I have a wonderful 5 months old baby girl who so far has been my best nursing baby compared to my other girls. But this past weekend she just started "chomping" down on my nipple, she doesn't have teeth but she is using her gums, either out of boredom or frustration or something! I am so frustrated because it hurts so much it feels like she is going to bite it off! I don't know how to stop it, I actually have been yelping out in surprise every time she does it because it hurts so much! But when I do that she actually just smiles and laughs at me! I am so frustrated and upset because I really want to nurse her longer than this, but this hurts so much I could cry! Any ideas or advice for me would be so appreciated, Thanks everyone!
Luckily, my baby didn't really do this much, but I was so worried that she would. A lactation consultant told me to gently push her face into the breast so that she cannot breathe. She will quickly let go and it should only take a couple of times for this to be successful. The trick is staying calm enough to do this. Don't give up nursing. See a consultant if you have to. Good luck!
A.
I would try to see why she is doing it. If she is very hungry she maybe trying to let you know she wants milk now, I would try expressing a few drops so the let down comes sooner and I would drink more water in this warmer weather. If she is laughing it maybe that she is playing and likes to get a reaction, I would try calmly saying no thank you, or no that hurts, and try nursing again it 5-10 min, the fewer distraction the better quiet room ect. If you are working it is could be that she likes the faster flow of the bottle, I would make sure the bottle nipples are all slow flow. Both of my babies did this for about a week around six months, they both learned not to bite. I hope this is helpful and helps spur you on.
A.
I feel your pain because my 8-month-old has been doing the same thing lately. It does seem to be less frequent now, so I am hoping this is just another one of those phases. I noticed that my son has a tendency to chomp down when he is done eating (but still sucking) and also when there are a lot of distractions. I try to find a quiet place to nurse him when possible and I immediately end the nursing session when he chomps down. That makes him really mad and I'm not sure if he gets the connection yet, but it's the only thing I can think of at the moment. Even though it hurts like a sonofa-----, I try not to yell out in surprise because he finds that funny. Trying some different positions also seems to help a little bit with the discomfort I have from feeding a small barracuda. Hope some of those suggestions help a little, this is not a fun phase. I don't remember it being so bad with my first, but she didn't get her first teeth until after a year and we were done nursing.
Have you tried gently tapping her by her mouth & saying no? I tried that w/my son when he bit me while nursing. I also took him off & told him no. I hope these ideas work for you.
Hi H.--
I know this might sound a little harsh, but my family swears by "flicking" the child on the cheek with your finger (rather forcefully) when they chomp down while nursing. It should startle her a bit and hopefully after once or twice it will completely cure the behavior.
I hope this helps!
k
Usually babies bite when they are teething and at 5 months it's possible. Babies don't usually bite when they are actively eating. Their tongues cover their lower gum when they suck. They would bite their own tongues if they did this while eating.
Does she bite at the beginning of the feeding? Try soothing her gums by letting her chew on a cold washcloth or toy.
Does she bit at the end of the feeding? Watch for signs that she is getting full and playful. Try to take her off before she bites you.
H.,
I'm so sorry you are going through this awful stage in nursing. You are doing such a great job getting some support and trying things out. My son did this when he was mostly done nursing, but was still just hanging out on the breast. I learned to recognize the cues that he was about to bite and then end the feeding. When he got me, I'd unlatch him, firmly tell him no biting and end the feeding (even if it just started). I wouldn't let him back on until enough time had passed that it felt like a whole different feeding instead of just taking a break. The other trick you can do which isn't intuitive, is to smoosh her face into your breast when she bites. She'll need to open her mouth to breathe and you can take her off. I've never done this, but have heard it at La Leche League meetings and apparently it's pretty effective. It sounds like she thinks it's a game right now, so you'll want to figure something out quickly to let her know this is not ok. Once you figure out what that is, this behavior shouldn't last long.
Good luck!
S.
This happened with both my girls when they were about that age. I quickly removed them from my breast and looked at them and said "no" in a stern voice. It broke my heart at the time to see them cry - I felt like I had hurt their feelings, but they didn't try biting after that . . .
