Having coped with the difficulties at the initial stage of feeding, some mothers soon again face the problem - the baby bites her chest. Why is he doing this? Usually, children bite their breasts during the period when their teeth erupt. So the kids are trying to alleviate the itching of the gums. From around the age of three months, babies begin to play with their mother’s breasts, developing new skills. Naturally, the question arises in mothers - how to wean the baby from biting during feeding, while maintaining breastfeeding?
Why the baby bites the nipple when feeding - reasons
Small children, whose teeth have not yet erupted, can bite the nipple while feeding, squeezing it with gums. Psychologists say that kids learn about the world around them and show curiosity. They are wondering what will happen if they carefully press their mother’s breasts - will they be taken away or not? Such interest is closely related to the psychoemotional development of the child.
Children from the age of three months can bite the nipple, even if they are hungry. So they play with the chest. During the game, the kids look at their mother, smile at her, while biting her nipple and moving him from side to side. These actions help your child learn new skills. He masters the movements of the lips and tongue. If your child behaves this way, be sure - he is just having fun. Do not worry that your milk is tasteless or small.
What should mom do so that the baby does not bite?
You need to show the crumbs that you do not like this behavior. This can be done by briefly taking off the chest. In this case, you need to make a strict face and calmly, but seriously say: “It is impossible! Mom is hurt because of a bite, so Dima (Yan )’s milk will no longer receive. ” Despite the dissatisfaction of the crumbs, try not to give him breasts for at least 10-15 minutes. So repeat every time. After a while (two to three times), the child will understand what happens after he bites his mother’s chest: the mother is unhappy, the chest is inaccessible. Peanut both of these options do not suit, so he will try not to bite you anymore! It happens that the nipple is bitten to blood. In this case, you can not give a sick chest to the child until the blood coagulates and turns into a scratch (otherwise the baby swallows your blood, which is bad).
Teething erupts
Children who have teethinghave pain. They constantly nibble something, trying to get rid of unpleasant sensations. Mother's breasts can be used for this purpose.And the baby’s cutting teeth are as sharp as knives! And the jaws are so strong! The little teeth are cut, and needless to say, the child wants to understand why this something appeared in his mouth. Therefore, the baby during this period bites everything. Only mom doesn’t feel any better.
How to proceed?
If the baby has swollen gums, give him a special one before feeding teething toy. It can be bought at any pharmacy. Let the baby scratch his gums as much as he needs. After that, offer him a chest. It is advisable to interrupt the feeding several times so that the baby can again use the teether. When another tooth climbs, lubricate the child with sore gums with a special analgesic gelbefore you start to feed.
Do not breathe nose
When the baby has a stuffy nose, it feels uncomfortable when sucking. At the same time, he can direct his displeasure to the mother’s breast, because, being in the mouth, it prevents him from breathing. One way to fix something or show that he is uncomfortable is to bite his mother by the nipple.
How to help a child?
If a baby suffers from a runny nose, clean its nasal passages before feeding. aspiratorby removing the selection. Put it to your chest vertically, in this position the crumb will be easier to breathe.
Incorrectly applied to the chest
If, during breastfeeding, the mother is distracted by something else - talking on a mobile phone or watching TV, the baby may crawl away from the correct grip of the chest. In this case, the mother’s nipple is no longer deep in the baby’s mouth. The baby will certainly let mom know that it became uncomfortable for him to eat.
What to do?
You can correct the situation if you constantly monitor how the baby took his chest. That's right, when the baby's lips capture the areola around the nipple, while the tongue lies on the lower jaw, protruding slightly forward.
We also read: How to properly attach the baby to the chest
Baby doesn’t want to eat
If the baby is already full and no longer wants to suckle, he can just play with it. According to some mothers, their children begin to bite the nipple when the milk in the chest is over. Sometimes a child does this when he falls asleep or, carried away by something, turns his head to the side.
Also, the child may bite his chest due to lack of milk, the baby has a desire to experiment with her mother’s reaction and attract attention, due to the constant use of rubber soothers and nipples.
How to react to mother when the baby bites her breasts?
If the baby first bit the mother’s nipple, he does not understand what he did. However, mom at this moment feels pain. Her natural reaction is to cry out or sharply pull the nipple out of the child’s mouth, she can scream at the child and scold him (it’s useless, he’s not guilty and didn’t specifically bite you). Although it’s quite difficult to restrain oneself, but this behavior when biting a child’s chest should not be allowed in any case. Hearing the mother’s cry, the baby can be very frightened, and then completely refuse to breast. It is also impossible to remove the nipple from the baby’s mouth sharply, such a movement can easily injure the skin even more than with a bite. If the baby squeezed the nipple with his teeth, you need to try to free the chest as soon as possible.
