Biting question

[Duder]

Hi All,

Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
nursing. Almost every time he starts he nips me and whit his upper teeth
coming in it is really starting to hurt. I have tried allot of different
things but none so far have worked so maybe you all have a few pointers.

Thanks,
CW

[KC]

With both my kids that I nursed into when they had teeth, if they bit I
would say a loud ouch and grimace at them. Then put my breast away. I
also might say that it hurt. I would say no more if they bite, and
that's it. With my dd who is a nursling with teeth now I say no biting
as she latches on because my dh discovered that if he offered his
finger to her and said no biting, that she would not bite. It has
worked with me with the breast too.

The real trick is the firmness with no more breastfeeding for awhile if
they bite. I really only made them not nurse for 5 minutes or so.
That's darned near infinity to them.



KC

Duder wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
> nursing. Almost every time he starts he nips me and whit his upper teeth
> coming in it is really starting to hurt. I have tried allot of different
> things but none so far have worked so maybe you all have a few pointers.
>
> Thanks,
> CW

[[email protected]]

I'm new here.. I don't have any suggestions. Just wanted to let you
know that my ten month old is doing the same thing, so I'm right there
with you.

She doesn't bite while she's nursing, but that's her immediate response
as she's put onto the breast. I've been too lazy to correct it, but I
guess I'm going to have to start trying what you said, KC. Thanks for
the advice. :o)

[Mum of Two]

"Duder" > wrote in message
. com...
> Hi All,
>
> Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
> nursing. Almost every time he starts he nips me and whit his upper teeth
> coming in it is really starting to hurt. I have tried allot of different
> things but none so far have worked so maybe you all have a few pointers.

You don't have to put up with biting - a 10 month old is quite capable of
understanding that biting means the nursing session is over. You could say
'no bite' and if it continues, end the nursing session and give a teether
saying something like 'we bite food/teethers, not people'.
If it's any consolation, he's biting because his gums are hurting, and once
the teeth have come through it shouldn't be a problem anymore.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

[CY]

Larry has some really good pointers for this problem...just wait :)
"Duder" > wrote in message
. com...
> Hi All,
>
> Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
> nursing. Almost every time he starts he nips me and whit his upper teeth
> coming in it is really starting to hurt. I have tried allot of different
> things but none so far have worked so maybe you all have a few pointers.
>
> Thanks,
> CW
>

[JennP]

"Mum of Two" > wrote in

> If it's any consolation, he's biting because his gums are hurting, and
once
> the teeth have come through it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Agreed. Jessica was biting me for about three weeks while four of her top
teeth came in all at once. She never drew blood or anything thankfully, but
it was frequent. She just had to learn how to latch with the new teeth.

JennP.

[Irrational Number]

Duder wrote:
>
> Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
> nursing.

Push gently on the chin.

-- Anita --

[Nikki]

Duder wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
> nursing. Almost every time he starts he nips me and whit his upper
> teeth coming in it is really starting to hurt. I have tried allot of
> different things but none so far have worked so maybe you all have a
> few pointers.

My first child went through two biting while nursing phases. One at 4mos
(due to teething I think) and one at 10mos (not teething but he already had
a lot of teeth). It was far worse at 10mos and was not easily corrected.
What finally worked for us at 10mos.

1) Bringing his face to my breast did not cause him to unlatch. I started
nursing with my pinky near his mouth so I could quickly insert it and break
the latch myself.
2) I forcefully said 'No biting'.
3) I had to set him down and then actually walk off and leave the room,
leaving him behind. This he did not like and it worked rather quickly once
I added the walking off.
4) I did not offer to nurse him again for at least 10 minutes. If he did
not appear to want to nurse I just didn't offer. That was rare though ;-)
5) I think some of it was that he was hungry but for whatever he refused
solids. He did start eating solids (mostly at the sitter) at around 10mos
so that may have helped some. I don't know. He also started crawling at
10mos. This kid was a huge comfort nurser and I think he 'asked' to nurse
sometimes but he was really just bored so he'd bite me then.

Good luck. Once we got it corrected he never bit again. My second son
never bit me while nursing but we had the 'worst' problem with him biting
everyone else when he was a toddler. I'd actually pick the nursing biting
because it was so much easier to correct!

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Thing One and Thing Two :-) EDD 4/06

[[email protected]]

CY > writes:
: Larry has some really good pointers for this problem...just wait :)
: "Duder" > wrote in message
: . com...
:> Hi All,
:>
:> Does anybody have an idea to stop my 10 month old from biting when he
:> nursing. Almost every time he starts he nips me and whit his upper teeth
:> coming in it is really starting to hurt. I have tried allot of different
:> things but none so far have worked so maybe you all have a few pointers.
:>
:> Thanks,
:> CW
:>


OK. I'll, uh, respond. (couldn't use the b word :-)

Usually, biting happens at the end of a nursign session, when the
baby is full and is just "playing around." It is possible to tell
when a bite is about to happen, so the first thing to do is learn
to watch for it.

In order to nurse, a baby need to latched fully onto the nipple
with the end well back on its tongue. When the baby wants to
bite, it has to slip down onto the end of the nipple. As soon
as the baby starts to do this, unlatch and relatch properly.
If the baby refuses to latch properly, terminate the nursing
session.

What if you forget and the baby bites anyway? In this case,
press the baby's face directly into your breast.
The baby will have to open its mouth to breathe. Remove
your nipple.

There it is, good luck,
Larry

[Amy]

wrote:

> What if you forget and the baby bites anyway? In this case,
> press the baby's face directly into your breast.
> The baby will have to open its mouth to breathe. Remove
> your nipple.

You forgot the most important step:
3. Peel baby off ceiling.

