice when i yelled no. HA HA HA HA HA. that was a riot. the meaner i tried to sound, the funnier it was.

finally, he just stopped. when he bit, i just stopped nursing him (it was usually when he was finished anyway- which is what most folks tend to say). and now he has 4 teeth and 2 just popped through and he rarely bites down. he does rest his teeth in my flesh, which is another story... i have teeth marks on me EVERY time i nurse. but it is better than the sharp bites and hysterical laughter.

[shishamo]

Mia used to do the hysterical laughter also! I would do the "NO!", etc., and she would just laugh harder and harder! I was shocked since it worked like a charm with Leo.

What worked for her was this: she would bite (at the end of the session), I would say "no" (but not so loud so that she won't start laughing), walk across the room, put her down on the floor, laying on her back, and walk back to whereever I was nursing her. The idea I was trying to convey was, "if you bite me, I am not nursing you anymore". She would then cry, come to me to be comforted, I would have a quick talk with her about if you bite me you cannot nurse. Then, proceed to do something very different but comforting, like read a book. Did that for several days, and no more biting.

I had the teethmark problem also. I read in the LLL website that changing the angle of the latch (so that the upper teeth aren't resting on the breast so much) should help. There were few other tips but I can't remember now.

[houseof3boys]

Yowza is right. Knock on wood but Ryan hasn't bitten me really hard for a while now. His top two just came in yesterday and today so now I fear the biting again!!!

Ryan cried when I said "no biting" and I cried from the pain. :P

I hope that Neve got it out of her system Pam.

[s_gosney]

yikes! Kylee bit me so hard today that I nearly screamed. And she doesn't even have any teeth yet! I don't know what I'm going to do when the teeth start coming...

[missym]

I second this recommendation! Gwen was doing the chomp and yank thing every session about a month ago. It got to the point where I was nervous to put her to the breast. What finally worked was immediately saying "No bite" and putting her on the floor. You should have seen the looks I got! But over the course of a couple of days, it worked.

Hang in there!

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03

[deborah_r]

Kai bit me HARD - I was bleeding. I screamed involunterily. He cried for about 5 minutes. He didn't bite for a few weeks. 2 nights ago he bit me a little, but I think it was accidental because he was trying to latch on and we were both sleepy. It was on the nipple, not on the base of the nipple, and does not have the lingering pain that the one at the base of the nipple had.

I hope you find something, sounds like the other posters had some good advice.

[jmofarrill]

Yeah, Anwyn looks up at me impishly and lets the nipple start sliding out until just the tip is in her mouth and then she tries to bite me. And she, too, laughs if I say no. If I end the session, no big deal to her. I have to just pay attention and when she stops actively nursing, I close down the restaurant.

She has two bottom teeth and her two upper teeth just started coming in. My nipples are so sore from the new additions that I had to break out the Lansinoh last night. This happened when the lower teeth started coming in; I'm hoping it goes away quickly.

[jmofarrill]

double post for some crazy reason