We have a tooth! Now what?

[dvansmom]

Donovan got his first tooth tonight. I am so excited but nervous about the nursing. I am scared he will bite. What did all of you experience when your LO got their teeth?

[dorfmama]

He can't bite while he is actually nursing. If he does bite, sternly tell him no and remove him from the breast. If he does it again, tell him no and end the nursing session. He'll learn not to bite. Under no circumstances should you laugh, over-react (although you'll want to - it hurts!) or anything like that. My children all had teeth around 4 months, and I nursed 3 of the 4 for at least a year (12 months, 14 months, 15 months). By that time, they had all their teeth, and we never had a biting problem.

Good luck, and congratulations on the 1st tooth!

[quietdusk]

I'm curious about this, too. DD is 7 mos and has no teeth yet, so I'm sure she'll get one any day now.

[Riverdavidsmama]

My son is 21 mos and has never bitten me. When they're nursing correctly (tongue over lower teeth) they can't bite you without also biting their own tongue. I just never let him "play around" when he nursed. He had teething toys for chewing and mommy for nursing.
Seriously, your worries are unfounded. When people ask if he ever bites me (he has a full mouth of teeth now) I just laugh. It seems like such a silly question.

[naivete]

I don't think it's that silly? My DH has bitten me quite a few times. I don't let him "play" either, but once in a while when he was done nursing he'd take a quick nip, probably because the pressure made his tooth feel better, it took a week to stop the behavior, but during that week it was hard.

When he bites, just say no gently but firmly, and stop the nursing session. It might take a few tries but they'll catch on.

(My DS actually bit me tonight because he was falling asleep and was doing some weird head shakey thing to try to stop himself from falling asleep.)

It feels like a quick pinch, I've never bled from it, and you can usually stop it the second they start biting down.

[mamacake]

DD actually "bit" a lot more before she had teeth- she'd clamp down with her gums and try to look around a bit. When she got teeth she was older and she had better head control so she'd turn off the breast totally if she wanted to look around. Very occasionally her little teeth will get in the way now- like if i'm in a weird position or i move when she's nursing- and that hurts! but she's never really bitten down.

[lulusmom]

Dd has seven teeth now and did bite me when she first got them in. I worked really hard to curb that behavior before she got bottom teeth (she only had the first top two for a while) and since learning that biting means no more nursies she hasn't bit since. That was about 4 months ago.

[3rockstars]

Grace got teeth about 2 weeks ago(she's 7 months) and she's nipped a few times. And my middle daughter nursed until 21 months with a mouth full of teeth. The key is just to be consistent with it. Whenever they clamp down or bite, put your pinky in there to open their jaws(just like you would unlatch them but there's no suction since they can't effectively latch and nurse with their tongue behind their teeth like that) and end the nursing session. I used to tell Sara, "ouch, that hurts mama. no nack when you are hurting mama." It took about a week to get it inot her head that it was no acceptable. When she was slightly older(like around a year) she tried it again when she was teething and I handed her a frozen teether and ended the nursing session with the same words. It took 3 tries and it was done. It just becomes another blip in the road. My in-laws tried laughing at my committment to nursing saying that once she got teeth I wouldn't be so committed. Jokes on them since I nursed her until almost 2 and a mouth full of teeth.

[DKennedy]

Originally Posted by faerybugmady Grace got teeth about 2 weeks ago(she's 7 months) and she's nipped a few times. And my middle daughter nursed until 21 months with a mouth full of teeth. The key is just to be consistent with it. Whenever they clamp down or bite, put your pinky in there to open their jaws(just like you would unlatch them but there's no suction since they can't effectively latch and nurse with their tongue behind their teeth like that) and end the nursing session. I used to tell Sara, "ouch, that hurts mama. no nack when you are hurting mama." It took about a week to get it inot her head that it was no acceptable. When she was slightly older(like around a year) she tried it again when she was teething and I handed her a frozen teether and ended the nursing session with the same words. It took 3 tries and it was done. It just becomes another blip in the road. My in-laws tried laughing at my committment to nursing saying that once she got teeth I wouldn't be so committed. Jokes on them since I nursed her until almost 2 and a mouth full of teeth.

you betcha!! the OP got wonderful advice. You absolutely do not have to give up nursing when you LO has teeth. I nursed DD#2 until 22 months ... she nipped me a few times, but quickly learned that biting meant no milk.

[ShyDaisi]

Originally Posted by mamacake DD actually "bit" a lot more before she had teeth- she'd clamp down with her gums and try to look around a bit. When she got teeth she was older and she had better head control so she'd turn off the breast totally if she wanted to look around. Very occasionally her little teeth will get in the way now- like if i'm in a weird position or i move when she's nursing- and that hurts! but she's never really bitten down.

Micah has nipped me a few times, but mostly before he even got t
eeth. I just immediately ended the nursing session -- he got the point really quickly.

A couple of times (before he had teeth) I don't even think he meant to, he was falling asleep and his gums were bothering him and he bit down several times in succession. I removed my nipple from his mouth, said "No biting!", he would cry for a moment, and then I would offer again. Normally I would not offer for several minutes, but as he was half asleep when he did it, I don't think it was intentional at all.

Originally Posted by faerybugmady My in-laws tried laughing at my committment to nursing saying that once she got teeth I wouldn't be so committed. Jokes on them since I nursed her until almost 2 and a mouth full of teeth.

My roommate told me that I would not nurse beyond teeth. It actually got to the point that I asked him to NOT say anything about it anymore. He could think it, but that the negative remarks about something that hadn't even occured yet were uncalled for. Of course, once Micah had teeth, I had to get in an "I told you so!" In his defense, his ex told him that she could no longer nurse once their daughter got teeth -- basically that it wasn't possible. Which made me wonder what mamas did post-teeth pre-formula... But, we are at 16 months showing no signs of weaning.