At some stage or another, most breastfeeding babies will bite. And it hurts. Old wisdom was to bite the child back, to teach them that biting hurts, however as infants, babies can’t distinguish between what is person, and what is chew toy.

So biting back a baby, and  causing them pain, is quite cruel, and ineffective.

Some tips for managing biting:

• When your baby bites, yelp, and gently detach them from the breast. Explain that mummys aren’t for biting, and ask them to nurse gently. (Detaching them, is enough usually to interrupt the pattern)
• Offer something cool and nice for them to chew on when they’re not feeding, like a cool flannel, or teething toy.
• Learn what preempts biting, and gently suggest they “nurse gently” before they bite. If they begin to chomp down, gently detach, and verbalise that mummys aren’t for biting.

Understanding why your baby bites might help you preempt the biting too. Some babies bite at the end of the breastfeed, when the milk is mostly gone, and they’re just playing on the breast. When you notice their suck to swallow ratio getting to more sucks to swallows, they’re getting towards the end of the feed.  Watch to see if his attachment changes, and gently detach before he bites.

Some babies bite when they’re teething- and this is very normal. Offering a substiute teething toy (to your breast) after a bite, or a near bite, with gentle explanation that “Toys are for biting”  will help  - it will take patience though.

KellyMom.com has some great tips on managing your baby’s biting here