Jaws – ie: My Biting Baby
By Bronwyn in 
A lot of people have a fear of sharks. In reality, there aren’t many people who are bitten by sharks; approximately 30 per year. The sharp toothed creature we shouldbe fearing is lurking closer than we think! Oh yes, it’s dangerous, you’ll shriek at the pain…it’s the BITING BABY!
Now, I personally was in denial. I thought, great- he’s getting teeth; that and a few wakeful nights, was as much as I thought about it. Then it happened- he bit me. I shrieked, he cried. It was not pretty. I thought I was bleeding to death. I was not amused at my husband’s reaction that it wasn’t bleeding that much- I didn’t care how much it was bleeding and it was my nipple- possibly the most sensitive area on one’s body.
So, what is a mother to do? I hopped onto the Internet, googled what to do when this happens and was not all that satisfied with the results. What I decided to do, as suggested by many sites, was to say a firm “NO BITING” when there was a nibble and for safety sake, I keep my finger close to his mouth to break a “jaws lock” if I need to.
I’m sure you’re wondering if this story has a happy ending? Time will tell but for now there are no further serious injuries. If it’s happening to you, let’s hang in there together and be positive- at least it’s better than being attacked by a shark.
I also had a biting baby! She’s now 15 months and has gone through two biting stages.
). When they bite, what you should do is pull them close so that you block their nose and they have to let go to breathe. Well, that’s in theory, at least. Anyway, what I found did work was a Very firm (some times almost shrieking) “No! Don’t bite! That hurts Mommy!”. They understand the tone, if not the words. And then, most importantly, put them down and walk away. No more feeding at the point. The baby cries as if you’ve just cut her throat. But even if you just walk out the room and back in, they soon learn to associate biting with the “food source” walking out. My baby only bit for about a week before she decided it wasn’t worth having mommy walk out.
The first was probably around 6 months (I don’t remember all that clearly – I’ve blurred out the memory
The second biting stage was a lot more recently, at about a year old. The little wriggler would be so interested in the world around her that she’d latch on, suck, let go, look around, remember she was feeding and latch back on like a suction cup. And often in that latching back on she’d accidentally bite slightly. And because I knew it was accidently, I let it slide. Big mistake! She’d get a surprise at my gasp of pain, look up at me out of the corner of her eye, and very slowly, very deliberately, clamp down! “Look, Mommy, I can get the same reaction out of you again!” Then, of course, I go through the whole putting down process, but it just didn’t seem to work. It took me a while to learn my lesson, but I then decided to shout and put her down after that first accidental bite. And guess what – it worked! I guess that first bite wasn’t that accidental after all…
oooh, I’m going to try that! Amber doesn’t have teeth yet, but she definitely bites! One of her favourite moves at the moment it to try to look around while latched on, then it pulls out a bit so she’s learnt that if the bites it stays in her mouth for longer while she’s viewing the world around her… not as much fun for me, I’m afraid!
Well, what I did worked well. He got the “No biting” pretty quickly. He gave me a shocked looked everytime I said it, as in “whoa, that’s a voice I haven’t heard before” and then we carried on the feed with no further incidents. I haven’t had a bite in a while now. Grrrreat!
You’re right Kerry! A stitch in time…saves a sore nipple!