6 Month Old Infant Has Teeth and Started Biting During Nursing... Any Advice?

this sounds harsh- but when my son bit me i immediatly flicked him on the cheek. he cried but never did it again. he knew right away that it was NOT ok to bite. good luck.

I found that when my girls started biting, they were trying to wean themselves. It happened around 6 months, and coincided with starting to eat solids. I kept trying and trying to nurse, but ultimately they were choosing not to. For my older daughter, I pumped for a while after that, but with my younger daughter, I just switched her to formula. I don't know, maybe other moms have better suggestions, but in my case my daughters were trying to tell me what they wanted in the only way they knew how!

I got a silicone shield from the ladies at WIC. it was a lifesaver. my son didnt seem to notice at all that it was there. i would also use purified lanolin on my nipples to help them heal. I also got that from WIC. Your pediatrician might be able to tell you where to get one, or the la leche league, or call the ladies at WIC and see if they can help you. good luck!

Dear Cathy,
Sorry I'm answering this a little late...I was busy yesterday.
My daughter self weaned really early so I didn't have this issue with her, however my son started biting me.
My mom said that when babies start to bite, it's time to be done with nursing. I didn't want to be done yet, but I also couldn't let him bite my nipples off. Baby teeth are sharp!
When he bit me, feeding was over and I gave him a cold teething ring to chew on. If he wanted to chomp on something, that was fine, but it wasn't going to be me. I would say, "No biting Mommy!" You'd be surprised how many times he was perfectly happy with his teething ring because he wanted something to bite on in the first place. Other times, he did want to eat and taking the breast away right when he bit did the trick. Believe it or not, it only took a few times of doing that and quit biting me. I nursed him until he was 15 months old. By that age, he was eating solid foods and definitely knew the difference between chomping on something and nursing. He knew he wasn't going to do both at the same time.
I don't know about nipple shields, I never had to use them.
I wish you the best because I know baby bites really hurt and you can't let him keep doing that. Just take the breast away, give him something cold and flavorless to chew on and try again after a while. If he wants to continue nursing, he will quit biting you.

They sell nipple shield which would help that. I used them when I first started nursing because my nipple did not stick out far enough. A few differant brands sell them but I liked the Avent (nipple protectors) one best for my use but I think for the biting issue the Madela (nipple shield)one covers more area. Good luck. BTW-you can find both at babys r us.

A very firm "no" and put the baby down off your lap. After a few times he will learn that biting means the end of nursing and of the nice warm cuddle time. He will learn to stop. Mine picked this up pretty quickly.

La Leche League recommends snapping the baby on his/her nose with your middle finger, not causing any bruising or injury, and stopping nursing immediately, placing the baby in a safe place. I used this with my oldest 18 years ago and it worked and worked well.

I would just stop feeding with my son when he bit. He caught on sooo fast. I know it's painful but I feel like it's worth it. I am now weaning my son who's 15 months. Be prepared for another challenge there. I wanted to quit at 12 months but once they are aware it's really hard for them to deal with not nursing.

Hi Cathy, At 6 months of age there is not a lot of understannding and conversation going on BUT they do understand when feeding time is over. When ever one of my children bite me I just stopped nursing and said no! It only took a few times and they caught on fast.
I can say that it never harmed any of them to have the feeding stopped early. Good Luck, Nanag

I didn't know there were shields available, but that does sound like a great idea. Of course your son doesn't realize he's hurting you when he bites down. I wouldn't try to guess why he does it, perhaps it's just because he's trying to figure out what to do with those new things in his mouth. What I did when my children bit me during nursing was to gently press on the outer sides of their mouths to get them to release the teeth. As I did this I told them 'no biting'. It may seem that they wouldn't understand, but the bit of discomfort along with the spoken words seemed to make them understand after a few times and they quit trying to bite.

You've received some good advice already - just wanted to echo some of it, albeit a few days late.

My now ten month old has bitten me twice, once accidentally and then once very deliberately. (You could almost hear her thoughts as she looked at my nipple - "Hmmm, I really enjoy sucking on that...I wonder what would happen if I took a little nibble?")

Both times I immediately stood up and put her into her crib without her lovie and walked out of her room. I stayed out for about a minute or two and then came back in and picked her up and cuddled with her. The first time she was done nursing so didn't want any more. The second time she wasn't quite done and was pretty stressed out (I probably said "OW" or "NO" quite loudly when she bit me!) so I nursed her some to soothe her. She was obviously a bit more disturbed the second time and it did seem to make her nervous about being latched on, but that only occurred during that next nursing session. Since then, no biting.

Your baby doesn't want to hurt you, and it's HIGHLY unlikely that he's ready to wean at this age. Just be very consistent and if he bites, nursing and cuddle time is over. He'll learn very rapidly that this is not something he wants to do - he loves his time with Mommy!