8 1/2 Month Old Biting While Nursing

Hi R.! I'm R. & I'm new here.I have to respond because my 10 month old started doing the same thing around the same age. His teeth starting coming in & he gave me mestatis from it. I started giving him a bottle & switched to formula even though i loved nursing him. If she continues than I think you should even try pumping it & giving her a bottle of your milk. Good luck!

Funny! my baby-boy used to do that with his gums(LOL),but your doing the right thing by releasing her and saying no! but when you get tired of baby-gumby,gumming you,you can try the pacifier!This way she'll gum on that instead of gumming mommi.This won't work over nite,it'll take a day or 2 befor she accept this, or you can just start bottleing the breast milk this way she can chew the nipple all she want while still being on breast milk but not gumming you(laugh).A lot of people don't like the pacifier, but I loved them & so did all 5 of my babies when it was their turn. On one of my kids I also stopped breast feeding when he was a year old & asked his pediatr,which milk was close to breast milk. In my kase we had to use Isomil since it was made from soy beans,since mine had some lactose problems, the other baby when his turn came I just started giving him can carnation milk 1/2 diluted with water.anyway, she'll have a fit at first,when she starts screaming for breast if she hasn't stop gumming you,pull her off and push the pacifier in her mouth or bottle, she'll spit it out since not used to it,she'll scream & spit out, you just repeat put it in her mouth as I say this'll take a day or 2 for her to be kool with it. then you'll have a happy breast again! This is what worked for me,besides I learned to tune out the screaming.I noticed when you look at them while their screamingthey get louder,if you act like you can't hear them the screaming subsides a little each time especially while you have on Nickalodien chanell or any cartoon channel. Well sorry to ramble so much,but I hope you find your way, if my way up-sets you( but I didn't intend on that) you and baby-girl gummby have a fun day.P.S.this also works at nite after you brst feed her and she still wants your breast,give baby the pacifier she'll chew and suck her-self back to sleep. you can e-male me if you want,i'm new to this site as of last nite,so still learning how to manuver my way around and meet momms!

My 5 month old is biting easy way to fix it. When she bites take her off tell her that it hurt and make her wait like 3 mintues then let her finish. She will learn quickly because she isn't going to want to have to wait for food. She isn't going to starve in those couple of minutes. This will also teach her at an early age the boundaries that you can grow with as she gets older.

Hi R.

What you may want to try is maybe putting orajel on her gums before you feed her. That way, her gums aren't hurting her when you feed her. Hope this helps!

My daughter also bit me when she was teething. What I did was let out a shriek whenever she bit me. It was just enough to startle her without scaring her. It just let her know that biting was not OK. She only bit a few times and happily nursed until she weaned herself at 14 months. Good luck!

I liked Kelly's advice and have used it in the past. Also, if you very, very gently pinch his nose, it will interrupt his nursing. I only had to do that a couple of times before my son got the idea. Keep nursing !!!

OK I know this is gonna sound cruel but...when my daughter bite me while nursing I would lightly flick her in the nose, take her off and tell her " NO biting mommy that hurts me". I would make her wait a minute and then put her back on. It only took a few times of her doing that before she relized it was much easier to get her food if she didn't bit.....it sounds bad but it hurts just make sure you don't flick her hard enough to hurt..just enough to get her attention...Good Luck and don't give up!

I am not sure if you pump but if you do, I will say alternate between giving your child the breast and bottle. This may help with her teething. Also try warm towels to put over your breast to help alleviate the tenderness of the breast. This can be done througout the day.

Here is a good article for you to read.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html

This is what worked for me. When my daughter would bite I would tell her no biting, that hurts mommy and put her down on the floor and walk away. Yes, she would cry but she learned that biting equals no more nursing (for a few minutes) and being put down. I don't think you need to do any flicking or yelling. Just tell her no biting and put her down. For an 8.5 month old baby that is punishment enough for them to understand that you don't like it when they bite. Good luck, this won't last forever I promise! PM me anytime with breastfeeding questions. S.

I haven't reached the stage where my daughter is biting me yet, but I've read that if you pull your child in very close they will release so they can breath. After a few times of this they will begin to associate the biting with being pulled in and then stop. Best wishes. J.

