How to Stop Your Baby From Biting While Breastfeeding

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By Joy Jeffers
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Are you new to breast feeding and terrified about your baby' s teeth coming in? Fear not, as a mother of three breast-fed children, I can assure you that you can keep on breast feeding your precious baby even after the teeth appear!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Just you and your baby, and maybe some privacy.

Step 1

Let the baby latch on and breast feed as you usually do.
Step 2

IF your baby bites you or otherwise hurts you, simply slide your finger between your breast and the baby's mouth to break the suction.
Step 3

Stop breast feeding and look your baby in his or her sweet little eyes and say "No, that hurts mommy".
You don't have to yell, or get angry. Your baby is most likely oblivious to the fact that they caused you pain. The fact that they are no longer being fed is enough to let them know that they did something wrong.
Take a moment to breathe and relax.
Step 4

After a few moments, when you are ready to start again. Look at your baby and say something like "Okay, we will try this again, try not to hurt mommy.".
Step 5

If/when it happens again, simply repeat the process. Your baby should figure it out after the second or third time. They will not want to hurt you if it means they have to stop eating.

Tips & Warnings

Be sure to break the suction and react AS SOON AS THEY BITE. The sooner you let them know what they did to cause the reaction, the faster they will learn what NOT to do.
Don't just assume that feeding a baby with teeth will hurt. Often, the anxiety is much worse than the experience. It actually feels no different than before they had teeth, as long as they don't bite.
If you over-dramatize the situation, it could become like an attention getting game to the baby, and you could actually be encouraging the baby to bite. Keep the interaction clean and simple.