Biting Breastfed Baby! OUCH, Help!

Hi D.,

I went through this with both my babies. Every time they'd bite, I'd scream, "Ouch!" It would startle them and if they did it again I'd say firmly, "No biting!" After a few times they stopped.

Good luck! :)

Warm Regards,
G.

Before I even knew what had happened, my baby had bitten me, with new teeth, and I had reacted with a little pat on the cheek. He looked up at me, as startled as I was, and he never tried it again.

My daughter is only 3 months and thankfully had not started doing this yet. But I had a lactation consultant/in home nurse after my daughter and I came home form the hospital who I expressed this worry to. She told me that when it happens you need to be real stern and say NO that hurts NO you can't do that. And they will know it is bad and eventually stop. I haven't had to try this yet but it couldn't hurt.

Also at most delivering hospitals there is a free latation program for questions on breastfeeding. you might want to see if your hospital has one and try calling them for more advice.

I have 3 girls that I breastfed. When each one started biting I would flick her ear.... hard enough to hurt a little. My first one bit once & never did it again. My second one is the more stubborn even now. I remember one night I would flick her & she would cry & then do it again. We did that routine that night quite a few times until I told her she was done. The flick on the ear or under the jaw seemed to work..... be prepared to feel badly that you might make your baby cry, but don't apologize.... he will learn that when he bites the consequence it a little sting on the ear......he'll learn not to do it. :) Hope this helps. -C.

Babies begin teething as early as 3 months old. Their gums are not only beginning to hurt but they also itch. At your child's age, "biting" doesn't mean anything to him. It is simply reaction. Just take your breast out of the infants mouth for a moment and then continue feeding. Your fear of future biting with teeth is too far in the future to be concerned with and may never happen. When the baby is older; around 6 to 8 months you should incorporate the word NO when removing your breast from his mouth. I totally disagree with the advice to "smother" the infant in your breast; even if for a moment.

D.....

My now 26 year old son started biting while feeding at about 4 months old. I simply would thump his cheek lightly with my finger to let him know that it was not okay. It took a few times, but he finally figured out that biting mom would result in the thump. Please don't misunderstand, I never hurt him, but the thumping was enough of an eye opener that it got his attention, and he did stop.

Good Luck
E. P.

Hi D.,

My 4 mo old recently started doing this too, so I empathize! With my older boys, I just allowed myself to react naturally - usually with a fairly loud yelp - it seemed to startle them enough that they stopped doing it after a short time. The couple of times that my youngest has bitten me, I've yelped and taken him off. At least once I'm sure from his reaction that I scared him, but I just talked to him calmly and comforted him without giving him back the breast right away. Obviously if he's in the middle of a feeding, I'll let him go back to it, but it seems like he usually bites when he's pretty much done. Anyway - it worked for my older ones, and I'm hoping it'll work again!

Good luck!

-S.

My experience is that the first time they sink in with those teeth and before you can help yourself you yank them off and scream--they figure it out. My two daughters both bit me a couple times but they found my response so scary (didn't mean to scare them, completely unplanned response) that they stopped biting. Maybe I just got lucky.

I agree with all the other responses about taking it away and him learning that hurt = no milk. BUT - a great way to break him off when he is biting you is - with the back of your hand, bring his head in further to the breast - like you are smooshing him against it. His natural reflex will be to open his mouth wide as if taking a breath or gasp, and then you pull back. You can break his seal with your finger, but once teeth come in, he'll just bite your finger. The smoosh in, pull away method worked for me and I nursed my last baby for 14 months - and from 4 months on he had teeth.

good luck!
C.

My mother told me to hold the baby really close to me. So the baby has to open the mouth to get a breath. Say, "No", in a very firm voice - no smiles. I nursed all eleven of my living children and usually the biting didn't last. Good luck. I care.

Ok, this is going to sound terrible but it worked for me with all 3 of my children. When he chomps down give him a little flick on the cheek... he won't like it. It is not intended to hurt but to get a response, he will typically let go. They learn really quickly that they get a response that they don't like when the bite down while nursing.
Good luck, I know that is no fun... nip it in the bud before the teeth come... ouch ouch ouch...

