I have a question about nursing my 9 month old son. He currently has 6 teeth (two on bottom and 4 on top) I'm still nursing and would like to continue till he's a year or more. Recently while he's been nursing he's using his teeth or their getting in the way and it's painful. He's not biting me (anymore at least) it's just seems like he's using them and the constant rubbing on my nipples is gruling. Any ideas....I really don't want to stop nursing but can't take the pain.
Maybe the position is off. I get some scraping too. My nipples have just toughened up to it though.
I went through the same deal with my son. Once the teeth start coming in they can rub and cause pain to you. Try switching the position slightly while nursing. Either try a different hold altogether or just prop him up slightly or so it's just not on the exact same spot that is causing pain. In a few days it will heal and then you should be able to continue just fine to nurse past the year. Good luck!
You could try to pump :) That way he is still getting the breast milk but instead of hurting your nipples he would be doing it to a bottle.
Try a new position for a while. Like him sitting up on your leg, or side lying, or even the football hold. Also check his latch, and when your latching him, make sure your nipple is pointing up to the roof of his mouth. This will force him to use his tongue and top lip between your breast and his teeth. Get as much breast in his mouth as possible and get your nipple pointed to the roof os his mouth. Use the 'C' hold to accomplish this. Should help, otherwise the different positions should help.
oh, and if he is done nursing, unlatch him. I know my boys would 'gum' on my breast if the ywere done nursing and I didn't unlatch them. Especially while teething.
Hi M.!
Both of my kids did that... I just took them off the breast for a moment, so they got the connection with biting and no nursing, then continued. You could say something simple like "biting hurts"--try to say the same phrase each time so they learn to associate it with their biting. Nursing experts say it's the first time out! Each of my kids got over it right away and I nursed them til they were 2. Good luck!
I read that when they bite, you are supposed to take them off, and firmly say "No Biting" and then put them back on. Do it as often as it takes until he learns not to do it any longer. I nursed my 16 month old until she was 1 yr.
Do not pull him off when he bites - press him to you. This will briefly (BRIEFLY) cover his nose and he'll open his mouth to breathe. Then you can take him away from your breast without scraping the nipple with his teeth.
With my kids, if they bit me, I'd immediately stop nursing (they usually only started biting when they were about done and getting bored). At the very least, it made sure I never got bitten more than once per nursing.
You may want to consider trying some wool nursing pads. They're a little bulky, but they worked wonders for soreness.
I nursed both my sons to beyond a year, and my first son had teeth by 3 months! The trick is just to take your nipple out of his mouth if he is using his teeth, tell him not to use his teeth (I'm really not sure what they understand at what age, but it always made me feel better), and then reinsert the nipple. You may have to try more than once, but eventually they learn to stop using teeth. We always had the worst problem when they would start to fall asleep.
Good Luck!
