Ouch...Ouch....OUCH!!!!

Usually they just like to play with their new teeth for a couple of days and then get over it. I would firmly tell him no when he bites and take him off the breast. Then latch him back on and he'll continue. Should be a pretty short term thing.

R.,
First of all, I'm so sorry! :) I hope this doesn't come out badly, but I would flick my son's cheek whenever he bit me. Never enough to HURT him, but enough to let him know I wasn't going to allow biting! You're right about him just needing something to bite on to help with the teething. I've heard suggestions to let him suck on ice for a bit before nursing to allow him to bite that and also to ease the pain. Then he won't want to bite you. Good luck...

You've already received some good advice. Another approach my DIL used with my grandson was to pull him in very close to her breast when he bit her so that it occluded his breathing at the same time telling him firmly "No biting!". He was forced to let go in order to breath and very quickly learned never to bite her breast again. This was even though he became a biting toddler who bit when he was happy, excited, mad, frustrated, etc. until he turned 3, but he never bit his mother's breast!
Kris R, IBCLC

You can tell him "no" when he bites and stop nursing. Then resume nursing and continue with "no" and discontinue nursing until he understands the connection.

My daughter bit a little when her teeth came in, and it hurt like heck! :o) I found it stopped within a few days or happened very rarely if I sharply told her "No!" and pulled her away from my breast. Don't laugh at his reaction though - my daughter thought it was really funny at first, and I had to work hard not to laugh and feed into her so she wouldn't keep doing it for the reaction. That's the hard part. :o) Good luck, and don't give up! It won't last!

R.-
I have felt your pain! I'm sure you'll get similar advice from several other moms, but the most effective solution I found with both my children was to remove them from the breast with a firm "no biting". It takes everything in your being not to scream in pain, but the idea is to discourage, not scare. After a few removals, they seem to get the idea that biting=no milk and stop pretty quickly. In the meantime, my sympathies! Good luck.

Is it rubbing of the teeth or actual biting? I didn't have any pain with teething until my daughter cut her canines when she was around 13 months old. Those suckers were sharp and it was pretty uncomfortable. What you can do is unlatch and relatch him. Make sure he is taking in plenty of the breast. It could be that after a few months, his latch has gotten a be lazy. His tongue should cover those new bottom teeth, when latched correctly.

My advice would be to take him off the breast immediately if he starts biting. If he's not hungry and just soothing, you can hand him a teether of some sort. But talking to him and saying "Biting hurts mommy, you may not bite me" and taking him away from the breast whenever he does it. He'll soon learn that he won' be able to nurse if he's going to bite you.

Good luck!

Congrats on breastfeeding! My son did the same thing when he first was getting his teeth. Surprisingly my support group nurse said to take him off the breast and tell him "no." Don't react visibly to his biting or he might try to bite again just to get a reaction. If need be set him down, walk out of his line of sight and then cringe! Once he seems to have calmed down, as he will be upset from losing his chew toy, then begin again. It's a process before he learns, but even at 6 months my son picked it up fairly quickly, especially as he became hungrier! Good luck!