Nursing and biting - time to wean? Two part question

vlcoley · March 2013

Hi all -

My daughter is 10.5 months old and still nurses four times a day as well as getting three meals of solids. She has her two bottle teeth and the top two have just started to break through in the last few days. I have never has a problem with her biting me while nursing until now. In the last day she has bitten me during each session. Usually she only bites me once or twice but just now while nursing her before bed she bite me 5+ times! OUCH! Every time she does it I immediately say "ouch" and "no" and unlatch her. After unlatching her I give it a few seconds and let her latch back on. Usually that does the trick and she doesn't bite again but tonight was a different story. Any advice?

Secondly, I have been thinking recently that I am ready to start weaning (and this biting thing is pushing me over the edge). Is my daughter too young? How do I start? Do I transition her to a bottle or sippy cup (she has never been great about taking a bottle but drinks fine from a sippy cup)? As she transitions from breastmilk to whole milk, does she cotiniue to get 16-24 oz a day (my guess is she gets about 16-20 oz of breastmilk now)?

Thank you in advance for your help!

jennyelf · March 2013

I can't speak to the second part, but my almost 10 month old has 5 teeth now and every time a new tooth comes in we go through a week of biting and then it goes away. I think that he needs a bit of time to get used to them and then he's good about it. Fortunately, the first 4 came in in pairs so I've only had 3 rounds of biting so far.

Kristendianne · March 2013

My 10-month-old baby bit me so badly for a week I was bleeding. I started flicking his check when he bit me to make him aware and saying no biting. Not abusively or painfully, just to get his attention. That is the only thing that worked for me. I only had to do it four times and he never bit me again. Saying no alone did not work at all for me.

Hang in there! You only have 6 more weeks until your baby is a year. Don't give whole milk too soon. I'm sure you can start gradually weaning at 11 months by dropping a feeding a week.

DiveFrog · March 2013

DD is only 9.5 months and only has two teeth at the moment, but has bit me at least once a week since she got her teeth. Luckily for us she very much reacts to "no", immediately unlatches and starts to cry. After that we don't usually have a problem again for at least a few days.

I have noticed that she tends to bite when she is done actually nursing and is just "playing around". I have started to try and not let her get to that point, if she is done eating then we are done nursing and my boob goes away. The only time this isn't the case is right before bed. I let her comfort suck a few minutes then, but she is so sleepy/tired she has never bit me at that time.

When I was reading up on the subject the advice I read was that if "no" doesn't work, end the nursing session at that point, put your breast away and move on to another activity for a period of time. Then try nursing again after 15-30minutes. This gives the child the message that if you bite then the nursing is over.

rockychryslerb2010 · March 2013

Lurker here, my son is a few months older, but we went through a 'biting phase' around 9 months, when his top middle teeth came in. I think the biting was related to teething, he never bit me before and would only occasionally bite as he was getting new teeth. I actually found pushing him into my breast was more effective at stopping the biting (and saved my nipples). Kellymom has good advice for dealing with biting - https://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/biting/

As for weaning, only you can make that decision if you're ready. We started weaning around 12 months, and took about 2 months to do it. I started by dropping pumping over a two week period. I replaced with solids and a sippey or bottle of 2%. We slowly phased out the other sessions over a few weeks. Stop by the breastfeeding board if you have more questions, they are a great group of ladies.

mcgeeva · March 2013

DS never bit me until 11 months and he currently still only has two teeth. I work full time so he only did it during his morning feedings. So instead I just started the sippy cup. Does she ever take a bottle now? I just weaned my son and am actually stopping bfding this week. If she hasn't used a bottle yet I would go ahead and start with a sippy. A great one we use is a nuby one with a straw for water and avent 6+ month with a soft spout that he loves because it's somewhat like a nipple but not and doesn't flow super fast or spill. I would get a sippy and put your milk in it maybe try a feeding a day or just go cold turkey where they are forced to use the cup. You can just help her hold it up which my son is still learning to do. We are just switching to whole milk so I did an ounce of whole milk in his bottles for a few days then kept increasing the amount weekly until I run out of breast milk. You still stick to 16-24 ounces of whole milk when they turn 1 and older. As far as what to do about pumping..I'm still learning. I'm down to one pump a day which I just quit one session every few days. Good luck!

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