He bit me!

[mommytsa]

My DS is 5 mo and has just cut his second tooth.  Today he bit me three times.  The first two times, I was taking a bath with him, and he was just rolling around and playing on me (mommy island).  He just looked up, bobbed onto my nipple and bit down, first on one side, then about 3 min later on the other side.  Now honestly, those I really didn't mind too much, as I can tell that he was just sort of goffing around and not trying to actually eat or anything.  But then this evening, as I was doing his clusterfeed an hour before bed, he did it again.  It's like he's trying to say "I don't want this!"  I waited about 15 minutes and then he ate without biting, but I don't know what to do. 

Do I get really uptight about only feeding him every 4 hours to make sure he's really hungry so he doesn't bite me?  How do I react when he does bite?  Can he be taught now that he's not supposed to bite?   What I did tonight is said "ouch. No." in a firm voice, then "put away" the boob and let him play on the floor for a few minutes, then tried again later.  Is this what I should be doing?

I'm so upset by this.  I said from the get-go that I would breastfeed until he started biting me and it became really painful and stressful.  I really don't want to stop (I never thought I"d enjoy it this much, but I really don't want to give it up) but I also don't want to end up in tears every time I try to feed him, which is what I did while he was playing on the floor.  Please Help!

[LindseysMom]

I sounds like what you are doing is the right thing to do.  Hopefully he will get the message that biting means no milk.  Also, if he is slowing down on his sucking or just comfort sucking you can switch sides or end the feeding if you know for sure he is done before he bites you.

[mommytsa]

Lynne, Thanks for the quick response.  I really appreciate the reassurance.  I hope he proves to be a quick learner!  Any other suggestions anyone has would be great!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Teething tends to be a bad time for biting, I think!  I found it helped to do pretty much what you did - unlatch her and say firmly "no biting".  If you need to get him off quick, try pulling him TOWARDS your breast (with his face squished into you, he'll be more likely to open his mouth and release you to breathe!). Lynne's also right that if he's slowing down in his feeding, he'll be more likely to chomp, so just pay attention.  I found it worked pretty well with my dd (although she still occasionally will bite) - and I don't always stick to the strict 4 hr (I tend to feed more on cue).

[mommytsa]

Erin-Thanks for the tip about pulling him to me.  I never would have thoguht of that, and that's probably why it hurt so much when he did it last night, I tugged him away from me, and it sure felt like he wanted to take a chunk of nipple with him.  I will definitely be trying that next time. Thanks for all your help!