Mothers fear baby biting during breastfeeding hurts
14 posts across 2 communities in the last 30 days; 93% from r/breastfeeding.
“Maybe a couple weeks ago my almost 6 month old has started occasionally biting me while nursing. I say biting but she doesn’t have teeth.. it’s still painful as heck! Usually I’m like “Ow!” (Not trying to yell at her it’s a genuine reaction) and she’ll unlatch and try again…”
“I am at my wits end with the biting. My first baby didn’t get teeth until a year old and we never had an issue. My second is currently 8 months old and has her two bottom teeth. She bites me all the time. And on purpose. I’ve tried yelling “ouch” or “no” and that just makes her…”
“My son just turned 5mo and most of the posts I read about teething refer to older babies, so does anyone have experience with younger teething? My son has never been a good sleeper until he started sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at 4mo. We were so happy! This week however he wakes…”
Mothers are distressed by their babies biting during breastfeeding, causing pain and emotional distress. Some believe teething is a factor, while others worry about frustration leading to biting. Mothers seek advice and support to manage this challenging behavior.
SOURCES (14)
“Maybe a couple weeks ago my almost 6 month old has started occasionally biting me while nursing. I say biting but she doesn’t have teeth.. it’s still painful as heck! Usually I’m like “Ow!” (Not trying to yell at her it’s a genuine reaction) and…”
“13 weeks old, 7 weeks of exclusively breastfeeding. Took us a lot of effort to get here, and every time he eats it hurts to a varying degree, the worst is overnight when he just can’t get a deep latch. Any hope of it getting better? Anything I could do? submitted by /u/djamazon [link] [comments]”
“I am at my wits end with the biting. My first baby didn’t get teeth until a year old and we never had an issue. My second is currently 8 months old and has her two bottom teeth. She bites me all the time. And on purpose. I’ve tried yelling “ouch” or “no” and that just makes her laugh. I’ve tried flicking her cheek which makes her cry and makes me feel physically sick even though I’m not doing it hard. And still she keeps doing it. As soon as she’s done eating or bored with eating she clamps down”
“My 8 month old has bit me twice super hard the last two times I’ve fed her today and I’m genuinely scared to nurse her again. The second time I pushed her off the boob and scared her so bad. I feel so guilty but I don’t know how to control that knee-jerk reaction when the pain is so intense?? This biting phase has been going on for a couple weeks now and I know she’s teething but I just want it to be over. Did anyone temporarily switch over to bottles or did you just tough it out? Feeling so gui”
“My 7 month old bit me and my nipple is in SO much pain now. He bit me yesterday and the pain and swelling has just been getting worse and worse. I didn’t think he broke skin but noticed tonight there is a little hole. He only has two bottom teeth. My nipple is 2x larger than it usually is. Any tips on how to deal with this excruciating pain? It hurts to even have a shirt touch it. Let downs are extra pain ful. My nipple just throbs during and after feeding submitted by /u/Junior_Barn”
“My son just turned 5mo and most of the posts I read about teething refer to older babies, so does anyone have experience with younger teething? My son has never been a good sleeper until he started sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at 4mo. We were so happy! This week however he wakes every hour screaming, will absolutely not allow my husband to comfort him, only me. I’m assuming he’s teething. Though he naps well during the day and is so content. I’m just exhausted.. I hate bed sharing but ive had to”
“My 8 month old just popped out two teeth and bit me with them for the first time. She went through a brief biting phase before she had teeth and I was able to sort of subdue my gut reaction to push her off but this time was different. I’ve seen a lot of people say they yell but my knee-jerk reaction to push her off of me. I was just nursing her to put her down for a nap and when she bit I quickly yanked her off the boob and I’m not worried I’ll hurt her but I just scared her SO bad it took a bit”
“My 7 month old is just getting her 2 bottom front teeth. She’s EBF. She’s bitten me a few times now and I usually will say ouch when it happens without even thinking. Then I was saying no biting in a firm but neutral tone and not yelling or anything like that. But my girl is sensitive 😭 she starts crying and won’t want to nurse for a while after that. I feel terrible she’s gotten upset. I plan on not saying no biting anymore but what else can I do? We’ve had such a wonderful experience BF so fa”
“Ok just to vent. I told myself I would stop breastfeeding when my son had teeth coming in because I genuinely don’t even want to deal with the biting. He’s 4.5 months and I see his first tooth popping out. And now I’m sad to be stopping soon😭 but maybe I’ll change my mind? Or not? I wanted to stop breastfeeding soon anyway regardless. But I can’t believe how sad I feel right now. submitted by /u/twlightmom [link] [comments]”
“Hello all! A few weeks ago my 15 month old started to bite/pull with her teeth on my nipple when it seemed like she was done. I’ve many times both intentionally and because it really hurts said “ow!” And told her she can’t bite mommy. I’ve tried ignoring it, which is sometimes hard because it really hurts. I’ve tried pushing her head into my breast which makes her bite harder. It doesn’t really matter if I don’t let her eat again because she’s done at that point. I feel at a loss and am asking h”
“Hi! I’m getting a bit desperate here… My son is 2y3m and for the last two weeks he suddenly started biting while breastfeeding. He had a biting phase a few months ago too, when he was drinking from a straw bottle a lot. When we stopped the straw bottle, the biting also stopped completely. But now it’s back and much worse. He already bites when he latches on, and even does it in his sleep at night. I tell him it hurts, take him off, tell him to drink “with his tongue” or with a soft mouth, but no”
“My LO (6mo in 2 days) has gotten his second tooth and with it has been biting me more and more frequently. I’ve tried nursing him when he’s more sleepy and less likely to bite but his bite are becoming more painful (razor sharp teeth). I feel like a failure as my goal had been to nurse him for longer but I just can’t handle the biting. I plan on continuing to pump him milk. I know formula and bottles aren’t bad but I loved the bond I have with him being latched. Logically I know it’ll be ok and”
“I’m so sad and discouraged. My sweet 7 month old boy has recently started biting - and it’s bad. It originally began as biting toward the end of the feed and now it’s turned into him biting at the beginning of the feed because he’s getting frustrated that he has to work for a let down. He just cut his first two teeth which is why it’s hurting so bad now. Plus the anxiety and the anticipation of a bite is delaying a let down and just causing so much fear for me. It’s bringing me back to the newbo”
“I’m sure there are a million posts. The biting. I was in tears sobbing last night. My 6.5 month old has decided I’m her chew toy. The worst part is I’ve never felt mad with her before. She’s an innocent little baby and I was pissed. I had to take a minute and calm down and then I just cried. My husband (god bless his soul) said “I don’t get it, it can’t hurt that bad” cue the most evil glare. Yeah it hurts, it’s upsetting, I still need to feed her, and I’m not ready for this to be the end. I’m m”