OUCH!!!!

[Loujo]

Hi!
My lo is 5 and a half months (on 4 hr EASY) and recently he has been biting my nipple!  Sooooooooooo painful!!  He pushes it to the front of his mouth then stretches it and bites it (as far as you can bite without teeth lol!!!)
He does this more when he is tired at his 6.30pm feed and ready to go to bed - have tried moving the feed without any success so that he feeds when he is less tired - at this 6.30pm feed he will feed for 10 secs then cry and start this biting - might my supply be too low in the evening for him?.  I keep taking him off and trying again because he needs to have a good feed before bedtime - but he's too young to understand the word 'no' when he bites!  Anyone got any ideas?
Ta
Love Louise
x

[Jodi and her boys]

Ha!  I have no ideas, but I am right there with you.  My lo has been doing that for about 2 weeks now.  He thinks my nipple is some type of rubber toy.  I think they are more curious or "playing". I say "no, Carter, that hurts Mommy", yeah right!  He doesn't quite understand yet!  I will be waiting to see if anyone responds with suggestions!

Jodi

[jbepko]

If you thinks it due to a slow-let down in the evenings, you can pump a little or massage a bit before the nursing. Have you tried nursing while lying down with him (on your side), sometimes the change in positions can help.

[Loujo]

thanks both!
Good to know that i am not alone... he is such a little tinker but sometimes when he does it he gives me the cheekiest little grin afterwards that i just can't help but smile!
Have unsuccessfully tried different positions... Will try massage tonight and see how i get on!
xxx

[Sam's mum]

Hi - mine lo did this when she was about the same age - sometimes she would catch me off guard and I would yelp and she would then pull off startled.  I know she didn't understand the word no BUT she did know that my tone of voice was different and we would lock eye contact and even if she was smiling I didn't so she would know it wasn't a game.  It passed after a few weeks - I'm so glad too as now she has teeth and it would hurt a whole lot more!!  I have heard that if they are biting and not letting go you should also push them into your breast as it makes it harder for them to breath and they have to then open their mouth... I never did this though I found that just letting her know it wasn't a game was enough.

Good luck - even with no teeth it can really hurt!!

[Samuel's mum]

I had the same thing - the toothless chomp at around 5 months. (It will hopefully reassure you that Sam never went on to to bit me with teeth.)

I found if I kept an eye out I could anticipate when it was going to happen. They need to chnage their latch and the tongue can no longer be over the lower jaw (which it is when they are nursing). I was able to get my little finger in the corner of this mouth before he chomped down. You can also sometimes anticipate from the twinkle in the eye before they do anything!

The phase really didn't last long for us. I tried not to react very much - just put the little finger in as I think with young babies if the action provokes an interesting noise then it might be worth doing again!

[Loujo]

I have been breaking the latch and re-attaching and i think when he does it during the day he thinks it is sooooooooooo much fun...
You're right - there is a little twinkle in his eye just before he does it...
Will try pushing him into my bub when it looks like he is gonna do it...
Thanks everyone!
Louise
PS Typical - he hasn't done it at all today - he must have known that I was posting this!

[Jodi and her boys]

Good to know it's a phase and good to know that they usually stop before teeth!!! Yikes!

[daisymelan]

I think a lot of us have been down that road.  I remember it ending, just as quickly as it began.