Biting and Distraction While Feeding Your Baby - What to Expect

Your baby has plenty of distractions competing for attention while feeding, and possibly a new fondness for biting. Ouch.

Learn more about feeding struggles at WhatToExpect.com: https://www.whattoexpect.com/first-ye...

Download the What to Expect app:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pregn...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

Heidi Murkoff, creator of What to Expect, is here to guide you through every stage of your baby's life. Watch all of our first year videos:    • Your Baby's First Year  

FOLLOW US:
Facebook:   / whattoexpectwhenyoureexpecting  
Twitter:   / whattoexpect  
Pinterest:   / whattoexpect  
Instagram:   / whattoexpect  

Transcript:

Remember when there was nothing your baby would rather do than snuggle in your arms, all warm sticky cheeks and sleepy smiles, feeding like there was no tomorrow? No hurry to go anywhere, do anything, perfectly content with a breast or bottle in that sweet little mouth?
Well, that was then and this is the eighth month, when your baby has other plans besides feeding, big plans, and plenty of distractions competing for attention. Oh, and possibly, a couple of teeth and a newfound fondness for biting, ouch.
There are several reasons why feeding can be a challenge these days, but let's start with biting during breastfeeding. Face it, biting sucks, especially when it's your nipples being gnawed on instead of sucked on. Your junior Jaws doesn't mean to hurt you when she chomps down. In fact, because empathy isn't even on her developmental radar yet, your baby has no clue that she's hurting you.
Those first nibbles might've been by chance. She was trying to find teething comfort or was looking to take a brand-new tooth for a test drive and your breast happened to be handy. Maybe since then, your little nipper has been in it for the entertainment value, noticing that when she bites down, you jump, shriek, or yelp. Too funny.
One of the beauties of breastfeeding a biter is that he can't actually suckle and bite at the same time, and that if he's looking for milk or comfort, he'll have to choose or lose.
To spare your sore nipples in the meantime, nip biting in the bud. When she sinks her teeth into your breast, take her off promptly. Say, no biting. Biting hurts Mommy. Don't engage or you'll encourage an encore from your pint-sized performer slash piranha. No reaction, no satisfaction. No drama from mama, no fun for baby.
Offer a teething toy as a biting substitute for your breast, especially if the biting happens at the beginning of a feed, since it can take the edge off any teething pain and satisfy that compulsion to chew. If your baby barracuda usually starts nipping at the end of a feed, call it quits before the biting begins.
Is it distraction, whether from the breast or the bottle, that's driving baby and you to distraction at feeding time? The truth is active babies are antsy babies and taking time from a full schedule of crawling and climbing, exploring, and discovering to settle down for a scheduled feed can be a major drag.
Does your baby feed for a few moments before pulling away, his fleeting attention diverted by a passing shadow or the dog wagging his tail or just the realization that time spent cooped up in your arms is time not spent banging blocks, yanking pillows off the sofa, or trying to stand in your lap? Try feeding baby attention, too. Chat, sing, make contact, or wear a nursing necklace he can fiddle with as he feeds.
Going back to your baby feeding roots, choose a dimly lit, quiet room to feed in. Play soft music, but power down anything that might take baby's focus off feeding, including the TV and your phone, because when you're diverted, he'll be diverted. Plus, reality check, isn't your baby always trying to get his hands and his mouth on your phone anyway?
Is your baby's attention is still wandering and you sense she'd like to wander too? End the feed and let her loose. Just don't let baby take the bottle to go, a habit that can hurt her brand-new teeth, not to mention, hurt her tummy if she drops her bottle in the toy heap and then, unearths it a few days later. Yuck. Here's to more focused feedings and less painful ones too.