D., Ouch is right. Maybe replacing the feeding with a pacifier when the biting begins will save your nipples. Start weaning from the breast to bottle, etc. Good luck

Sorry I dont have any advice but thanks for the laugh! I guess just keep your amazing sense of humor and you'll have a great story to tell when he's older (maybe warn a future girlfriend of his you dont like)

My daughter started the same thing when she was that old. The best advice that I got was to not let her feed too lond. When she was done eating or getting bored she would bite. Once I started to watch for signs that she was dopne feeding or thta she wasn't hungry I would take her off, no more bitting. Good luck.

Oh, boy you gotta stop this now before he does draw blood.
Next time he bites, immediately remove him from the breast, say "ouch, that hurts!" (in a louder/surprised voice), and place his little butt on the floor. He'll cry, you'll pick him up and offer him the breast again, only before he gets it, tell him 'no biting Momma'. Repeat as necessary. It took my stubborn child about 5 times over several days to get the message. I only had to do it twice with the sensitive one.
It's a simple method of cause and effect. Biting equals no boobie. He'll get the message.

Hope this helps.

When my son began biting while nursing around 4 months as well, I would actually say OUCH!! This seemed to startle him enough to discourage the biting.

I've wondered the same thing. I have an 8 month old who just got 2 bottem teeth. He used to bite me all the time. My sister made it through 6 boys with teeth. She said they all bite her once or twice. Don't pull them away, because they clamp down. Push their head into you until they cant breath. They will let go and pull back. Before my son got teeth, when he would bite, I screamed. It scared him, and he stoped. Good luck! I'm a little scared about the same thing. It won't be the same if he bites me now.

I have breastfed 5 babies and all of them have clenched their jaws while breastfeeding around this age. A little tap or flick on the cheek, a couple of times, was all it took. Not to hurt, just to get their attention. I am currently breastfeeding my 8 month old and she has 6 teeth! My experience has been that when they get their teeth, they will try to bite again. I just had to flick her cheek on a few different occasions and now she doesn't bite me and she lets go very gently. It hurts, but this is how I got through it! Good luck!

Both of my sons did this so I know how frustrating it is. Your son could be getting ready for teeth to come in even though you can't see anything yet. Maybe try offering to nurse only when he's hungry and remove him as soon as he's done. That was usually when my boys started to gnaw on me. When I was bitten, I would react by crying out and making a sad face or say "no, no". I would also stop nursing for a minute or two just to make it clear that biting ends the feeding session. And try not to smile when he smiles (even though it's hard to resist that sweet little face peering up at you) because he'll just think that what's happening is funny or a game.

My baby did the same thing when he first started getting teeth. When he would bite down, I would say "All done" and not let him finish eating. The first time that he did it, it surprised me and I let out a small cry...that scared him too, and then I set him down. He has learned that if he bites, he is done eating.

A friend reccomended flicking the cheek when my first son tried to bite while nursing. However he though this was funny and laughed. I then tried GENTLY pinching his cheek. He was sad and had a few tears, but never bit again! I have also had success with my second son using the same pinching method. Hope this helps you as it did me!

Ouch is right! My daughter did that and someone told me to pinch her nose when she did it. Not hard just like you would to hold your nose if you were going under water. It makes them let go right away. I did it a couple of times with my daughter and she stopped.

My son was doing that and it drove me nuts! I called the La Leche League for tips. They had some great ones.

Take him off when he does that. Wait a few minutes and then offer it again. Put "it" away every time he bites.

Another tip was... do you find your older two getting into mischief when you sit down to breastfeed? Or struggling for your attention? Sometimes moms don't realize that as soon as they sit down the older kids get into trouble so you start to talk sharply to them or get tense because you are "trapped" sitting down to breastfeed while the olders are being naughty. Then the baby starts biting. I don't know if that applys to you are not. It did me. So I would make sure the older kids were NOT around to ask for things, or otherwise draw my attention to them. Or I would engage them in other acitivty and remind them that baby's feeding time important not to interupt. If they did I would talk very softly in almost a whisper. That helped and I stopped getting bit.

Good luck! Biting hurts even without teeth!