Biting at the Breast: Resource Roundup - La Leche League USA (2024)

Some nursing dyads may experience an uncomfortable challenge in breastfeeding – biting while nursing. We hope the tips below from La Leche League resources and the New Beginnings community will help you feel prepared with strategies to prevent biting or correct the behavior if your nursling decides to try out their teeth while at the breast.

For support in addressing biting, nursing manners, and gentle discipline for your personal human milk feeding experience, please reach out to a La Leche League USA Leader near you or find support virtually. You can find a Group near you or meetings online here.

Biting at the Breast: Resource Roundup - La Leche League USA (1)The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (8th edition) has a great section on handling biting at the breast that may be helpful (pages 180-181).

Many babies never ever bite, while some bite once or twice and a few go through a true biting phase. When a baby clamps, teeth or no teeth, she always gets her tongue out of the way first, or she’d bite herself. She can’t suck and bite at the same time, so as long as she’s actively nursing, you’re safe. … Sometimes you’ll find your baby gradually clamping more over time, maybe even biting, for a surprising reason: if you’re holding her in a way that doesn’t accommodate her growing body…. Other reasons for biting can include teething, earaches, a stuffy nose, allergies, and The Great Unknown. Remember that babies don’t have a clue that their clamping or biting hurts you, so be gentle and consider these tactics:

  • Take him off as soon as he bites, and set him down gently, breaking all physical contact. Then pick him up again and offer to nurse. This sends the message that the nursing has ended because of the biting; you will start a new nursing now.
  • If he tends to bite at the start, try a little nipple fiddling of your own or a breast compression to hasten that first milk release to start him swallowing.
  • Remember that he can’t bite if his tongue is in the way. If you feel his tongue shift, either take him off or just say his name. Sometimes the momentary distraction makes him forget he had biting in mind, and the moment passes.
  • Pull him in closer, which makes it harder for him to breathe and makes him let go.
  • If he tends to bite at the end, just stop a little sooner for a while, or switch sides. Or keep a finger positioned right by the corner of his mouth, ready to slip in between his gums.

Biting is almost never a cause for weaning and rarely involves skin damage. Call a La Leche League Leader if biting becomes a problem.”

In a past post on New Beginnings, Nancy P. shared some great solutions that she discovered worked with her own child who was biting at the breast.

“My ten-month-old son, Perry, has at times felt the urge to bite down when his gums became tingly during nursing. Perry was most likely to bite when he was very close to sleep after nursing for several minutes. At first I tried the commonly used method of saying “no” sternly when he bit, but I found that I ended up with a crying baby who was no longer drifting peacefully into sleep. Then I came up with a new idea. When I felt his jaws begin to clamp down, I very quietly said his name. The biting stopped as he paused to listen. When he didn’t hear his name repeated, he resumed nursing without biting.” You can read more of her story here.

On the New Beginnings Facebook page, readers have shared their own hints and experiences with biting while nursing. We’ve compiled a few of them below.

Selena B. explained: “I had an extremely persistent biter. Ending the nursing session when he bit me was the only thing that worked, but it took months to work through it. “

Roberta N. commented that her child didn’t bite, but she had a tip that worked to prevent clamping down on the breast. “As a two year old, my daughter would fall asleep at the breast, and if I did not remove her immediately, I would have to pull “mimi” (our word for breast) through clenched teeth. That happened only twice!” Watching for your child’s cues can be really helpful in preventing a bite.

Jeannie W. reported that while she was nursing her three children, she found an approach that worked for her. “I would say ‘Ouchie’ and remove them from the breast. If they indicated they still wanted to nurse (sometimes they didn’t), I would put them back to the breast. If they bit again, we would repeat the process and wait a longer period of time before trying again. It never became an issue though!”

More resources on biting at the breast and teething:

Editor’s note: Did you enjoy this article? We are hoping to include more Resource Roundup content to the blog in the future, compiling tips from our Facebook page, excerpts from LLL books, and connections to related stories from New Beginnings past. If you have a topic you’d like to see covered during this series, please let us know.

Share your stories with Kylie at [emailprotected]

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