My 16 Week Old Just Cut His Bottom Teeth but I Am Trying to Breastfeed.

Hey there. I just wanted to say I know what you're going through!! My first was 8 months, but my second grew teeth two days after he turned 4 months!

One thing we did, was gently press him in towards the breast, and he will let go. That's one option. But, another thing we did, is remove him from my breast, and gently (but firmly) press down (with your finger) on those teeth that are emerging. Say something like (as you're pushing down) "No Bite! This HURTS Mommy!" It doesn't have to be those words, and don't yell at him, but he needs to understand (as much as possible at this stage) that it hurts...he WILL get that. After you do that, you can put him down for a few minutes as well.This shows him that you are serious, and that his actions have consequences. I didn't have to always put him down, as mine caught on quick, thankfully!

If I think of anything else, I will be sure to let you know! I wish you the best, and hope he quickly learns!! :)

Hi, J.! Great job nursing so long. When this happened to us, I broke the seal with my finger to more gently remove her and firmly said "ouch! no biting." I was also really more diligent than I'd become in the preceding weeks about being sure she had her mouth wide open before we started...getting a good latch helps make biting less possible.

Don't flip his cheek or whatever that person was talking about. That's ridiculous, in my opinion. He's not biting to hurt you, as you know :o).

Many regards,
G. in Lawrence

J.,

I can offer some assistance and will respond in detail within a few hours. Currently it is 2:40 AM so I need to shut down for the night. I'll write later today.

D. B.

As far as training your child not to bite or chew on you, it's a matter of consistency and persistence. You are going to be bitten occasionally, but if you use the following method, it will be very rare once they learn not to do it. When your child starts to bite down on you, using your finger, break suction, tap the child's mouth with your finger and say, "No biting." I am not saying to slap your child, so please do not misunderstand. It's a light tap with your finger tip just to get the child's attention so that they understand that the reason they've lost the satisfaction for the moment is because of their mouth. There is no pain involved here at all. If the baby bites again, do the same thing, but put the baby down for a minute. When you come back, just repeat the process and say "don't bite" every time. You don't need to be loud or angry at all...just a slightly firmer voice will communicate to the baby that there's a problem. After all, they've never been reprimanded before and this is all totally new to them. When he resumes nursing without biting, just be really soothing and encouraging. He'll notice the difference and he really will try to please you by not biting. This method has worked with all four of my children. I know some women say that babies can not be trained not to bite, but it just take patience and consistency. In my experience, it took me about a week or two of consistent correction to train my babies not to bite.

try getting bottle nipples and putting them on your breast when you breatsfeed. I have a friend who when their daughter was born 30 years ago; already had the two top teeth so they just used a nipple from a bottle and went from there.

flip your baby in the cheek when she does this. I know it sounds cruel but it works

I agree about not flicking your child just release and do a stearn NO tell him that hurts mama and wait a few seconds before you let him nurse again, do this each time he will he will eventually learn that when he bites the food goes away, its what I was told to do by my lactation consultant.

Hope it helps.

G.

My grandma told me to press their face into the breast for a second and they'll stop. It worked for me for 2 out of my 3 kids. The third one I had to stop nursing for 5 minutes every time they bit. It only took a couple of those for them to realize that if they wanted to nurse right then they had to not bite. One other way that I've seen work is when you press their face in say no sternly and quickly. (Just don't jerk away, that can cause you pain.) Good Luck!

Great job nursing! You should be proud. I have a 2 year old that bit me when she was nursing and I did give her a little flick on the leg and said "no". She never bit me again. I think the whole idea is to just get the point across that it is not acceptable to bite. That doesn't mean she didn't bite other kids later. Ah! Good luck!

Also, We did rub her gums alot to help get her tooth through.