How to stop biting

[Tattooed Hand]

My 12 week old has recently begun biting me while nursing. she doesn't have any teeth yet, but still, it hurts! I've noticed that it generally happens in the late afternoon/evening and when I take my poor nipple away and firmly tell her no (which usually gets me a smile ) she then goes for her hand and begins gnawing on her fingers.

How can I get her to stop biting me? I don't want this to become a habit because she's doing it so hard she could seriously hurt me when she has teeth.

[mkksmom]

That's what I do, basically. I tell her No in a more serious but calm voice. Then I stop the nursing session and say, "That hurts Mommy." She stopped for a while, but just did it today. I'll have to remember to keep my finger nearby and ready in case this continues.

[AlishaLukesMom]

Is she latched okay?
Is she teething and it makes her gums feel better?

I would look at her latch, and then once she is done "eating" maybe try taking her off to make sure she isn't just doing it because she is bored and wants to soothe her gums. You can freeze some breastmilk on a facecloth to give her to make her gums feel better.

My son didn't start biting until he had teeth at 10 months! And it was because I introduce a bottle (just for water) and he got the idea it was okay to bite. So not okay when they have teeth! lol
Good luck!

[Tattooed Hand]

She's been drooling up a storm for about 3 weeks now. But isn't it a bit early for teething? I can't feel anything on her gums yet. She looks and feels latched on fine to me. I'll keep trying.

[maptome]

Bringing LO's head into your breast (so they can't breathe) makes them let go if they've got a grip. That was also the only thing that worked to stop my teething DD when she was biting me. It made her stop biting so much as well.

[GoldmanBaby09]

Maybe this is unrelated and a little OT, but I started to EC my son at about 12 weeks. I started to notice he would be nursing fine and content and then suddenly bite me and it was a cue he needed to eliminate. He was no longer comfortable on the boob because he had to go and wanted me to do something about it. Not that this is necessarily the case for your baby, but it couldn't hurt to see if there is a corelation between her biting and wetting her diaper. Good luck, I know how painful that can be!