Nipple Biting!

[SamiPolizzi]

My DS is 5 months. He got his two front teeth on the bottom a month ago, and it hasn't been a problem... until today. He bit me! IT HURT SO BAD. And if I flinch or yell "ow!" he just looks up at me for a second and then starts crying, but it just hurts so badly it's impossible not to react.
I'm not really sure if this is going to be a recurring problem or if it was just a one time thing, but I thought I'd come get some advice in advance. I have no idea what I'm going to do if this continues. I mean, I can't really teach him not to do it when he's this young, can I?
Please help. This is something I just can't handle.

[MamaPhD]

Yes you CAN teach him not to bite you. No you're not supposed to endure the biting. My DD is 9 mo and luckily she tries out her teeth very gently. I think she is just wondering what teeth are for, etc. But this is what we do when she does. As soon as I can feel teeth, I put my finger in her mouth to unlatch her. She looks up cuz she is interrupted. Then I say firmly, "No Biting!". Don't scream or anything. Be firm though. No smiling either. I relatch her after 2-3 sec. She nurses again. She didn't get her teeth until about 1.5 months ago, but now I hardly do this at all. She knows biting means unlatching and she doesn't want that! Give it a try.

[madeleines_mom]

Ugh, I hear you! DD is 9 months old and has her four front (2 upper, 2 lower) teeth and she bit me HARD 3 times yesterday. She does not test it out softly first, it's just I latched her on and BAM, a really hard bite! I screamed everytime... the third time I started crying it hurt THAT bad! I never cry out of pain, but that time I did! I tried the saying no firmly thing but she doesn't get it. Once she bit I she would not let go so I would put my finger in there and unlatch her/open her jaw a bit to take the pressure off. She's like a pitbull! Her mouth was very hard to pry open. Gah, I hope she cuts it out soon! I DON'T want the reason I wean her to be biting

[Comtessa]

nak

My mother says that I cut teeth at 4 mos, too little to understand "no biting." But someone told her just to scream when I bit her. Apparently this worked beautifully... but I am hoping that my dd won't follow in her mama's footsteops in this case!

[madeleines_mom]

Originally Posted by Comtessa

nak

My mother says that I cut teeth at 4 mos, too little to understand "no biting." But someone told her just to scream when I bit her. Apparently this worked beautifully... but I am hoping that my dd won't follow in her mama's footsteops in this case!

Hahaha, trust me.... you can't HELP but scream when they bite you! I was worried a neighbour was going to come over and wonder what the matter was!! I don't want to scream or punish her in anyway, but holy eff, it hurts so much I screamed bloody murder.

[paulamc]

It happened to me once at 7 months. I screamed, and he never did it again! Fingers crossed of course - he's 11 months now.

[lness]

Something weird that's worked for us (well, me, she hasn't bitten DH!).
When she bites, I pull her face into me as firmly as I can -- just squash her face right into my chest. It interrupts her breathing and her latch a little, so she has to open her mouth and as soon as I feel her let go a little, I let her relax back and she usually goes right back to nursing without a hitch. It also counteracts that instinct to pull away - YOUCH!
I can't help yelping a little but she just grins and thinks it's funny. And she really hangs on, so even a good fishhook isn't often enough to get her loose.
I haven't seen this discussed in any of the expert's books, but believe it or not, I picked this up from living with parrots. The rule is, you don't ever pull away if a parrot bites you, it induces them to hang on and you can end up losing chunks of flesh. Instead you push towards their beak, which throws them off balance and surprises them, so they let go. And I figured, DD is at least as smart as a bird, so something similar should work with her! She gave me the most offended look the first time, but it works pretty well now.

[felix23]

Originally Posted by madeleines_mom

Ugh, I hear you! DD is 9 months old and has her four front (2 upper, 2 lower) teeth and she bit me HARD 3 times yesterday. She does not test it out softly first, it's just I latched her on and BAM, a really hard bite! I screamed everytime... the third time I started crying it hurt THAT bad! I never cry out of pain, but that time I did! I tried the saying no firmly thing but she doesn't get it. Once she bit I she would not let go so I would put my finger in there and unlatch her/open her jaw a bit to take the pressure off. She's like a pitbull! Her mouth was very hard to pry open. Gah, I hope she cuts it out soon! I DON'T want the reason I wean her to be biting

My nine month old just started biting and the "no biting" thing has not worked at all. She just smiles and laughs at me. She does the same thing when I scream in pain. She is also a hard biter and I have to pry her mouth open to get her off. I'll have to try the face squashing and I hope it works because I am beginning to hate nursing.

[beckyogini]

funny (well, not really...) my ds did the same thing tonight, including the reaction to my firm OW! I felt so bad when he started crying that I did too ~ that hurt worse than the bite. he's had 2 bottom teeth for 2mos now and this was the first time. lets hope he doesn't make a habit of it!

[gillibean]

Originally Posted by lness

Something weird that's worked for us (well, me, she hasn't bitten DH!).
When she bites, I pull her face into me as firmly as I can -- just squash her face right into my chest. It interrupts her breathing and her latch a little, so she has to open her mouth and as soon as I feel her let go a little, I let her relax back and she usually goes right back to nursing without a hitch. It also counteracts that instinct to pull away - YOUCH!

That's what I do too. I first learned it when babysitting for a special needs girl who sometimes bit. Her mom told me that if she ever bit me that I should push into her and it would force her mouth open. I figured that the same principal should work with a baby biting nipples.

[paulamc]

Originally Posted by lness

Something weird that's worked for us (well, me, she hasn't bitten DH!).
When she bites, I pull her face into me as firmly as I can -- just squash her face right into my chest. It interrupts her breathing and her latch a little, so she has to open her mouth and as soon as I feel her let go a little, I let her relax back and she usually goes right back to nursing without a hitch. It also counteracts that instinct to pull away - YOUCH!
I can't help yelping a little but she just grins and thinks it's funny. And she really hangs on, so even a good fishhook isn't often enough to get her loose.
I haven't seen this discussed in any of the expert's books, but believe it or not, I picked this up from living with parrots. The rule is, you don't ever pull away if a parrot bites you, it induces them to hang on and you can end up losing chunks of flesh. Instead you push towards their beak, which throws them off balance and surprises them, so they let go. And I figured, DD is at least as smart as a bird, so something similar should work with her! She gave me the most offended look the first time, but it works pretty well now.

I think I've read this advice on Kellymom - so not weird at al.

[friendlymamma]

:

This is good info to have. DD has not cut any teeth yet, but she is already "biting" me. Ok, I guess it's gumming, but she does it hard and it hurts! She also pulls away with my nipple still in her mouth, that doesn't feel good either! I haven't known what to do, and yelling out just gets her so upset. I've been thinking I'm in big trouble when the teeth start coming.

[bcblondie]

William got his first 2 teeth at 4.5 months, and had 8 by 8 months. So I've had my fair share of painful bites. What seems to work is to (well, scream ow, because you can't help it! LOL) then say "no" firmly and I give him a tiny tap on the mouth with one finger.