Biting... Almost ready to wean. :-(

[dalia]

My ds has made a career out of biting me. He bites my knees, my legs, my shoulders. He bites me all the time when he is nursing. He is almost 11 months and I had planned on nursing for at least 2 years.. But I feel completely defeated. I cring everytime he starts to nurse. I tell him "no" and put him down, he either laughs or cries and then does it again. One time I even shouted "JEESUS!!" He thought this was hilarious. I didn't.

I feel awful. Anyone have any suggestions? He has about nine teeth.

[dalia]

30 views. No replies.

[JessicaS]

I am so sorry.

Biting is really so wearing and painful.

My dd also found the shrieking to be hilarious.

What worked for us was pulling her into my breast so her nose was covered. Since they cannot breath through their nose they delatch to get a breath. It can be hard not to just remove them but it seemed that making her make the choice to let go is what made things click for her.

My daughter REALLY hated that, it really did make her angry. She did stop biting though.

Good luck!

[lookatreestar]

yeah i pull my ds in too... he is a major biter. he has gotten better about biting his sister and myself but not the boob. weaning isn't really an option so i try to make him more comfortable (he is teething something fierce, molars) and not take it personally.

[Mosaic]

UGH, biting is the worst!! Kellymom has some good advice.

I remember when my DD did this, I read somewhere that a baby can't bite and eat at the same time. So if they're biting, they're playing, not hungry. That gave me what I needed to end, END the nursing session. Maybe try one more time and if she bit again, we were done for 15 min. or more. Then I was so gun-shy, I'd watch her like a hawk for signs that she was about to bite me; and low and behold she did have some "tells" so that I learned how to cut her off before the bite. If I were you, I'd dedicate your full attention to nursing and see if you can pick up on any cues.

And yes, I also had to draw the line on the rest of the biting, too. When she was teething, I'd let her chomp on my finger/hands/shoulder, but when most of her teeth came in, I tried to get her off of mom-chewing and onto a teether or other toy. If that meant that nothing came within 6 inches of her mouth for a few weeks, so be it; biting hurts!

Hang in there... it's a rough patch, for sure.

[dalia]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! He is getting molars right now from what I can tell so that is probably having a lot to do with it. I'm gonna try to pull him closer but I have to say that I'm not sure I can do it... ouch! All I wanna do is get him off of there QUICK. I know it's a phase and it will end soon (hopefully!).

[jessica_s]

Originally Posted by dalia

Thanks everyone for the great advice! He is getting molars right now from what I can tell so that is probably having a lot to do with it. I'm gonna try to pull him closer but I have to say that I'm not sure I can do it... ouch! All I wanna do is get him off of there QUICK. I know it's a phase and it will end soon (hopefully!).

The quickest way to open someones mouth is to make them not be able to breathe through their nose!! That's why pulling them in very quickly and covering their nose works so well. Unless you've got a guy who likes biting more than breathing.

[Lizseas]

If you suspect teething is an issue, sometimes massaging the gums or offering a teether BEFORE nursing helps the baby get the itchy " need to press on it" feeling taken care of... massage with your fingers/thumbs, frozen wet washcloth or teether.

I was also a big fan of saying "lips and tongue baby, NO teeth" while pointing to my own, then saying "ah, ah, ah" while demonstrating an open mouth. Their receptive language is well developed at this age and they tend to like to mimic your actions...

Good luck mama!

Also, Hyland's teething tablets might be a good pre-nursing remedy!

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by abimommy

What worked for us was pulling her into my breast so her nose was covered. Since they cannot breath through their nose they delatch to get a breath.

This. Works like a charm! The hardest part is going against your instinct to pull the child OFF immediately! But it does work, amazingly well, every. single. time.

[maddymama]

Hi Mama,
You've gotten some great advice above..... It sounds very painful and very frustrating. DD1 was a ferocious biter when teething for awhile. It was hard to work through it, but I'm glad I did.
Usually biting does not signal wanting to wean, it tends to signal irritation in the mouth... so I'd work on relieving the irriation before trying to breastfeed (but don't numb the area, that also leads to biting). Cold wash cloths to chew on was a good start, as was brusing the gums with one of those finger teethers. Also, once DD1 would bite me then I would not try to nurse her for an hour... she made the connection very quickly that "biting =s no food for a long time."
As frustrating as it was, once we got over the biting thing (it lasted a few weeks all told) then we went on to have a wonderful nursing experience for over a year longer. It's frustrating, but you can work through it mama!
~maddymama

[indie]

Originally Posted by abimommy

My dd also found the shrieking to be hilarious.

I always tell moms NOT to react. Nonchalantly say no and remove the child from the breast. They can't nurse and bite at the same time so if they are bitng they can wait til later to eat.

[blessedmama59]

Originally Posted by indie

I always tell moms NOT to react. Nonchalantly say no and remove the child from the breast. They can't nurse and bite at the same time so if they are bitng they can wait til later to eat.

Yep. My DD loves to chomp down when she's teething. I found that if I do not react (as hard as that may be), but simply say no, remove her, and end the nursing session, she gets it. I also pinch her nose or push her face in to get her to release. It is hard to deal with and is kind of upsetting to the nursing relationship, but it's just a phase. Whether it's due to teething or just wanting to play, with effort and patience it will end. Try to stick it out-you'll be glad you did. Good luck, mama!

[rebe]

I am SO with you on this ... he finds biting hilarious, and will bite any part of my body while crawling around on me in bed or whatever. He can even bite through jeans! He's also about 11 months. It has gotten better-- it was worse a few weeks ago. He's not doing it during nursing anymore (thank goodness-- my bbs tissue was all wounded and had bite marks )

For nursing: the pushing-them-in thing never worked for me-- I couldn't do it fast enough to avoid being bit, and then couldn't hold them in once I was bit. But what did seem to work was stopping the nursing session if he bit. Even once. If he still seemed hungry, I would try again a few minutes later. But I also did the watching-him-like-a-hawk. I found I could tell when he was about to bite (always at the end of nursing, for one). Then I did what I think is called the Pantley-Pulloff, where you insert your finger in the corner of their mouth to break suction. I kept my finger at the corner of his mouth the whole time, and if I thought he was about to bite, would jab it in there and lift up to release him.

For non-nursing biting, I just try to consistently say, "No bite. Biting hurts mama." without making a big reaction out of it. Hopefully it will work someday.

Good luck!! Hope you see improvement soon.