So my 8 month old recently cut his first teeth and is really teething. He has started biting me...hard. Yesterday I really thought he had permanantly damaged me. I had to call my Dr because I was in so much pain. He didn't break the skin luckily but man it hurts. So nursing him today has been misery for me and he's still biting. I've tried telling him no and taking him off, not working. What's been happening though is he bites, I scream in pain and he cries because I scared him. I have nursed 2 others and never had it this bad before. What else can I do to stop the biting???
ETA: Thanks for the advice so far! He's been teething since about 4 months so he has every kind of teether you can buy and I always have cold washcloths too. I know he isn't biting to purposely hurt me, he's been doing it for awhile but now it has progressed to a bite and pull so believe me, it more than smarts! Boy those little teeth are SHARP!!!
Thanks everyone for all the advice. Nursing in itself is hard work and I will not at this point wean him. I'm in it for as long as he wants to. He has been much better today. I did try the plugging his nose trick and it seems to have helped! Thanks again!
Plug his nose. He will have to open his mouth to breathe. Also, it creates an unpleasant sensation that he will come to associate with biting you. That's when you quickly pull away. Try not to react.... I know, easier said than done!
Sounds like he is a serious biter so say "No" firmly, and put him down and that nursing session is over.
Meanwhile, give him things to bite: teething rings, frozen waffles or bagels, a wet washcloth kept in the freezer, even show him how to bite on them, so that when you tell him no and stop nursing he will start to associate you with not biting, and biting with the other things.
And don't worry if you scare him, startling them is actually recommended to get their attention.
Could you perhaps get a nipple shield so that if he ever does bite hard enough, that he wont break skin. I know when my nipples were cracked, the last thing I wanted to do was BF. PAIN!
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I'm just a dad so I may be way off on this, but I would put something stiff beside the nipple so when he bites he can only go as far down as the something hard/stiff so you won't get hurt.
Sorry. Good luck to you and yours.
OUCH!!! Every single time he bites, stop nursing completely. It won't work right away, but he'll learn if he bites, no more food. I like GrammaRocks suggestion with having other teething options ready for when this happens.
My son did that also when he was 8 months.. at that time he had about 8 teeth.. He bit down and pulled back.. that really really hurt.. After that, when I new he was hurting.. I would put some teething gel on hm about 10 mins before I nursed him.. that way he was not in pain and could just eat nicely. The lactation nurse told me to bring him into my breast and that should make him open his mouth.
Good luck and I know your pain.. PS if you use a breast shield, you might also need to pump with the feeding so that your supply does not go down.
1st bite during a nursing session: Sternly state "No biting!" and place him on the floor for 10 minutes.
2nd bite during the same nursing session: Sternly state "No biting!" and place him on the floor for 30 minutes.
3rd bite during same nursing session: Sternly state "No biting!" and place him on the floor and no more breastfeeding until the next nursing session.
From his reaction, are you sure he means to bite? I'm sure he doesn't mean to bite and may not realize he is doing it. I would start transitioning him to a bottle, they make some that are supposed to be soft, etc like nipples rather than a traditional bottle. Pump breast milk and give it to him that way. Hold him the same way, etc just feed with a bottle. Or do what 8kidsdad suggests and try to find something to put around your nipple so it won't hurt when he bites. He doesn't mean to, kids "bite" all the time before they cut teeth now you can feel it. When you tell him no he probably thinks you are saying no to the breastfeeding b/c you pull him away, I'm just saying that it is probably confusing to him b/c it's not a misbehavior it's just that he now has teeth and you feel it now. Any punishment won't work for that because it is an adapt and overcome situation rather than misbehavior. It is probably time for him to wean since it hurts you now. You can tell him biting hurts and take him off, etc but he isn't misbehaving he's just sucking like he used to.
I had the exact same problem. Try switching up his positions. Also, taking him off with NO reaction. Making him hang out without nursing for a while, and then trying to latch him on again, in a different position. If nothing else, it will put the tooth in a diffrent place on your nipple and give you a chance to heal.
Also, if it doesn't stop after another day or so, you could try pumping and giving him a bottle. My daughter hated that, I wasn't bitten again for a while... and then only when she wanted my attention, or wanted to let me know she was done!
There are nipple shields you can buy (playtex I believe) that will protect you if you cannot pump/bottle feed. You place them over your nipples while you nurse.
Good luck!!
Oh and, I did hear that if you very quickly push your breast into his face while he is biting you, it forces him to release.... I never tried it, thank God it didn't get that bad!
I had to stop breastfeeding my middle child at 8 mos when he cut his teeth. I couldn't stand the pain long enough to try and stick it out. It was excruciating.
If he is biting youo he can't be nursing. It is impossible to do both. When he bites you, take him off, he is done.
I had to laugh when you wrote how you yelped and scared him. The same thing happened to me with my daughter. I was lucky because when I told her no and took her off, she got the message.
did you ever shriek when he bit you? i did that once or twice just due to the shock and it startled my babies - they made sure not to bite down again. See if a good shriek will help!
my son has done that since he started teething...it actually helps me figure out sometimes if his teeth are bothering him, i.e. he nips/bites when trying to nurse. he will do it when starting to nurse and can't suck hard enough to get the milk to come. I try putting teething gel on him (the orajel natural without the benzocaine is the strongest natural one. The hyland's barely seems to cut the edge, in my opinion). My son hates the taste, so he gets mad but then will nurse--probably because the pain is cut and to get the taste out of his mouth.
If that doesn't do the trick, I then will pump and give a bottle. Sometimes my letdown takes a minute or 2 and he will get impatient and nip, so the bottle is instant and he seems happier. I wouldn't skip a session, especially at 8 months, unless you have a very strong supply. I don't so it's important for my body not to miss feedings.
I will say 'no biting' but it's usually more for my sake, I think. In our case he really only does this when teething. For your skin, put neosporin in it to help heal (not the pain reliever one, just the regular.) It is fine to use and you don't have to wash it off. It should help speed up the process for you. Definitely use it if the skin is broken (that happened to me...I was bleeding after every nursing session that time).
And good for you nursing so long despite the challenges! :-)
Oh goodness! My DS almost took my nipple off. He was (mostly) asleep and was startled and bit down. It was horrible. Wouldn't stop bleeding.
Have you heard of Baltic amber teething necklaces? They really do seem to help!
http://hyenacart.com/stores/inspiredbyfinn/index.php?c=63...
I bought mine specifically because DS's latch had become uncomfortable. And it helped! It has also helped w/ teething in general.
They are pretty quick to get it to you and shipping is only $2. Worth it, IMO. :)
