Ouch! My Baby Is Biting My Nipples During Feedings!

Ellie actually started munching at 5 months, and, at 6.5, the teeth are still no-show. Every time she bit me, I'd tap her cheek and she *did* learn. Over the past month, when she's pretty much done, she'll start closing her jaws and giving me a really impish look, but she won't full-on bite anymore. Kids learn so much, they are QUITE capable of picking up a few simple things like don't bite (or, in case of my daughter and my own nuttiness, don't munch on thumb). Good luck!

hey there mum! i just wanted to send you my love and support towards the process you're going through; my daughter went to formula before she got her teeth (because we never nursed very well)but the nipple biting during nursing was one of my greatest fears -
so you have ALREADY been through my greatest fear - and are trying to end it, of course! - and have survived and are still trying to work with your daughter so she can nurse: I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! I hope that you gets lots of good advice from other moms on how to stop this, as I don't have any experience here to give you. Good Luck, Mum! I know that you and your daughter will work it out and get through it together, happy and healthy on the other side. :)

My daughter did (and still occasionally does) the same thing. For her, it almost always happened when she had had enough milk and was either falling asleep or beginning to feel playful. I learned to recognize the signs of when it might happen and disengage before that point. If I miss the signals and she starts to bite down, I quickly (but gently) force my finger between her gums (behind where the teeth are) so that she can't bite down. That saves me a lot of pain. At that point, the feeding is over. If I suspect that she may not have had enough milk, I might feed her again in a while, but after a bite, I always wait at least 30 minutes.

I agree with you (and disagree with some other advisers) that she is too young to understand reprimands. My thinking is that if I continue to end feedings when any biting happens, she will, at some point, be old enough to understand that and, as she develops communication skills, I can explain to her that it hurts me.

Good luck and happy breastfeeding!

Hi V.,
My son did the same thing with me and rarely he still does. What I found to be most useful, especially when babies are teething, is to closely monitor how she is on the breast. The only way a baby can bite your nipple is if her teeth can get close enough together to bite into the skin. So, if you have the baby latched on where your nipple is quite as far back into her mouth as the nipple can go, with almost all of your aereola (the darker circle around your nipple) in her mouth, then its not possible, or at least very difficult, for her to bite you.

I found the same thing happened - if I got upset, showed my pain a loud sound and firmly said NO, then my boy wouldn't understand what was happening, or he'd laugh.

The first time it actually happened, where he bit me, I cried. I had been anxious about it happening (him actually biting me), and I knew it would eventually happen. So, I cried and kept him close to me and he cried, too. It actually wasn't horrible - the bite itself or our crying together. I gently explained to him what was happening AND we got a good latch on the breast, so it didn't happen again for quite some time.

Hope this is helpful. I encourage you to stick with it, even though it might feel super difficult. You'll firure it out! Good luck!

-L.
student midwife
mother of Romero (16 months and still breastfeeding)

Been there with both my little ones! Actually still nursing my 29 month old daughter, and *she* is old enough to talk to about it. She gets a serious reprimand if she hurts me - it does happen more if she's half asleep.

My son got teeth around 5 months and he went through a serious biting stage. I let myelf yelp in pain and stopped nursing. I did give him one more chance in that feeding, but after that, it was over. There was about a week when I was, frankly, afraid to nurse him, so I pumped and he got BM in the bottle. He learned.

Main thing I want to stress is that your 7 month old IS old enough to understand. I think learning empathy is one of the major pluses of breastfeeding.

Don't give up, it's a wonderful experience, and once your little one learns not to hurt mama, things will improve drastically.

My daughter only bit me twice, and with a firm 'no' and pulling the nipple away she got it (about the age of yours actually).

My son is more persistant in the biting. I'm still nursing him. It's normally when he's drifting to sleep that it happens at this point, and not intentional. I did the same 'no' and pulling away with him. I always gave him a chance to nurse again, and if he bites again then I stop shop (so to speak).

She'll get it, but don't hurt yourself! I have a friend who needed stitches due to her baby >.<

Babies will learn that if you instantly stop a feeding when a bite happens that it's not ok. Breastfeeding is both love and nourishment- they usually want to stop on their time, not yours. Don't give in on that one.

My daughter drew blood once. If she had done it a second time she would have been weened.

My little one did this too, and outgrew it. I agree that they cannot comprehend the no, or any sort of discipline yet. In fact, the first time I said no firmly and loudly, he smiled and went right back to nursing. They really have no idea what they are doing. But my son grew out of it, and it didn't last long, and he didn't do it every day. I am sure your little girl will stop soon. So, this doesn't really help, but hopefully it's helpful to know that it won't last!

Hi V.!

My 32 month still nursing occasionally dd went through a biting stage. The key for me was consistency and learning to watch for her biting signs and usual biting times. She would bite me more when she was drifting off to sleep so I would try to delatch her before that happened. She would bite me when she was hungrier for solids than for BF. She would bite me when she was teething so giving her some Hyland's teething tablets before nursing (ideally 10-15 min before) would help. (Please note that teething gels can exacerbate biting because babies lose sensation and tend to bite down instead of latching properly. I found that praising dd every time she didn't bite worked better than the negative consequence of saying no and delatching.

I found the following piece also extremely helpful. Please note that you can also join Livejournal for free and then join the BF community there and have access to some really great BF advice as well. http://community.livejournal.com/breastfeeding/1332126.html

Hi - my little one did this to me as well, when I spoke with my lactation consultant she said that when the baby bites, push her into the breast. Sounds contradictory I know but it works.. BTW I am from Sydney as well but currently live in Mountain View California.

My 7mo just got his tooth a few days ago... ouch....

Just keep calm - this isn't about discipline because they don't understand wrong and right now.

Stick your finger or knuckle in the side of her lip to break the suction and calmly say no - any influctions in your voice will soundlike a game....

If one breast is sore - start feeding with the other breast first - - - let the bitten one heel by feeding on it second because they nurse hardest on the first breast.

Hi, my baby (10 months old) started doing that too when his first two teeth came in at 9 months. My mom warned me in advance what would happen; I've followed her advice and it seems to be working.

When he bites, I flick his cheek (middle finger against the thumb flick) and loudly say, "No! No biting!" The first time he bit me and I did this, he started crying. My husband asked what I'd done, and I told him that biting has immediate consequences. He's only bitten me a couple of times but not recently. It doesn't hurt him, just startles him. He seems to be comprehending that biting is not allowed since he doesn't really cry any more if I do have to flick him. He does stop nursing on that side, so I just switch him to the other side. I try to have him nurse at least once more during the feeding on the side he's bitten me on so he doesn't associate the breast with the flick.

I have some friends that just pulled the baby off their breast and stop the nursing when the baby bites, but I think that's not clear enough for the baby. Flicking the cheek helps the baby associate the flicking with the biting, I think.

Hope this helps!