Teething Babies Make Breastfeeding Painful

“My baby is 8 months old and he is a very good eater. He also has 6 teeths! which is very good for chewing and biting, but not so for my breast. Lately, since he eats so well, I have been breastfeeding him around twice a day, just for cuddles, and during the night. Problem now is, that he is going through an extremely clingy phase and during the night he would wake up constantly demanding boob but then not drinking. He uses me as his pacifier and that pisses me off. And his teeths won't help”

“My five month old just had her first two teeth come in. This exciting milestone has come with a plethora of biting. I am getting bit multiple times per feed, varying in intensity from uncomfortable to causing small wounds. I am trying my best not to react, saying “no bite” and unlatching her and having her take a break for a few minutes. Any other tips and tricks? I’m starting to feel anxious when I’m feeding her, but I am really hoping I don’t have to give up on the breast feeding. Thank you! &”

“My six month old just got his first two teeth. Now breast-feeding has become pretty painful because he tries to chomp on the nipple. I already have some bruising and developed a small blister which popped. How do you get through teething? ☹️ submitted by /u/A1ycia [link] [comments]”

“My 7 month old has two small teeth and they are SHARP. She knows how to drink without hurting me and most of the time it's fine. However sometimes she gets into a funny mood and starts biting ON PURPOSE. The little monkey actually LAUGHS when she does this. Anywho, do you have any tips for me? I don't want to stop and little missy doesn't like bottles. submitted by /u/rosedamask [link] [comments]”

“My boy turned 1 on August 1st and he’s gotten his top teeth in the last month or so. And they’re some big sharp chompers. Our breastfeeding journey has been really good up until now and I wanted to continue it but it’s literally so painful that it makes me cry. He only ever breastfeeds to fall asleep for nap/bedtime and briefly when he wakes up from either of those. But he really relies on it and I’m scared to just cold-turkey cut him off. I just don’t know if I can take it anymore… I’ve been go”

“Starting this morning once my son woke up he’s decided he only wants to bite my nipple(has 2 teeth currently) and won’t latch anymore. He is exclusively breastfed when at home but when he goes to daycare he gets a bottle of pumped milk. All today I’ve tried to offer the boob, gotten bitten, then had to just give a bottle instead. Has this happened to anyone else and your baby stopped biting/ was able to resume nursing? Struggling with thinking that our last nursing session was in the middle of t”

“My 8 week old has suddenly started to fight my breasts when nursing. 80% of the time he will latch, then pop off, latch again, pop back off. Pulls, bites, arms flailing. Then if I stop and take the breast away he will get so mad! So he is still hungry. My nipples are destroyed from this past week and a half. The only times he wouldn’t do it was during night feedings and last night he bit/pulled so hard that I ended up giving him a bottle and crying my eyes out :( Any advice or ideas of why this”

“FTM EBF my almost 3 month old. I just want to hear from yalls experience of when your baby grew their first teeth and if they caused mayhem on your nipples. I’m just trying to look into the long term of realistically how long i’ll be breastfeeding for 👀 i really don’t want to struggle with bleeding nipples 🥺 submitted by /u/CryptographerDeep635 [link] [comments]”

“Little dude just turned 8 months. He has always been a biter. I have tried removing myself, yelling super loud, taking away boob and now he usually doesn’t bite during nursing but he is cutting three teeth and he just constantly bites right before he releases. Sometimes he’s standing up to walk away and that really hurts as he takes the whole boob with him, or tries to anyway. Any suggestions on how to end this? submitted by /u/dontletmedown3 [link] [comments]”

“FTM & EBF - my 6mo got his first tooth a few weeks ago and his second is starting to pop through. I typically begin nursing him in a cradling position and since he has learned to sit up and will move to face me sometimes towards the end of a feeding. While he was moving he bit my nipple. I instinctually said ow then told him no and unlatched him. Nipple is fine just sore & swollen, but now I am nervous and physically anxious to nurse him especially on that side. Would a nipple shield pos”

“I love breastfeeding my 8 month old. I love her cute little teeth. I love her. I HATE when she bites me. She only bites when she is frustrated. She stopped biting before she had teeth but since getting her teeth she's biting again. I try my best not to react but sometimes she actually draws blood. Those times I can't help but scream from pain. submitted by /u/nicnicthegreat1 [link] [comments]”

“Feeling so defeated over nursing recently. 7 month old started biting a little over a week ago. I thought I got her to stop but then she did it again this morning. She also is SO distracted. She would latch for 2 seconds and then pop off to look around. It was so frustrating. Please tell me this will phase out and get better. How many times a day should a 7 month old be nursing? I feel like it’s taken a drop over the past week. submitted by /u/defeatedtomato [link] [comments]”

