Worried BFing is over bc of biting

amanicen

DD is 8 1/2 months old and has been biting pretty often since she got her bottom teeth last month. Two weeks ago she started teething with her top two (though they still haven't broken through) and started biting during every nursing session. A few times she bit so hard it drew blood. We took a break from nursing since it had become too painful for me. After two days off I tried again and have tried at least once a day since then, but she always bites hard. She latches on well and will suck a few times, but usually bites down within a minute. Each time I break the latch, say "no biting, that hurts mommy", she cries, and I've tried both trying again or ending the session. Either way I end up with an upset baby and sometimes additional bites. 

Last weekend we were able to successfully nurse in the morning for about 10 minutes after she woke up. I watched her carefully for signs she was about to bite and we stopped before she bit. Now she won't nurse without biting at any time of day and we're both getting frustrated. I've been EPing for more than a week and can't keep up with her so we also supplement.

I'm sorry this is so long but I'm at a loss about what to do. I really wanted to BF until at least a year and I'm not ready to be done yet. Is there anything we can do? Should I continue each session despite the bites (and what do I do when she breaks the skin)? I'm really hoping it will get better once she cuts her top teeth, but so far there's no end in sight. Any advice or thoughts would be great!!

Differjean

I feel your pain...litterally (or felt your pain)!!!  <<<Hugs>>>  My son was the same way.  He bit mostly while teething, so I know it was because his teeth hurt.  He also drew blood.  He also cried when I said "don't bite."  He would get so upset that he would start crying as soon as he latched on.  Sometimes we'd havet to take a break from nursing and then try again after he was okay again.  I pumped on the side he drew blood and nursed the other side. 

I nursed in fear for a long time. lol...okay not so much lol :P  I would keep my hand close by so that I could stick my finger in between his teeth/ jaw to stop him if he was starting to bite down and to break the suction.  I had to do this every nursing session while he was teething. I ended up trying really hard not to say "Oww!" or get on to him when he did it because he was SO sensitive.  With DD she was okay with me getting on to her and stopped. 

He did stop when the teething pain calmed down a bit for him.

I took fenugreek to help build up my supply while pumping at work, but it didn't seem to do much.  I also tried a calcium, magnesium, zinc supplement and that seemed to help me with supply issues.  Good Luck!!

https://differjeansfavoritethings.blogspot.com/

 

amanicen

Thank you! I guess my biggest fear is that if I don't get her to start nursing again (with or without bites) that she'll never want to start up again even when her top teeth are in. I wish I had your restraint! So far I haven't been able to hold back my yelps and I'm sure that's making the situation worse by scaring her.

She doesn't seem to have teething pain right now but did last week and I'm sure we'll have another round of pain when the top ones finally break through. Poor girl :  (   Thanks for the supplement recommendation. I've had no luck with fenugreek but oatmeal & brewers' yeast seem to help.

There's a LLL meeting in my area in two weeks so if it's not better by then hopefully they'll have some tips too. Thanks again for the sympathetic ear, it's good to hear it might get better.

SeattleFallBrid

I'm sorry you are dealing with this.  It is hard!  My first child only bit a few times and doing the whole "no bite" and ending the session worked easily for him.  With my second, she started biting around 9 months.  It really caught me off guard and I screamed.  It scared her.  She kept biting and biting.  She would not even really latch, just bite.  I could only get her to nurse for a while when sleepy/asleep or first thing in the morning.  That lasted about a month and a half.  Then she stopped wanting to nurse at all.  I was really sad over it but went to EPing.  I tried and tried to get her back to nursing for a few weeks.  Nothing worked.  I am still EPing and she is a year next week.  it sucks cause I nursed my oldest til a little over 2.  each child is so different though.  My only advice would be to nurse when sleepy/asleep and try some pain relievers to help with teething pain (tylenol, etc) or try numbing the gums with frozen teething toys.  Good luck!

beckslea

My DD had her first tooth at 5 1/2 months and she has 8 now.  The only times she has really bitten hard have been when a tooth was about to break through.  It sounds like you have the right idea about stopping her when she bites and trying again later.  If it were me, I might wait a little longer to see if you can continue after she gets past this rough teething phase.  Whatever you choose, you should be proud that you bf for 8 1/2 months .

nosoup4u

Maybe she's also trying to figure out a new latch with top teeth? When DS2 was first getting his bottom teeth, he would nip me. I would hold his chin down when he latched on, and that seemed to help.

I agree with AmyG's comments - giving her a bottle right after biting is probably not going to convince her to keep nursing. Hope it works out!!

amanicen

Sorry I disappeared all morning but thank you all for the advice. I've heard about smooshing to get baby to break the latch but I never thought of it as being a way to teach her cause & effect; that's really interesting & I'll try to do that the next time she bites.

DH & I have talked about not giving her a bottle after she bites, but we're trying to get her to gain weight. It's been a fight keeping her from falling off the charts so we don't want to discourage her from eating as often as possible. Maybe if we keep at least 15 minutes between ending a nursing session and resorting to the bottle.

Thanks for the tips & support! This is definitely something I wasn't planning on when I started BFing but I really hope we can get past it & keep going for at least a few more months.

Differjean

You sound so much like me!  My DS fell off the charts with weight too.  I had to take him in for a lot of weight checks around the 6-10 month ages.  He finally got back up to 4% and pretty much stays there.  He's just a little guy. 

 Oh and I said I tried really hard not to, but most ot the time I did say "Ow" or some sort of "I'm in pain" noise. 

 I agree with other posts and comments you received.  You can definitely tell when they are letting go and could bite.  Of course you aren't going to be on high alert 100% of the time. 

 Best wishes.  I hope she stops the biting and you can continue bfing.