5 reasons why your baby is biting your nipple and how to stop them

A baby biting nipple – have you experienced it? Experiencing this may shock you if you are a first time mom. Every mom has struggled with being bitten by their babies while breastfeeding. 

Do you know that there are several reasons why your baby is biting your nipple while you are feeding them? Aside from this, there are also various ways how to stop your baby from biting your nipple. Let us discuss that in this article!

Reasons why your baby is biting your nipple

There is a variety of reasons why your baby is biting your nipple as you nurse them. At times, your baby is biting your nipple for more than one reason. Determining the reason why your baby is biting your nipple helps you know what steps to do to avoid it from happening again.

Here are some of the possible reasons why your baby is doing that:

1. Teething

Baby biting nipple while breastfeeding is common during the teething phase of your little one. Your baby might bite down while being breastfed to ease the discomfort of sensitive gums during the teething stage.

When your baby’s teeth start to grow on their delicate gums, biting your nipple may feel like a relief for them. Nipple biting for a baby while teething has the same relief effects as biting mouth toys and other objects. 

2. Boredom

Biting your nipple is also your baby’s way of easing boredom while being breastfed. In addition, a baby who is distracted while being breastfed may also bite a nipple. 

3. Poor Latch

Your baby may also bite your nipple to get your attention especially when you are doing other things while nursing them. Aside from this, if they feel uncomfortable as you latch them, they might bite your nipple as well. Poor latch affects milk flow and pain levels during breastfeeding. 

4. Milk flow

A baby may bite the mom’s nipple to give her a signal about her milk flow. Frustration from waiting for milk to let down due to slow milk flow may result in the baby biting the nipple. On the other hand, when a baby gets overwhelmed by a fast milk flow they may also bite the nipple to give a signal to their mom. 

5. Sickness

Baby might bite your nipple if they feel unwell. A common cold or an ear infection may result in difficulty in swallowing and sucking correctly. 

What you should do if your baby bites your nipple

• Avoid yelling

Refrain from screaming or yelling when your baby bites your nipple. It may be normal as a first instinct but it is not helpful. When you yell or scream at your baby, they may feel frightened and bite your nipple deeper. It is best to take a deep breath and remain calm as you tell your baby that what they did hurts you. 

• Gently break the latch

Break the latch gently and remove your baby from your breast. To avoid damaging your nipple as you remove it from your baby’s mouth, put a finger in the corner of your baby’s mouth to allow your baby to detach from your breast.

Aside from that, you can also pull your baby closer to you, gently and quickly press their face into your breast to prompt them to unlatch. 

Afterward, take a short break from nursing. This may help you teach your baby that biting your nipple is not okay. Your little one may learn that biting your nipple does not give them their desired attention. 

• Give them alternatives

Provide your baby with a teething toy or a wet washcloth if the reason why they bite your nipple is teething. Teach them not to use your breast as a teether by offering them a teething toy to soothe their painful gums. 

Tips on how to stop your baby from nipple biting

How to stop baby biting nipple? It’s important to know first the reason why your baby is biting your nipple to prevent them from doing it over and over again. Observe what happened before your baby bites your nipple to anticipate why they did such action.

Here are some things you can do to stop your baby from nipple biting:

• Observe your milk flow. Express some milk into a bottle or on your palm before nursing your baby, if your breasts are too engorged.
• Massage your breast tissue if you have a slow milk flow. This may help you get the milk flowing properly.
• Offer your other breast or switch sides when you feel that the milk from the other has drained.
• Engage with your baby. Keep eye contact with your baby or your toddler to let them know you are paying them attention. It may prevent your baby from biting your nipple due to attention seeking and boredom.
• Use teething toys or wet washcloths as teethers. Having teething toys on hand helps your baby learn that your breasts are not an option to ease their teething pain.
• If you are feeding your baby using a bottle, make sure to never allow them to bite or chew the nipple bottle. This may help them detach the idea of feeding to biting.
• Be mindful of how you latch your baby. The quality of latch affects the flow of milk and the comfort of your baby as they breastfeed. The poor latch may lead to the baby biting nipple.

Remember to observe your baby’s behavior and mood while you nurse them. Watching them and being mindful of how they react to breastfeeding may help you find out why your baby is biting your nipple. Determining the reason or reasons helps you find a better solution to stop them from doing it again.

What you should do when your nipple is damaged

Nipple biting can cause damage to your nipple. A damaged nipple is painful and needs to be treated right away.

Here are some ways to treat your nipple:

1. Apply nipple cream to your abrasion or cut. Nipple creams have a moist wound healing effect that may help cure your damaged nipple.
2. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever if your nipple wound continues to become too painful. Consult your doctor first before buying an OTC pain reliever. Make sure you are taking a pain reliever that is safe to take when nursing.
3. Apply a cold compress to your damaged nipple. This may help as pain relief.
4. Saline rinses. Wash your damaged nipple with salt and water. This is a natural way of healing your nipple damaged by your baby’s bite.
5. Breastfeed your baby with your undamaged breast. Avoid nursing them with the damaged side until it heals.
6. Express your milk gently from your damaged nipple to avoid breast engorgement as you take a break from nursing your baby on that side.
7. Use a breastmilk pump to continue producing milk for your baby if you need to stop breastfeeding on both breasts for a while. This may help you maintain your milk supply as you heal. Just remember to pump gently to avoid causing more pain to your damaged nipple or nipples.

Here at theAsianparent Philippines, it’s important for us to give information that is correct, significant, and timely. But this doesn’t serve as an alternative for medical advise or medical treatment. theAsianparent Philippines is not responsible to those that would choose to drink medicines based on information from our website. If you have any doubts, we recommend to consult your doctor for clearer information.