Help! Toddler biting!

[mamatowill]

I need some advice- my DS is 12 months and teething like crazy. He is also biting him HARD whenever we nurse. It has gotten so bad that I am dreading nursing. I get no warning on when he is going to bite. It is not usually when he is finished normally so I can't unlatch him before he bites. It hurts so much that I usually yell owww and take him off. He of course starts crying and I tell him "No biting". If I let him on right away he will bite almost immediately. If he bites again I tell him no biting and put him down and walk away for a moment. He has not learned yet that biting means no nursing and this is happening at almost every nursing. To add to my guilt he has just gotten out of the hospital and needs the nursing for comfort and such. Anyone with suggestions?

[SpunkyMama]

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJulAug08p36.html

I experienced this with my ds (14 months) last week. I found the above article helpful.

Good luck! It gets better, I promise!

[Cartesia]

Hang in the mama -

we had a horrible biting phase that went on and off for a few months and I was so scared that we wouldn't get through it.

I tried doing all that very firm "no biting", walking away etc. and it seemed to make him bite more to experiment.

what helped me was to actively praise his good, non-biting nursing, even if he only nursed well for a few seconds. Then, when he bit, I would be pretty casual, pop him off, say "no biting" in a casual way, then distract him and try not to nurse again for a few minutes.

Also, for awhile, we were only able to nurse when he was very sleepy or in his sleep.

When it got really bad, he started biting in his sleep too and it was very hard to unlatch him in time to save my nipple, so what helped then was to gently pinch his nose while I said "no bite". After two times of having to catch his breath and pop off my breast, he figured it out and as soon as he began to bite (no warning either), I could touch his nose and he would stop.

It seems like it lasted for at least 6 weeks.
It did change and now nursing is great.

I thought that my LO might be trying to wean early but now I know that was definitely NOT the case!!!

[mamatowill]

Thanks for the support/ideas. I read the article and I have already tried those ideas. I don't want to give up nursing but his older brother seemed to be quicker with figuring out that biting meant no nursing. I will try the holding nose idea and positive praise for a good nursing session.