“baby keeps crying from teething pain i did everything inuding giving medicine what should i do? everytime i lay him down he starts crying?!!! help 🙃 submitted by /u/Friendly-Start1455 [link] [comments]”

“Pretty sure she has more teeth coming in. She’s been cranky. She bit me once at 6 months and I said “no” sternly and it was fine. On Sunday, she bit me 4 times in one day, drawing blood, and I yelped particularly loud the last time cause I was already so sore. She cried a lot because I scared her. She now won’t latch at all. She’ll touch my nipple with her lip, pull away and start crying. She will take the bottle right away. I’m trying not to force it. I’m so sad. She didn’t feed on me at all la”

“My 10 month old had just had her first tooth. I gave her toothbrush way before, we brushed together etc but now she actually has her teeth she doesn't let us brush it. She chews on th tootbrush but as soon as we try to do it she sticks her tongue out or closes her mouth. The only way we can do it (without pure violence tbh) is turn on the TV for the 30 seconds we do it and as soon as we're done tee turn it off. She's hypnotized by the screen but when we turn it off she's okay, do”

“I have been breast feeding/pumping since the beginning. When she was like 12-14 m old, my daughter started pinching. I tried all of the suggestions: hold her hand, give her something to hold, redirection. Nothing really helped. It stopped after awhile. She recently resumed but now it is a bit more aggressive. She wants to either pinch my arm and honestly, decently hard. It hurts. Or she wants to touch my other nipple which is just so exceptionally overstimulating. I have again tried all of the t”

“I’m a combo feeding mom, (baby 8mo had tongue tie and we started give him formula at 2 mo) now he is mostly over the formula and only takes like 4 oz per day, but a couple days ago I started to feel like it was time for me to stop breastfeeding. I was so scared and doubting a lot my decision cause my partner works in another country so I’m pretty much a solo parent 24/7 with my baby not really having help or somebody that I can rely on for help. Sleep deprivation hit me hard the first months and”

“Wasn't sure what this falls under, but wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this and what ypu did to try to stop it. We have a 14 month old and he is now started biting. He seems to really enjoy biting me(dad) the most too, although he has done it to mom and grandparents a few times, but just in the last 24 hours he has bitten me probably 10 times now and they not gentle little tickle bites, they hurt. One occasion it was so hard that my body just automatic reaction and swatted him, l”

“I’m first time breastfeeding so any advice would be welcome. My 4 month old has been feeding really well, but at least once a day he will get very frustrated at the breast and chew/pull my nipples, which as you can imagine can be frustrating for us both. I’ve tried switching him to another boob that’s full, changing positions, but once he gets in that mode it lasts for a while until he calms down. I’ve also checked both breasts and there is definitely supply. Is there a way to avoid this / calm”

“Heyo, My baby is 6 months now and i THINK she has started teething. She does this pull on my nipple where she pulls her head back and pushes my boob away with her hand. When shes distracted she'll whip her head and yank on my nipple. I am so so so sore. Like I want to cry sore. I work 12 hour days and I need to pump. The pain is making me want to skip it! What can I do? submitted by /u/SarahxSyanide [link] [comments]”

“I think my 7 month old is biting me while nursing and that is causing pain on my nipple and probably inflammation so a particular part of the milk can't come out and that keeps hurting. Is this what's happening? It started three days ago, i think. I don't know if he has always done it but now I feel it because his teeth are growing. I must say that this is mostly on one breast. I don't know if it's because I've nursed more from that brewst (the right one). I've dealt”

“He just started getting the motor skills to hold things and still cant quite hold the teething rings to his mouth without help. He has 2 incisor teeth that have poked through... Help! submitted by /u/FlightSpirited651 [link] [comments]”

“She’s 12 months old and we’re actually weaning her but I still have 4-5 nursing sessions to drop. She leaves teeth marks! She’s never had a good latch due to oral ties that were released at five months old so I don’t know if there’s any hope for us. Is this normal? Will it pass? I feel like she could open her mouth more but just doesn’t. submitted by /u/Ok_Chemical9678 [link] [comments]”

“Baby is 9mo, has 2 bottom front teeth. They've been doing okay with the two teeth for the last month or so, and actually got on a really a really consistent schedule for the last week or so. This morning everything went out the window... Baby woke up at their normal time, nursed fine, but then did not do well with solids, and ended up falling asleep before their next normal feed time. They slept for an hour, so I figured they would definitely get hungry when they woke up, but they have not b”

