Nursing babe with teeth - help!

[mcgee]

My son is 10 months old and has 8 teeth. When he nurses, he tends to clamp down with the top teeth to the point that he leaves tooth marks on my areola. This is different from his nipple bite, which he still does from time to time but for the most part has stopped doing because I freaked out whenever he bit me.

I have tried applying gentle downward pressure on his chin to get him to relax his grip, and that sometimes works if he's drowsy. If he's wide awake, it doesn't work at all. I have tried removing him from the breast and relatching, but that usually doesn't help either. I have also tried pulling him off the breast, telling him that he is hurting Mommy, and showing him where he hurts me, but that doesn't seem to affect him at all.

I absolutely do not want to wean any time soon. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to teach him to be more gentle? With more teeth coming in, I don't see this improving on its own.

[Anna Phor]

My babe is the same age; also has 8 teeth; I also get those little teethy abrasions. Here's what sometimes works: relatching but making sure I get more nipple in his mouth. Remember when you first started nursing & they taught "nose to nipple"? If I pay attention to positioning that way, it makes him open his mouth wider & I get more nipple in. (I also say "open wide" but I don't know if he gets that yet.)

[Mosaic]

Kellymom has some advice that might help. If it's not an intentional action, then I think it's really hard to explain your way out of it. I think, for me, I found body positioning to be really helpful; I needed to make sure DD's weight was well supported and her head positioned well, and that seemed to do the trick once I got the hang of it.