I'm worried about DD's first tooth...

[@llli*sugarfoot289]

DD3 is 6 months now and we found her first tooth has broken throuh today. It's just barely broken through at the moment. But I know more are coming I'm very worried about it. How do you handle biting and anything else that comes with their teeth and EBF?!?!? Any and all comments, advice, and opinions welcome!!! I want to fill my mind with options so I'm ready if/when she starts chewing on me...

Thanks!

[@llli*phi]

Not all babies bite, so I woudn't freak out just yet.

When my son bit me, I removed him from the breast and as calmly as possible said "ouch, biting hurts" and made a sad face. I would put him down and let him cry for maybe 10-20 seconds (as long as I could stand it), then return him to the breast. It only took a couple times doing this for him to get the picture.

He did get subconsciously bitey during one bout of teething. He would bite down as he was drifting off to sleep. That time the only thing I could do until the tooth broke through was remove him from the breast as soon as he stopped actively sucking. You can also try giving a cold wash cloth or teething ring to chew on before nursing if you experience teething related biting.

[@llli*mommal]

What Phi said. When a baby is properly latched on, he'd have to bite his own tongue in order to bite you, which is why many babies never bite.

[@llli*mark500]

It happens sometimes that baby bite you at the time of his first teeth. I also support the idea of Phi and I prefer to try nursing him “uphill”. My wife feels lucky as our baby never bite her.

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

If/when she bites, you just insert a finger in her mouth to break the latch and remove her from the breast. With my son, he did bite a little when his first teeth came in, but I would just remark "ouch! biting hurts Mommy" and remove him from the breast (trying not to scream or overreact). It lasted a couple of days and maybe happened 10 times in total, then he stopped doing it. I don't know if it's just that his teeth came in enough that they weren't bothering him anymore or if he actually learned that I don't like it when he bites but either way he doesn't do it now. He never broke the skin or injured me even though it hurt. I don't think it's that big of a deal and wouldn't get too worked up about it since it may never even happen.

[@llli*rakoonz]

this is what we do, too. If he bites I say "no, ouch" and give him a teething ring. Each time teeth are cutting, we go through it again once or twice, but he I think he's really in pain and isn't doing it deliberately, still no skin gets broken. Honestly, the cracks I had from the early days from bad latch but no teeth were a thousand million times worse than any biting happening now with bottom and top pairs.

[@llli*lllmeg]

MY oldest had his two bottom front two teeth fully in by 4 months. Never bit me or chewed on me. He clamped sometimes when falling asleep, but that hurt even before any teeth. Remember these are called "milk teeth" for a reason, ie, it is entirely normal for a baby who still needs to be breastfeeding to have teeth, and in fact a baby who is nursing is not typically engaging their teeth at all. Kellymom has a good article about biting should it happen but no reason to think it will or that it will be more than a short term thing. Lots of folks nurse older kids with full heads of teeth just fine!