Bitting

[pavel's mum]

Hey I have a 8mth old baby boy who loves breastfeeding and is thriving as a result...unfortuatly he has also just gotten two more new teeth and is having a great time chewing everything including my nipples. :eek: I have tried nipple shields but he screams and refuses to drink with them on. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to make him stop. I really wanted to feed him until 1yr but my nipples are all cut and bruised and feeding him is like extreme torture. Has anybody been through this and have any suggestions... I'll try anything.

[Jennifer]

Hi,

I have a baby boy who is 12months old tomorrow (yay!!), and I have had the exact same problem as you. I breastfed up until the 22nd Jan 05 and only stopped due to the pain. I have so much trouble breastfeeding him due to blisters,cracked nipples, blocked ducts so forth, that I almost wanted to give up earlier. My son started biting before he had teeth, and continued on for the next six months biting every now and again, usually when teething. I tried the shields (didn't work!). I stopped because I ended up with blood blister around my nipple and skin coming off because his teeth were grating. I was like you, stubbornly trying to make it to 12months, I don't know why i had that goal. I made it to nearly 11months, but it was an effort. By the end, I was dreading every feed, which it shouldn't be that way. my DH was no use, everytime I complained , he would say automatically ' put him on the bottle!!'. I always said no, but one day, i was in tears feeding, and finally said 'enough'. This wasn't helping him or me, so I put him straight onto the bottle and he hasn't looked back!! I feel really relieved and happy to not dreading feeding time, and also to have my boobs back!!.

That's my story, and I so know what you are going through. Unfortunately, I don't know anything to help you. My way was expressing milk first, but felt I was constantly milking myself to make enough milk for one feed! I soon after just stopped completely, only expressing enough to make myself comfortable.

I hope everything gets better

Cheers
Jennifer :(

[Ivy-Rose]

Hello,
I have had the same problem with my eldest who is now 5yrs and my 3rd baby who is almost 7mths. They both started to bite before they got teeth and all I did was stop the feed with a very stern NO and made them wait a few minutes before continuing. It worked with my first and seems to have stopped bub from doing it. It takes a few times before they start to realise that the feed stops but they get the hang of it.
Emma ;)

[Malin]

Hi!
I think all babies go through this stage. Around this time they might be teething, eating other foods and testing to see if the bob might even be something to chew.
I was very lucky with my son he only had a small nip I didn't say no, he could just tell he was hurting me by me moving a little. I think maybe months later he tried again but he never hurt me a lot. I feel for you it must be awful, some mums I have spoken to their babies even drawn blood.

I know you want some hints what you can do to stop him hurting you.
Sorry I can't help, all mums find different solutions. But maybe you could heal your nipples by
spraying some breast milk on them it might take ages but it will help to heal or use the stronger creams (like Bepanthen) if you want a fast result
Only thing i can say is try to keep breast feeding as long you can, and most important as long you want to.We have been so lucky with the breast feeding still breast feeding him and he is soon 3 years old and at the moment want him to keep going until' he will self wean. Mind you if I would feel I had enough and don't want to do it anymore due to any reason I would stop.
I know there is a pressure these days to keep breast feeding for longer, but I think you done really good to have done it for this long!!!!

All the best Cheers Malin

[Mumoffour]

my bub did the same thing and i said a very stern 'NO!!" and took the boob away and put him in his bed. he only did it once again after that. they really take notice when their precious boobie is taken away! :D

[Lallas' Mum]

My son self-weaned at 10 1/2 months when I fell pregnant again with the bub I am currently expecting but he was a very enthusiastic feeder who loved nothing more than "mummy's milk". He gave his first nip when his first teeth were starting to break through. I found the best method is to stop feeding them for a minute or two. My son was always latched on very well, but if he bit I simply popped my index finger down the side of his lips which broke his hold and sat him on the floor for a minute. (which in actual time was probably only half a minute). Then I would pick him back up and start again. After about three times of being denied food he stopped doing it.

I also found that if he was distracted (ie if we were out in public or there was a lot going on around us) he would bite a little. So cutting back on distraction whenever possible is also a great idea.

The best thing to heal cracked nipples is expressed breastmilk. At the end of a feed just express a little and make sure it covers the affected area and if possible leave your breast out to dry a little before restoring dignity.

Hope it helps!!!

[cwsmum]

Hi, I can't really help you with the biting problem. My son was bottle fed from one week old, he was tongue tied which was creating attachment problems and causing him to bite as he only had limited movement of his tongue.

Anyway, I ended up with very sore, cracked and bleeding nipples and found that 'Lucas Papaw Ointment' cleared them up really quickly. Another advantage is that is is also safe to use while breast feeding if you continue to do so. It's not just for nipples though, you can use it for almost everything.
You can buy it in most chemists, I also noticed it in Woolworths the other day.

Good luck stopping the biting :)