HELP! 7 month old keeps biting me!!

[npd]

Hi all,

I haven't posted in a while, but I still read most posts every other day or so... anyway, our beautiful Quinton was born on September 8th, and is now nearly 7 months old.  He has been a great nurser since the beginning, other than some initial issues with latch (stubborn lower lip!).  He's been exclusively breastfed, with the occasional bottle of expressed breast milk in my absence.  He started solids about six weeks ago, and is doing really well.  My problem is that he now has a tooth (it appeared about 8 days ago), and a second on the way.  He keeps biting me while nursing and it REALLY hurts.  I try not to react too much, just use my little finger to break his latch (if necessary), say no biting, and give him a break for a few minutes before continuing.  I'm sure I'm not the first person to go through this so I wanted to ask if anyone has any ideas... this is becoming a problem (he's biting 2-10 times a day, and starting to affect my ability to relax and enjoy nursing time).  ANY SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!!

[RockRose]

It sounds like you're doing all the right things.  Breaking his latch and discontinuing nursing is the only way to teach him - and he's only had a tooth for 8 days,  so he may catch on soon.  I remember this distinctly with all three of my boys - they learned about this time that if they wanted to look at some noise or light in the room,  they could clamp down on the nipple and spin their head around to see what was exciting without losing the nipple latch.  EEYOWIE!  Hated that!  It may be that you will have to yell OW right when you feel pain,  break the latch and discontinue if he doesn't learn soon.  I bet he will.

Best wishes.

[ma2isiah]

My son bit me hard when he was the same age, drew blood.  The next time he did it I said no very loudly and set him on the bed alone and left for a minute and he never did it again. Sounds mean but it worked.  If your son broke the skin you need to put polysporin on after he nurses or it could get infected at least thats what the lactation RN told me. Good luck!

[AndiJ78]

I went through this with all my boys and you are doing the right thing. Be thankful his tooth came later rather than sooner! My 2nd son got his first two at the same time when he was 4 mos old and no matter what I did he bit. Sadistic little man I tell you. I was able to tough it out until he was 15 mos. He stopped biting except for the occasional nip by 12 mos. I know it doesn't seem very reassuring, but it does get better.

[pertykitty]

mine did the same right before 6 months. he would bite down and pull so i had scrapes down my whole nipple! but since he wouldnt stop i quit nursing. at that point i was working full time and he was just nursing at night and weekends.

[Trialanderror]

My son did the same thing at the same age. Just twice. The first time out of curiosity or reflex because he started teething. That`s when I said no to him for the first time. I still remember him looking at me puzzled. Right away he did it again to check my reaction. And after the second no he understood and never did it again.