little vampire

[bean-e]

Hi mamas,

I wonder if you have some ideas on helping me stop dd from biting at the end (I think) of our nursing sessions.

She is 9 months olds. The regular biting started exactly two weeks ago. Initially, she bit every time she latched on and I thought maybe that had to do with wanting to nurse to go to sleep but could not because she was too full with solids already. So we cut back on the solids a bite and it saw a bit of a difference. But she still bites at the end of our nursing session (or at least I make it the end because I unlatch her). The following are the things I have tried:
unlatch her and make a sad face to let her know that I don't like it --> she refuses to look at me
unlatch her and tell her no biting...no no.. --> she shakes her head because she understands no
scream when I am caught off guard (usually in the middle of the night when I am drifting off again) -->she fusses and rolls over and falls asleep
pull her close so that she cannot breath and is forced to unlatch --> she cries
unlatch her and put her down with a chew toy
unlatch her and give her a very stern and angry NO BITING --> she cries
But she still bites.


She might be teething but has 6 teeth already and I don't recall her doing this when those five teeth came in. She just wants to bite people but not her chew toys. Can you think of something that I have not yet tried? Does this stop after a while?

[hezasan]

Was hoping to see more on this myself...
My son bit a lot, like you are describing, right after he started getting teeth at six months. I didn't think it would ever end, but it did, and I hadn't been bit for quite a while.
That is, until he finally got teeth on top and bottom at the same place (9 mo). Now it's a fun game to see mommy's reaction! He just laughs, like he always does when I say "no" or sneeze or anything like that. I've tried what you said, to no avail -- the first time, I ended up just unlatching and stopping whenever he bit, eventually he stopped doing it but it took a while. He also didn't do it (mostly) when I laid down to nurse, but that's not always what I want to do!
As for this time, since the "no's" and the crying out aren't working this time either, I guess I will just keep stopping the feeding, without much ado (if I can manage it) and see if he stops the biting again.
Sorry that wasn't much help!

[jildez]

i'm in the same boat- my son is 10 mths old and started getting teeth a few wks ago and biting has started to be pretty common, esp at the end of nursing sessions. i have tried to keep it to one response- removal and a firm no. I tried alot of other things, and it seemed like it might be good to stick to one response- but so far, its still happening at least a couple times a day.

[pbjmama]

If she bites I would do a firm 'no' put her down and ignore for about 1 minute. I would also start ending nursing when you think she is done, she will let you know if she needs more.

[ewe+lamb]

she could be starting on her molars which of course are painful, instead of 'no' I try to use 'stop' we stop an action so therefore it can make more sense even in a nine month old.

Some kids when they are getting sleepy - ie towards the end of a feed have a sort of lock jaw thing where the jaw locks down but its certainly not something that they do on purpose - I would consider the nighttime bite as this maybe.

Some kids bite at the beginning of the feed because of a strong or fast letdown, even if you don't have the classic signs of 'strong ejection or oversupply' it could just be a bit too strong for your little one.

All the things you are doing are quite correct, and yes it can take a little time to process for your little one, I'm sure she'll get the hang of it, in the meantime you just have to be prepared to unlock the latch the instant you feel she's going to bite down, little pinky finger in at the side of the mouth, remember that no baby or child can nurse whilst biting otherwise they would bite their tongue, so keep a look out for that tongue release so that you can nip it in the bud.