Your baby will develop his own breastfeeding habits that may create problems for you. Here's how to handle these issues.

Breast Favoritism

Most babies will prefer one breast to the other. It may be because of the way you support the baby with your stronger arm, the fact that one breast produces more milk, or that the baby simply prefers to lie on one side instead of the other. To avoid having the less-desired breast go completely into retirement (and make you look lopsided for the duration of breastfeeding), start each feeding with the breast that is out of favor. Your baby may be less likely to be picky when he's really hungry.

Rejection

You can feel pretty insulted when your baby pulls off and cries after nursing for a few minutes and refuses to latch on again. The key to ending rejection is finding the cause. The most common source of rejection is a flood of milk — too much for your baby to handle. If you suspect this is the problem, express or pump a little milk before you nurse. If that doesn't fix it, your baby may be teething, have a cold or earache, hate your new deodorant, or have found that something you ate changed the taste of the milk. It may be as simple as the weather — on a hot day your baby may not want to snuggle against your warm body — or a developmental spurt — your baby suddenly has noticed the world around him. If you can't figure out the cause, hang in there; hunger will eventually prevail. In the meantime, pump so that you maintain your milk supply.

Biting

Most breastfeeding moms get bitten at least once when the first teeth come in. They typically let out a yell, startle their baby into tears, and then feel horrible about scaring their child. The baby, however, doesn't try that again for quite a while. If you have a biter, use your finger to take the baby off of your breast, say “No” distinctly and calmly, and hold him off for a few seconds before letting him suck again. This usually works after a few bites.