“can someone please help me calm down?! i feel like im going insane. my almost 9 month old is finally getting in a tooth and you can see the tiniest little bit of it. fast forward he was attempting to crawl and fell face first on the rug specifically hitting his nose and mouth. he cried for a second and then went back to normal. now when i look in his mouth i don’t see the little tiny bit that was thru the gum. the socket isn’t empty there’s still a little white nub but it’s not thru anymore like”

“I have a gorgeous 4.5 girl. Love her to bits! My breastfeeding journey up to a month ago has been pretty good. However lately it’s become hard because the following: - she started biting around 3 months and she got her two bottom teeth early. Pretty sure she is getting more now or will soon. When she bites I tell her no and latch her off. We’ve both ended up in tears at times. It happens less frequently now but still a weekly occurrence. - she is quite distracted. Latches on and off frequently t”

“My daughter’s (10 months next week) two bottom teeth are almost fully in, and over the last day she’s started biting me every time she nurses. At first it was only toward the end of nighttime feeds, but today she bit me at the beginning of both nursing sessions no matter what I tried. I ended up giving her a bottle of formula today, and she happily drank the whole thing. I had a good cry while she was taking it because it suddenly felt like this might be the end of our breastfeeding journey. I g”

“I am a SAHM to my 14mo. They have 6 teeth and recently started biting at the end of feeds. I really want to do extended nursing, maybe until about 3yo, but my nipple hurts so bad from being bitten. They’re only nursing at naps and bed time, and I don’t get bit everytime, but when I do get bit I literally check to make sure my nipple is still there. I’m to the point where I’m considering stopping because it hurts so bad. Does anybody have advice, tips, encouragement? submitted by /u/o”

“For the last 3 weeks my nipples have been sooo painful during feeds. J really only nurse over night and sometimes for naps. But he’s teething. He bit me and there was a mark that was broken open and it’s now healed but both nipples are in so much pain. I am thinking of weaning for this reason but he nurses a good deal at night and I’m worried it’ll be really hard on him. Did anyone experience this and it got better? submitted by /u/zenzenzen25 [link] [comments]”

“Hello! Baby girl is almost 8 months. She started teething and is still generally pretty happy during the day, but I’d like to prepare for if/when it gets worse. What do you all do for night wakes due to teething? Do you offer a nursing session or just cuddle back to sleep? Please share your best teething hacks! Thank you! submitted by /u/Critical-Language765 [link] [comments]”

“Has anyone else gone through this with their toddler? I could really use some solidarity. My 15-month-old is cutting multiple teeth at once, and for the past several days she only wants to breastfeed. She barely wants food, is incredibly clingy, and gets so upset unless she's latched. Till Wednesday, she was a happy kid running, playing, eating, etc. Overnight, she has become a crying barnacle. We got her checked out and doctor says teething - but the way she changed scares me. It’s been fou”

“My baby is 8.5 months old, and this past week her upper teeth have started coming in. From what I can tell, it looks like the four front upper teeth are erupting at roughly the same time. Three of them are already visible, while the fourth hasn't broken through yet. For the last 3–4 days she's been fussy almost all day and taking very short naps. A lot of the time we can't seem to comfort her, even by holding her, playing with her, or trying to distract her. She's also eating sol”

“Hi! My 14m old suddenly out of nowhere refuses to nurse. It’s been going on for two days. She looks at the boob and open her mouth sometimes, then turns her head away or pushes my boob away. Eats solids and drinks from a straw cup as usual. She’s a very spirited baby and will only sleep with A LOT of rocking or nursing. She wakes up 2-3x night, and usually I just nurse her to sleep, but now I have to rock her for about 30 min. I’m also pregnant, so it’s super hard on my body to rock her. Also sh”

“As the title says I blended some cherries and froze them for my teething baby. I give them to her when her teething affects breastfeeding, but it also helps with her sleeping. I’ve been accidentally giving my baby girl natural melatonin as I didn’t know black cherries are a good snack to help you fall asleep. submitted by /u/needadvice_tempacc [link] [comments]”

“My 6 month old has his bottom teeth and the top ones are almost through. I have been exclusively nursing but he is starting to bite me and obviously it really hurts. Do I just have to start pumping? Would nipple shields work? Any other ideas? submitted by /u/ThrowRaoofda [link] [comments]”

“Hi, my 10m old has been biting while nursing for the last two weeks and for the last 5 days will bite as soon as I offer him a breast, except for overnight. I’m sure I’ve had some minor reactions as he has 8 teeth already but mostly I try to remain calm, tell him no, and put him in his play pen until we try again. I’ve tried different positions, locations, offering teethers and cold items. It’s getting to the point where I’m afraid of offering though because of the pain. I’m pumping to maintain”

