Her little top teeth are leaving a mark! Slightly ouchy! What to do?

[Shanti]

Hi,

My DD is 10.5mths old and we've been feeding beautifully for months now after a rocky start at the beginning (in the first 3-4mths!)....

DD only just got her two top teeth come through in the last week and just today I felt her little razors slightly digging into the top of my areola whilst feeding and when she was finished, she came off and I had a little dent of where her top teeth had been digging in.....it was slightly tender while she was doing it..... so... my question is, is this a bad attachment or is it just her gripping on extra tight due to her teething and her gums might be sore so she's using me as a teething ring? Sometimes when she's finished feeding she will bite down hard on me and 'gum' me as her gums are sore but I quickly take her off and tell her it's not right to hurt Mummy (and she just laughs ) BUT this is different this is actually while she's taking her milk....The attachment seems fine so i don't think it's that....How can I persuade her away from doing this to me so that my nipple doesn't have a dent in it when she's finished.... (little one but still!)

I am not scared of feeding a bub with teeth as I'm aware many women BF babies successfully with a full mouth of teeth! I just need to know how to get around this little problem so my nipple doesn't get sore or damaged as I went through enough pain in the first 3mths to want to avoid it strongly now!!!

I haven't had this problem with her bottom two teeth... just these top one's

Thanks!

[Kmn]

I don't think she's doing anything different - she just now has some sharper bits so it feels uncomfortable. Make sure she's really well supported so that her head weight isn't bearing down on her teeth (and hence on to you!). And also make sure that you have as much boob in her mouth as humanly possible - that keeps the pointy bits away from the most sensitive areas.

[STARRYSKY]

ahhh, shanti, I remember all too well what that was like!
To be completely honest, I have had the same problem almost every time DS gets a new tooth. It seems like it just takes him a few days to re accustom his mouth and attatchment properly, then it is all fine again. (he now has 11 teeth!)
My nipples got rather grazed, well, it was more like the part that that stretches into their mouth, like his teeth were grating on it owwwwwchies. Lasinoh worked a treat, after every feed.
Hope it gets better soon! x

[Olive]

hun the bottom ones are normally ok because the tongue comes out and over the teeth as they suck. i hope it all settles down again soon!

[Heaven]

That happened to me too Ren. Didn't last too long. I think she just had to get used to feeding with her new teeth and my bbs got used to it too.

[MantaRay]

Generally if you can feel the teeth on your breast, your position isn't quite right. This is pretty common at that age as you usually don't need to pay as much attention to it - until those teeth get you! When it happens, see how you go with pulling her legs in closer to you so that her chin is touching your breast and her top teeth are further away.

As the others said, it shouldn't last long either, but if your skin gets broken, take care that it doesn't get infected.

[kelebek]

ahhh, shanti, I remember all too well what that was like!
To be completely honest, I have had the same problem almost every time DS gets a new tooth. It seems like it just takes him a few days to re accustom his mouth and attatchment properly, then it is all fine again. (he now has 11 teeth!)

:yeahthat: DS was the same everytime he got teeth we would both have to readjust, never lasted more then a few days. I did get the teeth making marks occasionally and I really had to concentrate on how I was holding him as he was getting physically bigger too so it was an adjustment on how I was holding him.

How is it going? has it passed yet

[aussienic]

I have a thread on here on this exact thing. will go see if I can find the link to it as it also contains the solution. It has something to do with azy attachment..

[aussienic]

Just thought I would copy and paste from the other thread to make it easier to read.

# With an older baby, the weight of the baby can cause baby's mouth and teeth to "drag down" on the breast tissue. See if you can position baby so that her weight is supported well. Use pillows or a chair with arm rests to support her as much as you can. When she is nursing on the left side, bring her bottom in a little bit closer and vice versa. Don't let her nurse in a position that lets her weight and gravity cause her mouth to pull down on your breast and nipple. Try moving her body slightly in different ways (higher, lower, side to side, etc.) till the pressure on your breast is lessened.
# Latch baby on and position her head so that it is tilted back more to get the pressure of the top teeth off your breast. For example, if baby is nursing in the cradle position on the left side, bring her body toward the right a bit. This will bring baby's chin up, with her head a bit ****ed back, and that moves the pressure of baby's top teeth off the top of the nipple. Don't let her chin rest on her chest.
# Some other ways to get baby's head tilted back more: ask your child to look at you while she nurses, or hold a book up high to read to your child and have her look at the book.
# When you support your breast with 2-4 fingers underneath and thumb on top, push in against the chest wall with your index finger just before offering the breast. This will cause the nipple and areola to point down more, so that they don't rub against baby's upper teeth. This technique is often suggested for moms who have nipple soreness due to their nipples rubbing up against the roof of baby's mouth.
# Ask baby to open WIDE and show her with your own mouth. Tell her that it hurts mommy and ask her to try again until it feels better.

[Shanti]

Thanks everyone for your replies! We just got back from Fiji last night so only just getting back to BB today!

Her little top teeth have really come down now (and look sooooo cute!!) and they are still leaving a dent on my nipple and pressing in as she feeds but sometimes taking her off and putting her back on really helps.

Thanks Nic for those tips!