Nursing with teeth

[Amy@STL]

I have a 7 month DS who has 2 lower teeth erupted around 6 mo. I have been lot of BF issues...all to do with sever pain while nursing. I have posted about those earlier elsewhere on this forum. Today, however, I want to know how to continue nursing when DS clamps down like always but now those blades hurt like hell!!

How do people nurse babies who have teeth? DS suffers from teething pain a lot. It has bothered him since 4 month age. We live by Hyland's teething tab but they have been recalled lately! DS has always had a very forceful clamp style latch, but now he chews me out. Problem is he drinks a little and then suddenly bites as if testing I have survived severe sore nipples all these months but actual teth cutting through is unbearable....

I know several mamas nurse way longer, but am looking for mamas who *already* have latch/painful nursing issues AND now having to deal with teeth?

[EdnaMarie]

I sympathize.

Biting: Put child down immediately, do not pick back up if at all possible for at least ten minutes. By all means stay near, speak gently (in a low, quiet, calm, loving voice: "You want to nurse, but we do not bite. I love you so much. We nurse gently. Gentle. Do you want to chew on this? Poor baby, you cannot decide whether to chew or nurse. I love you so much and want to nurse you for a long time..." Etc.), but let him know that biting=end of session. I am sure some ladies on here will be able to say whether or not that worked for them. In real life, all the people I know used that and it worked.

DD2 had a bad latch, though I have boobs of steel. Have you considered Desitin? It is regulated. I know it's not ideal, but I'd rather have breastmilk and Desitin for a few months than have to quit or feeling resentful at my sweet little baby.

[mama9]

Good luck mama

I feel you on this! I don't have the same issues but I did have very painful nipples up until around 4 months from DS very dramatic nursing style. He would latch on so hard and pull off even harder. He still has a very strong and sudden pull off and with his two bottom teeth I sometimes wonder how I have any nipples left! He is now cutting two teeth at the top above those so I'd be interested to see what will happen now (if I indeed manage to keep up with my supply of course).

Can you get Nelson's homeopathic teething sachets? I just went to buy more, it usually works for us, even if I take it and not give it directly to DS.

I managed to help DS to be more gentle when he latches on. I hold my breast/nipple in front of his mouth after he has bitten me too hard and say to him in a gentle/hushed but focused tone, 'gently...be gentle' and it usually works. He seems to get what I'm trying to tell him. Maybe you guys can find your own little way to communicate, even if he doesn't understand the wording, iykwim.

[annettemarie]

Moving out to the main forum.

[EmilyG]

What has worked really well with both of my girls when they'd bite was to wait till they were making eye contact (this took forever with my first because she'd always bite me with her eyes closed!) and say "Ow, No bite!" in a stern (not yelling, just serious business) voice. This then made them cry like I broke their heart so I'd hug them and say I loved them but they coudln't bite mommy when they nursed. I think my first never bite again after that, my second tried it one more time, but hasn't bite since. HTH

[littlest birds]

What worked for us--and I sure wish I had known this much sooner-- was to push baby onto nipple to force a proper latch.

The reason this works is that the LO can only bite if they pull back to do so. If they are latched on fully then the nipple is too far in their mouth to bite. While they are actively truly nursing they don't really bite. So the options are either nurse or get off the boob. If the babe wants to nurse, they will latch on when you push them on. If they really want to chew then they will keep pulling back and nursing time is over.

It is very much counterintuitive to push the baby on when they bite but once I did it and it worked it easily became a habit that I could do all the time without even thinking. All mine nursed through toddlerhood, one until 4yo; teeth were a nonissue with this strategy and did not affect the nursing relationship at all.

[kanga1622]

I am right there with you on the painful nursing. I think DS was over 6 months old before I could feel okay with his latching on. Prior to that I wanted to throw things or hit someone to try to release the pain from his latch. I often cried or silently screamed when he first latched on.

He's only had teeth for a couple of weeks now (8 months old) and I have no real strategies for you. When I tell him that we don't bite, he just smiles/laughs at me. If I put him down for a minute, it breaks both our hearts. I've just been powering through the pain and it has lessened unless we're in a distracting location (football game was brutal). I swear that even though his tongue is over those bottom teeth, I can still feel exactly where they are and have a sore spot on both sides where that extra pressure is.

I have been trying to cut down on some of the extra random nurse for a minute sessions. He doesn't seem to bite/clamp down much when he's really hungry, more when he just wants to sleep or is just bored and fussy. The comfort nursing is our most painful time. I've been trying an extra minute to distract him with toys or just cuddling him when I know he just needs a little comfort. It doesn't always work but it does give me an extra minute to "prepare" for the pain.

[ann_of_loxley]

The simple reaction of pain (because you may yelp! lol) is usually enough to discourage them.

My 6 month old has nearly 7 teeth. He got his first two when he was three months old. A three month old is not going to understand putting them down on the floor for 10 mintues or making eye contact with them and saying 'no bite'.... A 6 month old for that matter won't understand either. I get nips here and there - but I know they are not on purpose. I think it is just going to happen. A lot of the times, my little 'nips' are because he has just latched on too quickly/eagerly! He has never done it maliciously - and I am not saying he never will...but thats a whole different topic really!

[Amy@STL]

Thank you!

I am going to try to bring him closer. I agree with the Mamas who observed that real hunger = no biting. I am also trying to increase my supply so I try to let him suckle as long as he wants to...but that's clearly not helping and resulting in me dreading nursing.

Thanks mamas....