“He won’t through a biting phase around 8-9 months which was HARD but then stopped for a while but today he has been biting and it hurts so much more as he now has two bottom and two top teeth 🥲 I was planning to gradually wean off BF anyway before I return to work in September. I don’t want to breastfeed whilst he’s biting ugh it hurts so much and just isn’t enjoyable submitted by /u/jdawgiegawg [link] [comments]”

“My 3MO has become such a bully. She pulls on my nipples and scratches at my boobs. Any tips on how to help? I’m already fearful of when she gets teeth! submitted by /u/Sleeplessinsuburbs [link] [comments]”

“Pretty much the title, my 10 mo has recently started biting my breasts. Not my nipple while nursing, my breasts. She comes over, pulls my shirt and bites down on my breast. She has 8 teeth, 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. I’ve had my nipples bitten more time than I can count in the last 5 months since her teeth have been popping up. This sub has helped so much with learning how to navigate that, I do my best not to have a reaction, break her latch and stop the nursing session for a moment, whe”

“My baby JUST turned 5 months old yesterday. His two top teeth have been visible under the gums for over a week now and look like they could cut through any day. These past two days he is MISERABLE. Tylenol helps for like 2 hours then he's fighting for his life again. Baby orajel makes him barf. He's not old enough for baby Motrin. Everyone keeps telling me that it's weird he's getting top teeth first and that they really suck and take forever. What can I do to make him more comfo”

“I’m scared! Any tips for keeping my sanity (and nipples) intact now that we’ve reached this stage? I’ve always made him take a break from nursing when he bites and will continue that but I’m noticing even his normal latch feels slightly more pinchy. submitted by /u/Striking-Ad8360 [link] [comments]”

“At 10 months my baby girl is finally getting her first tooth and it’s inching out at a molasses rate. I can see part of the tip and she’s handling it so well. She’s gotten up a couple times at night crying over the last couple weeks but quickly falls back asleep with some soothing. One time I gave her Tylenol at 2am but otherwise I usually see the most signs she’s in pain in the evening. She’s fussy, she has her had in her mouth right in that area, and drooling everywhere. I know there is no one”

“My 4 month old has started biting me these past few weeks, but it’s gotten worse the last two days. She will do it for a lot of the feed, and it’s random. I can’t tell when she’s about to do it. It’s like she grabs a hold and then wants to look around or yank back as hard as she can. I’ve been trying to stop the feeds when she does it, but she gets upset. I feel like she is too young at four months to understand why I’m unlatching. But today I am in a ton of pain from it. I can’t hardly even ben”

“So babe is 6mo with 4 teeth and two more coming! We cosleep and at night this is a non-issue, he unlatches immediately as he’s done drinking. During the day though, for naps, entirely different story. He keeps latched on unless I start to move a lot risking him pulling off and waking up OR I have to fiddle with my nipple to get it out. There’s a 50/50 I get my nipple sleep-bitten just from him closing is jaw unintentionally. There’s gotta be a better way.. please impart your wisdoms! submi”

“Baby will be 13 months in a few days. She typically nurses 4-5 times a day. I had randomly gotten a crack in one nipple so I was being cautious while latching her during her 4am feed and she freaked out got so upset she wouldn’t nurse at all or take her pacifier for a little. I finally got her to take the pacifier and settle back to sleep but now this is what keeps happening. She’s still using her pacifier and eating solids normally. She’s acting normal otherwise and is even still asking to nurs”

“I just learned that you’re supposed to brush baby’s teeth as soon as they get them! How are people doing this?? My baby is 9 months old and has her two bottom teeth. I decided to try and lightly brush them after she had her bed time bottle before she went to bed. She totally clamped down and refused to open her mouth. Should I be prying her mouth open to brush them? How important is this? When did you start brushing your kids teeth? submitted by /u/Efficient_Bee4584 [link] [com”

“9 month old and has been biting *every* feed for one month now. He’s popped out four teeth in that time frame, so I do believe this is why. But I am at my limit I think. I cringe before every feed. I also have started to feel super angry. I just dread things now because it’s actually incredibly painful. I’m heartbroken because I nursed my first for 20 months. This isn’t how I saw things ending. I don’t want it to end this way. I just don’t know how much longer I can do this. I tried yelping (it”

