breastfeeding with teeth

[wattle]

Hi, my ds has his first tooth - and it's very exciting. However I'm just wondering about breastfeeding. Is he likely to start nipple munching when he gets a few more teeth? :confused:

[draught]

I am still breastfeeding DD2 who has four teeth, and breastfed DD1 until she was 13 months and had many teeth. You do need to be careful because those teeth can draw blood if they chomp hard :eek: , but the reality is that they don't bite often. The few times I have been bitten have been through my inattention - she has finished feeding and is just playing and then bites. The main tip is that if they bite, unattach immediately - my personal experience is that if you re-offer the breast you will be bitten again. The advice from the experts is to not react otherwise baby will think it is a game and do it again but personally I have always reacted before I have a chance to think - and yet the biting has not become a habit.
Good luck!

[TLCC]

My DD is 10 months and has 6 teeth and I'm still BF (Although trying to wean her). She has bitten me quite a few times and drawn blood which really did HURT alot. Once she has biten I find if I Reattach she will do it again so best to just shut up shop for that feed.

I found initially I would yell because it hurt and she would clamp her mouth shut because I'd scared her which hurt even more. I was told once to push her head into my chest as she will have to open her mouth to breathe. It might sound cruel but actually works in a flash and she doesn't get upset (now she actually grins at me!!)

Good luck, paying attention does seem to minimise the risk, I agree with draught that it seems to happen when they are finished but just mucking around.

Cheers

[kaydensmum]

Hi, my ds is 9 months & has 8 teeth! I have been bitten twice - the last time was his night feed, i placed him on the floor which of course resulted in him crying (which made me feel real bad) but he hasn't bitten me since & that was a few months ago. After reading info on another site i think it was because i wasn't paying attention & he had actually had enough - boy did it hurt though. A lot of people can't believe ime still breasfeeding when he has so many teeth but it doesn't feel much different than from the beginning. The other night on one of those current affair programs they showed quite a lot of mothers still breastfeeding school aged children. I really think it depends on how u react to the bite as to whether this becomes a habit. Hope this helps and good luck.

[pregasaurus]

I breastfed DS until he was 2 1/2, so we experienced LOTS of teeth. He was a terrible biter, but as soon as he did it I would sit him straight on the floor and walk out of the room. They eventually learn that if they're going to do that behaviour the consequences aren't nice. It did make me tense though, a bit like touching an electric fence to see if it's on, I was waiting for the 'crunch'.
The big difference is when he went to sleep on the boob and his jaw went slack I'd be left with little 'indentations' from his teeth. As they get older you can tell then that they're hurting you and they'll adjust their mouths. Good luck!! :D

[Brenda]

My 10 month old DS has bitten me a couple of times in the past couples of month and broken the skin on my nipples, not a pleasant experience! I would be interested to know what others have done to speed up the healing of the broken skin as I am finding it pretty painful to breastfeed with the little sore that is left from the bite. Currently I'm putting Lasinoh cream on my nipples after every feed but they seem to be taking ages to totally heal.