amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

Q:

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DS has really taken to biting me when he's done eating. Takes me by surprise and does it hurt! I always let out a little yelp since it hurts so bad--he HAS to do it right on the nipple and its not a quick bite either, he holds it. He cries when I yell (not at him but because of how the bite shocks/surprises me) but he keeps doing it. I guess its not getting through to him that when he bites and I cry out that he shouldn't do that. Any suggestions as to what I can do to stop this?

A:

I have always heard to take the baby off, make eye contact, and say firmly "No, that hurts mommy" Then wait a few minutes and try again. I know that's not much help, but its worth a try.

A:

This is a common happening unfortunately - my children did it too. Some people say that bringing their baby in closer to the breast will cause the child to open their mouths (because otherwise they can't breathe). This never worked for me - possibly I'm not large enough. What worked for me was being alert, and thus knowing about when my child was nearing the end of actively nursing, and keeping my index finger near hir mouth so I could break suction & take the baby off before the biting occurred. If he or she did succeed in biting me, I'd put the baby on the floor for a minute and say "ok, nursing is over now". If s/he wanted to keep nursing, I'd nurse again. But any biting meant a little floor time (I must emphasize that the floor time is not long at all - a minute or less).

If your baby is teething, it may feel really good for him/her to bite down. Try using teething tablets or a cold washcloth along the gums right before nursing, so s/he doesn't feel that need to bite.

I hope this helps!

A:

Ouch! I know where you are coming from. DD went through a period of biting. But it wasn't just when she finished. She'd bite when she wanted to nurse, during nursing, after, whenever she wanted attention, got mad or frustrated. Her twin brother got alot of it from her...poor fellow had bite marks all over his body.

I would put her down and tell her no biting and walk away for a minute. If brother was nursing too I would just put my hand over my breast and tell her no biting. I had to be consistent with her but now it has stopped I would say it lasted about 3-4 months. She was doing some major teething then, getting back molars. Oh, I would also give her a cold teether and tell her to bite this and not mommy.

At the beginning she bit down hard and I pulled away in reaction she actually left a small contusion just below my nipple. That sore made it harder to nurse and hard to heal. I eventually went to my gyno who told me to put neosporin on a couple times a day after nursing. It eventually healed I quickly learned to push her head towards my breast when she bit. She would quickly release. I think this tactic may have also helped her stopped because she didn't like it.

Hope my story helped some, and there will be a end to this stage.