6 Month Old Biting During Nursing!

When my daughter bit me, I would push her in closer to the breast and say in a stern voice "Don't bite". She would have to be forced to unlatch since it basically covered her nostrils. It only took a couple of times for her to understand that it was not OK.

My son would bite when he was falling asleep. I would touch him on the nose and say ouch! and take the brest away from him. After a few times I could tell he was fixing to and all I would need to do was touch him on his nose- I know it sounds strange but it worked for us.

You don't need to wean him!! Try some of the other advice. What has worked for my son is flicking him on the cheek, not too hard, just enough to startle him and the stern "NO". He doesn't seem to try again until he has another tooth coming through...or every now and then it does seem to be when he's done eating and wants to play. Follow your instincts, but be firm!

maybe you can just pump...it' not the same but it's still breast milk..

Hey K.-
My daughter went through a biting phase at 5 months. Yikes! When she would do this I usually jumped and it would scare her, when she looked at me I would then give her a very stern "NO" and set her down on the floor. I would not nurse her for at least 5 more minutes. It broke my heart to see her upset, but it hurt! It also only took a couple of times doing this. She is now 8 months and has 8 teeth and does not bite. Good luck!

My son did the same thing he would bite me but dont think it was that young, my son is 1yr old and he is still nursing, think he started biting a couple of months ago, what you need to do is do a stern NO say that hurts mommy take it away from him for a couple of minutes he needs to know that when he bites the food goes away, be persistent with him. It worked with my son, he no longer bites me now.

Hope that helps

G.

Ouch! I know how this hurts. I am still nursing my almost 1 year old and yes, he has given me a few nibbles! The first time it happened I yelled very loud 'ooouuuuuccchhh'. It scared him and he didn't do it for a very long time. Now, every once in awhile he will bite, but I simply remove him from nursing for a bit. Biting is definately not fun but also not a reason to have to discontinue breastfeeding. Plus, if these are his first teeth then he's not used to them and is 'taking them for a test drive,' so to say. If you need more support throughout nursing or in dealing with this obstacle contact your local La Leche League, they have been wonderful for me and I am currently in the process of gettin accredited as a leader. You can find the League on the web. Good Luck!

My daughter started doing that around 7 months! Luckily for me she still had no teeth so it never drew blood, but it still hurt! I started pumping and feeding her with a bottle. I do think that pumping did lead me to stop breastfeeding a little earlier, but I'm not up for biting! I pumped for two months before transitioning her to formula at 9 months. She was still half and half till 11 months. It actually made it a little easier for her to get used to the bottles. I still nursed at night and in the morning when she was sleepy and didn't bite.

Hi K.,
My son is 16 months and I am still nursing him. What helped for me was when he bit I, of course, would yelp ouch and jump and it kind of scared him..but I would tell him biting hurts and everytime he bit down I would take the breast away. He learned that if he bit I would stop nursing him and he quit intentionally biting while nursing. He will still start to bite when he falls asleep and but I can feel it begin and can get outta there quickly.

I am a 38 yr old stay at home mom of two boys...Garrett 15 years old and Grayson 16 months old

I have a 3 year old and when she was about 6/7 months old she started bitting too. I tried the flick in the face the yelling, but nothing worked. Once they get that urge to bite it doesn't go away. I had to stop nursing her. I didn't want to but I was afraid she was going to bite my nipple right off.

Hi K.,

I had the same problem when my daughter was teething. In the year that I nursed her she cut 10 teeth! When she bit me I would break the latch and pull her off my breast to let her know that was not ok. I also would tell her that it was not ok in a stern voice. Babies may not understand what you are saying, but they know the distinctions in your tone. Then after a couple minutes I would let her latch on again. After 2 or 3 times of me doing that - the biting stopped. I hope this helps!

J.

I never had the problem but I do have friends that did. The thing they said that helped break the habit was to let the baby know it hurts by letting out at startling "OUCH!!!" and briefly taking away the nipple.

Mom, if it's that bad, time to wean him off. Get out the sippy cup, he'll love being a big boy.

Hi K., first, congratulations on nursing! Yippee, Yahoo!! Here's what I did, I pinched my daughters lip between my fingers (one finger in her mouth and one out) and removed her and said no (now, I didn't pinch hard, but just enough to give some discomfort). This happened twice and after that, I watched more closely for her signs of not actively nursing. They can't nurse and bite at the same time - completely different actions. When she was done actively nursing, she might look around, slow down, then come back, but once she got to a certain stage (and teething too), she might come back and chomp down. So, when she quit sucking, I would burp her then switch and not allow that dwaddle time until she had stopped trying... I hope you find this beneficial and keep up the nursing! BTW - once we got that straightened out, she nursed for a long time!!!

I experienced this with each of my four sons. What my La Leche League leader told me was that babies often bite once their appetite is satisfied, and they feel like playing around a little. What she told me was, watch them carefully when they quit nursing steadily and have your little finger ready to immediately stick in the corner of their mouth so you can quickly break the suction and get them off without hurting yourself. This worked for me, and what I also found, especially with one of my sons (I can't remember which), was that he would often get a playful little gleam in his eye and smile a little. I learned then to be on the alert and get ready to react.
Good Luck,
J. H.

I nursed my youngest son for a full year and a woman at my church gave me the best advice about biting before it ever happened (I was very nervous about it because my son had 4 teeth by 4 month old). When he/she bites take your thumb and middle finger and thump the baby in the cheek--hard and say NO in a stern voice. It only took once and he never bit me again. I felt really horrible about doing it but it was well worth it!

D.