Amy
(NOT looking forward to teeth!)

[[email protected]]

Hi Amy,

I think this supposed to be humor. Right? But I still
don't get it.

Larry

Amy > writes:

: wrote:

:> What if you forget and the baby bites anyway? In this case,
:> press the baby's face directly into your breast.
:> The baby will have to open its mouth to breathe. Remove
:> your nipple.

: You forgot the most important step:
: 3. Peel baby off ceiling.

: Amy
: (NOT looking forward to teeth!)

[[email protected]]

Amy > writes:

: wrote:

:> What if you forget and the baby bites anyway? In this case,
:> press the baby's face directly into your breast.
:> The baby will have to open its mouth to breathe. Remove
:> your nipple.

: You forgot the most important step:
: 3. Peel baby off ceiling.

: Amy
: (NOT looking forward to teeth!)

And besidem, teeth is no big deal if you know what you are
doing. Monika only got bitten once or twice. She was
much more annoyed by twiddling B while nursing on A.

Larry

[emilymr]

I thought it was pretty funny... ;) But Amy, biting, while
unpleasant, certainly wasn't as bad (re excrutiating) as I feared (IME,
of course). You went through birth, after all!! ;)

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

[emilymr]

I thought it was pretty funny... ;) But Amy, biting, while
unpleasant, certainly wasn't as bad (read: excrutiating) as I feared
(IME, of course). You went through birth, after all!! ;)

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

[JennP]

> wrote in message ...

> And besidem, teeth is no big deal if you know what you are
> doing.

Ah, I don't think so. I knew exactly what I was doing while nursing dd when
she went through her biting phase at 10 months. Babies bite. It has nothing
to do with "experience" with breastfeeding.

Monika only got bitten once or twice.

Then she was pretty lucky that you didn't have biters. It has nothing to do
with skill.

JennP.

[Mum of Two]

"JennP" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote in message ...
>
>> And besidem, teeth is no big deal if you know what you are
>> doing.
>
> Ah, I don't think so. I knew exactly what I was doing while nursing dd
> when
> she went through her biting phase at 10 months. Babies bite. It has
> nothing
> to do with "experience" with breastfeeding.
>
> Monika only got bitten once or twice.
>
> Then she was pretty lucky that you didn't have biters. It has nothing to
> do
> with skill.

I think it does have something to do with skill and experience, but skill
and experience on the part of the baby, not the mother! Babies need to learn
not to bite, and learn how to latch properly with teeth, and then nursing a
toddler is usually a breeze. But I don't think all biting can be prevented,
however experienced the mother. Sometimes they just clamp down right in the
middle of a feed. It is usually much better once the teeth have emerged
though.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

[JennP]

"Mum of Two" > wrote in message
...

> I think it does have something to do with skill and experience, but skill
> and experience on the part of the baby, not the mother!

Exactly. Jessica was cutting four teeth at once and really had trouble
latching for about 3 weeks. I got bit almost every single feed during that
time. Teeth can be a big deal but it usually doesn't last forever.

JennP.

[emilymr]

Urgh and forget what I just said about it not being so bad... His last
few latches have been very, umm, pointy. Yowch. I'm sure he's doing
it just to prove me wrong, the little bugger. :P

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

[Sidheag McCormack]

Mum of Two writes:

> "JennP" > wrote in message
> ...
>> > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> And besidem, teeth is no big deal if you know what you are doing.
>> Ah, I don't think so. I knew exactly what I was doing while nursing dd
>> when she went through her biting phase at 10 months. Babies bite. It has
>> nothing to do with "experience" with breastfeeding.
>>
>> Monika only got bitten once or twice.
>>
>> Then she was pretty lucky that you didn't have biters. It has nothing to
>> do with skill.

> I think it does have something to do with skill and experience, but
> skill and experience on the part of the baby, not the mother! Babies
> need to learn not to bite, and learn how to latch properly with teeth,
> and then nursing a toddler is usually a breeze. But I don't think all
> biting can be prevented, however experienced the mother. Sometimes they
> just clamp down right in the middle of a feed.

Yes! Larry's the "they can't bite if they're properly latched" exponent,
isn't he? Colin used to release the latch and bite all in one swift
movement - the idea that one could spot the latch going and take him off
before he bit was pure fiction in our case. Fortunately, he didn't do it
much, but I do think that was mostly luck. What I did was pretty standard:
say "No biting! Biting hurts Mummy!", put him down, leave the room for a
couple of minutes, go back and cuddle but not feed again for at least 20
mins or so. Doing this without the leaving the room bit seemed to have no
effect, but YMMV.

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

[Amy]

wrote:
> Hi Amy,
>
> I think this supposed to be humor. Right? But I still
> don't get it.
>
> Larry

Hold Monica in the cradle position and have her bite your nipple.
Hard. And see if it isn't your first instinct to throw her. She's a
little heavier, so you'll probably end up peeling her off the wall, but
babies are light, so it's easy to throw them at the ceiling. Don't you
remember throwing pencils at the ceiling in school and getting them to
stick? Same idea...

Amy (fortunately good at resisting impulses)

[Mum of Two]

"Amy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> wrote:
>> Hi Amy,
>>
>> I think this supposed to be humor. Right? But I still
>> don't get it.
>>
>> Larry
>
> Hold Monica in the cradle position and have her bite your nipple.
> Hard. And see if it isn't your first instinct to throw her. She's a
> little heavier, so you'll probably end up peeling her off the wall, but
> babies are light, so it's easy to throw them at the ceiling. Don't you
> remember throwing pencils at the ceiling in school and getting them to
> stick? Same idea...

LMAO! Good thing I'd finished my cuppa.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/