When The Teeth Come In Or What to do when your baby bites your boob

There are many ways to teach a baby not to bite; some more gentle than others, and some more effective than others. The goal should be to send a clear message that the action is not acceptable, while maintaining your connection with your baby; NO to biting, YES to baby. This is what I found worked for me, and many other women have found it helpful.

If you have found something that works well for you, I'd absolutely LOVE to hear about it in the comments!!

You are nursing your little one, all cozy and peaceful and sweetness and love. The difficult first weeks are behind you, and things are going well. The two of you have a groove, some sweet rituals, and you are so grateful. 

Then suddenly the serenity of that perfection is shattered by tiny, razor sharp teeth. Or even more shocking, your toothless baby locks you in the surprisingly strong grip of a their jaw. You let out a yelp, or a scream, or a shocking expletive. Maybe you sit there silent screaming because that precious baby has drifted off to sleep, which for my son, was the ideal time to snap his gums closed. Either way, it's shocking and painful, and you are faced with the horrific realization that you must somehow get your nipple OUT of this death grip without it being bitten off. 

So now what? You can't pull. Don't do it...Or do, you know, because you like to learn things from experience. You will quickly discover that that perfect seal from having the great latch that you struggled so hard to achieve just a few short months ago has suddenly become your worst nightmare. To get baby off, you must break the seal. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to quickly get one finger into you baby's mouth, push it open, and set yourself free. The other way that I found to work much quicker (because every second is precious) and can be less shocking and upsetting to your baby, is to pull their face into your breast quickly so their nose is blocked. Not enough to do damage or suffocate them, just long enough for them to try to take their next breath, find they can't and instead, open their mouth. 

At this point, they will likely look up at you, absolutely shocked and appalled that mommy would dare do such a thing. At this point, look them in the eyes with a serious, and genuinely pained expression on your face, and say, “ow, that hurt mommy, ow.” I found it helped if I gently touched the baby’s teeth/gums at this point, so they understood what I meant. 

Once you have clearly communicated this message, simply resume breastfeeding if your baby wants to. Do this consistently, every time. The message is as clear as it can be. 

Remember that they are not actually trying to hurt you. If you yell at them (and unfortunately, many mothers have found that even their initial expression of pain and surprise is enough) or sound angry, or reject them by putting them down and walking away, you are more likely to earn a nursing strike than anything else. If you have never had a breastfed baby go on strike, I will tell you it is absolutely awful. If this happens, please consult an International Lactation Board Certified Consultant; you can find one here. Do not just feed bottles and hope it resolves itself. Try to feed while baby is sleeping, and strip down and do skin to skin 24/7 until baby is nursing again, but do NOT force baby back on the boob. You can't, and it will only create more confusion and aversion. Another possible result of this type of big reaction is your little one thinks its a game. Also not the result you want! 

If you have found other gentle ways to teach your baby not to bite and other not-so-fun things, please share in the comments!

Alice

"How you treat the child, the child will treat the world."