How to free a breast if a child bites it?
- In no case do not stretch the nipple - the risk is even greater to damage the skin, especially if the child already has several teeth;
- Press the baby so that he buried his nose in his chest. In this position, it is difficult for the child to breathe and even bite his chest. To take a breath, he will have to open his mouth. Some mothers prefer to gently pinch the nose of the baby so that he opens his mouth and releases the nipple. Although to me personally (Razakhatskaya Natalya) the method with the little finger seems less stressful;
- Very carefully insert the little finger into the corner of the child’s mouth, slowly open its jaws. Without removing your finger, release the chest;
- Lightly press the thumb on the chin of the baby. When he opens his mouth, pull out the nipple.
How to wean a baby to bite while breastfeeding
In order to suppress all attempts of a child to bite while feeding, mom needs to show him - you can’t play with breasts. Try some of the tricks described below.
The child is most afraid of being left without her mother’s chest. This fact must be used to stop all attempts to bite the nipple when sucking. If the baby has bitten you, take his chest from him, look strictly into his eyes, calmly say the word “no” or “no”. The child may not understand the lesson the first time, but if this happens again and again, he will remember the actions repeated by his mother - if he bites, he loses his chest.
When the baby, despite your “no”, continues to play with the nipple, biting it again and again, take away his breasts and lay him on the bed. Having lost her breasts for several minutes, the baby will realize that her mother did not like his behavior.
If he asks for the breast again, apply again. Bites - put off, explain and leave the room. This must also be done calmly, without strong emotions. Thus, we show that we do not want to communicate when the child behaves this way. In a minute we come back, we calm, we offer a breast. If you start to cry a lot, you can immediately go in, take it in your hands, calm down, but nevertheless do it without a feeling of guilt, with inner confidence that you are right.
But be prepared for the fact that in a few days the child will want to once again verify the seriousness of your intentions. I will have to try to remember and repeat the exact same reaction so that the child becomes bored of experimenting in this direction 🙂
For children from a year who are already aware that they hurt mom by biting her chest, a praise-based technique is suitable. After each feeding, which was done without bites, show the baby that you are happy - hug, kiss and praise him for his good behavior.
Often, simultaneously with episodes of biting the breast, the baby begins to fumble on the second breast during feeding, as well as pinching mom, pulling her nose, hair and other places, wherever he can reach. These additional movements of the child are unpleasant for the mother, so they can and should be fought with. If you do not stop such manifestations in time, you can reach absurd situations. At one of the forums devoted to this issue, I read that some baby would only eat breasts if he was allowed to roll a small car over his mother’s body during feeding. I can imagine how “comfortable” my mother felt at the same time ... And it’s immediately clear who dictates the rules in this family. Who comes out the winner in a conflict of interest. Who, after all, is the leader of the pack.
In another family I knew, a girl was used to falling asleep, fingering her mother’s elbow. Breastfeeding is long over, and the elbow is still here. To fall asleep, the child needs to tug on someone's elbow. In my opinion, this is an already formed “bad habit” such as sucking a finger or biting nails. As you know, it is very difficult for children to get rid of these habits, so it is much better to prevent their appearance.
The reaction to unwanted actions of the child should not be as emotionally vivid as with a bite (after all, it doesn’t hurt you, so you shouldn’t exaggerate). But the method of weaning from these habits is similar: we remove the breast and explain why. Another way (helped me) is to hold the baby by the hand while feeding. Let her fingers gently pull, it will help calm down. In any case, do not try to follow your child’s lead, yet you still manage it, and not him.
Watch your baby when feeding him. If he is already full or begins to fall asleep, remove the chest. So you can prevent unnecessary bites. Over time, the baby will understand that this part of the mother’s body is not intended for games. Just be patient, you will succeed!
We also read:
Video consultation: What to do if a baby bites a breast?
Neoberdina Svetlana Nikolaevna, specialist in breastfeeding. Work experience as a consultant on GV for 10 years. Talks about biting a breast about while feeding:
[sc name = ”rsa”]
Video consultation number 2
The baby bites the breast (nipple) while feeding. What are the reasons for biting a child? Will a child necessarily bite a breast if his teeth are cut? How to eliminate the causes of biting a baby's nipple? How to wean a baby to bite a breast while feeding. What to do with a nipple injury?
My sister’s baby was biting when her teeth began to grow, and this is the time when you can naturally and gradually stop feeding. I bit it several times before the blood, so I was not talking about any breastfeeding that day.
In my case, it was possible to gradually wean the baby from biting his chest, distracting him while feeding some toy. He was distracted and forgot what to bite. Sometimes she took her breasts.