She may be getting upset more over the teething pain than popping her off. When this happens, I would try a teething remedy (our favorite is Hylands), a few minutes with a cool washcloth or teether, and then try again.

IMO, she's too young to wean. I'm guessing you think so too since you're asking for help here. ;) WHO recommends a minimum of 2 years nursing, so I say do everything you can to make it to that at least.

Both my sons bit too while nursing. This may sound mean but push her head gently into your breast. This will force her to release her bite in order to breathe. That solved it for my boys.

Hi R.-
I also have an 8.5 month old, only he has 6 teeth. He was doing the same thing and I pulled him in to me so that he would release (blocks the air to his nose only briefly). Now if he starts biting and feels my hand on the back of his head, he stops before I can even pull him in! It worked great for me! I am a big proponent of breastfeeding as long as possible, try everything you can before you stop! It is the closest thing you will ever do with your baby! Good luck!

When my son started biting, he actually had teeth. He actually bit hard enough once to draw blood. You are doing the right thing. You can use your finger in the mouth to make them release or the other method of pulling them into the brest so that they must release to breath (which only takes a second or two, you aren't hurting them). I would remove him from the breast and tell him no. Then I would let him back on right away. If he did it again, I would remove him again and tell him no and leave him off for a little while. He got the idea fairly quickly. However, he was thoroughly upset when I removed him from the breast. His being that upset was a little upsetting and nerve wracking for me. I had to struggle through without giving in to his cries. I would comfort him but not with the breast because I needed him to understand he had done something wrong. Persevere through. Your daughter will get it soon. The only other tip I can give you is to make sure that you respond immediately to the biting so that your daughter learns cause and effect. When I bite Mommy, Mommy takes away the breast. Although she may not know the words, she will get the concept fairly quickly. Good Luck.

Hi R.~
I nursed my 3 yr old and was lucky she never but me. Now now my 5 month old has 2 teeth and also has bitten me. What I did was stopped nursing him for a few minutes and then went back. I dont think it was intentional for my son.. I feel like he had to learn how to nurse differntly with the teeth in his mouth. It sounds like your daughter is teething ~ I would try the orajel and see if that helps.

Good Luck~ L.

R.,
My daughter did the same thing and I would say,"oww!" naturally and at first she thought it was a little funny; (it was just something new for her to hear from me.) I think you are doing right by telling her no; but I understand her getting so upset. Aww . Maybe a little while before nursing time is coming up allow her to chew on one of those teething things you can freeze OR I used to let her chew on a baggie filled with frozen string beans. She loved that. If you do that maybe her gums will get a little comfortably numb and she won't be so "needing" to bite on you when nursing. Worth a try maybe, huh? I used to first run warm water over the baggie so it wouldn't be initially "freezing". K.

Hi, My son started to bite me at 7 mos and it HURT. I yelped in pain and pulled him off every time, and yes, his face crumpled and he would cry, but he stopped biting me. I am not a "cry-it-out" type at all, but it hurt and I would have had to wean him if he didn't stop.

We don't have any problems now--it just took a few times. The poor baby just didn't realize he was hurting mommy, is all. It might have helped that I said "OWW" everytime.

My advice is to pull her off everytime, because if she gets in the habit, once she has teeth, it will be UNBEARABLE for you.

HELLO R.,
MAYBE IT'S TIME TO STOP NURSING YOUR DAUGHTER. YOU CAN STILL GIVE HER BREAST MILK. SHE IS ALMOST 1. I STOPPED NURSING MY SON AT 7MOS(BITING) AND STARTED MIXING BREAST MILK WITH FORMULA, THAN AT 10MOS STARTED MIXING FORMULA WITH WHOLE MILK.BY 12MOS HE WAS ON WHOLE MILK AND OFF THE BOTTLE. WHEN HE WAS 24MOS STARTED WITH 2% MILK. HE IS NOW 8. GOOD LUCK!

I had that same problem with my daughter at the same age. OUCH!!! The only thing that worked was when she did it, I put pressure (not much) with one finger on her jaw back towards her ear. It made her release instantly and after a few times of doing this we broke the habit.

Good Luck,
K.