“My daughter just turned 21 months and currently loves to hear us say “ow”, she’s been hitting which we are trying to discourage and today she almost fell off me while breastfeeding and accidentally bit down, I said “ow” accidentally and so she proceeded to bite me so hard I started bleeding because she found it funny. I know I’m not supposed to react but it was so painful I screamed which just made her laugh more, then she was crying because I wouldn’t let her breastfeed after that. I’m terrifie”

“Hi everyone! Our 8-month old had 2 bottom teeth come out. He is breastfed and has recently discovered that biting the nipple elicits, for him, entertaining reactions from mom. Since we cannot not feed him, and he enjoys the bottle as much as the boob, there are no real consequences. What are the expert recommendations on how to introduce NO without traumatising him? submitted by /u/Klipcha [link] [comments]”

“Teething is the bane of our existence. Our girl has been teething since 3 months old, and I knew it was teething that early because you could see them swollen under her gums! They finally popped through a few weeks ago at 8 months old. She is miserable. Wakes up arching her back grabbing her ears, screaming, shaking her head, biting everything and everyone. The ear pulling has been so intense that we’ve taken her to the ped to check for ear infection twice just to be sure. We’re doing ibuprofen,”

“My 5 month old son now has his two bottom teeth, and he has bitten my wife on more than one occasion and she's not happy about it. Her nipple even got cut too. She has cut back on breastfeeding and started giving him formula a lot more now. What was your experience like breastfeeding teething babies? submitted by /u/zenoslayer [link] [comments]”

“Hello I am a new mom and I breastfeed since day one. But now my baby is teething and I struggle from biting moments although at first I can endure it unfortunately now I can’t I decided to so bottle feed but she’s not happy about it, she whine and cry. I tried to use nipple shield (my friend recommend it) to introduce the silicone texture and get familiarize with it BUT she cry on top of her lungs and don’t want to suck on it. I really want to bottle feed her and I need advice. BTW I also strugg”

“What’s the best way to redirect a 6 month old to help stop her from scraping her bottom two teeth across her toys? A lot of them are wooden and I realllllly don’t want her consuming that 🤦‍♀️🥴 submitted by /u/zezendx [link] [comments]”

“My EBF 11 month old has had a few nibbles here or there in the past months but it’s always been more surprising than painful and when I jump a little he always cries so much and then won’t keep feeding. Yesterday he bit me much harder immediately after offering the breast and then when I tried later he keeps just biting and not latching! He is a pretty sensitive guy and I feel like he can tell it hurts me but can’t help himself, it has ended with us both in tears every time and now we’re both sc”

“Just took 6 month old to their first dentist appointment. They have 2 teeth already. The dentist was saying to brush their teeth after every nursing session which I’m okay doing but my baby is a snacker and nurses a lot and doesn’t take bottles. I asked if that many times using toothpaste will have any effects versus just brushing them three times a day but she said just to do it. i don’t mind using fluoride toothpaste just want to know how many times is the recommended to brush infant teeth if”

“Anyone else’s 4 month old refusing to nurse long? He’s nursing only 3 minutes at a time before pulling away and cries when I try to relatch. I know he’s not full as the breast still feel very full. He has teething symptoms (drooling, gnawing, pulling ears, biting down (😭) while nursing) but no visible teeth or swelling. Also had the dr check his ears and is all clear in case of an infection. Managing by feeding when he’s sleepy or tired but just wondering if anyone else is going through this? &”

“Basically title —anyone else?! We're in the toddler breastfeeding stage and his back teeth are just peaking through and bothering him. I'm breastfeeding round the clock still and he's snacking constantly. Our sleep isn't the best lately, but also not the worst it's been. I'm always feeling famished. To give an idea: today I have my coffee with heavy cream, then I had a scramble that consisted of four whole eggs, two peppers, two small potatoes, and a string cheese. My lun”

“I have a 5 month old baby and am exclusively breastfeeding. I tend to only use one side as the other is an ‘under producer!’ I have flat/inverted nipples and feeding has always been painful and still is now, even after 5 months! I want to continue, but it’s becoming difficult. My nipple is so sore and swollen. I also have larger breasts and still need to use two hands in the cross cradle position. Does anyone have any advice or tips? Or advice for the pain? I use Lanolin and nipple silverettes a”

“My baby has started teething I’m a first time mom and often times especially during the day he won’t eat unless drowsy or I rock him while he’s crying hysterically in my arms and trying to latch but cries and cries and unlatched before he gets milk and screams. I know he’s teething and it’s causing him a lot of discomfort but it’s stressing me out how can I maintain this I can’t! I can’t go in public if he’s not gonna eat unless I sit there with my boob in his mouth for 5 mins while he screams u”