Biting

krrpe99

My LO loves biting all things and has for months now. Tonight was something new though. She kept trying to get into something she wasn't supposed to. I was blocking her with my arm. Out of frustration, she grabbed my arm and tried to chomp down. Has anyone had this pop up yet? What do you do to discourage this?

Cricket99

We had a biting problem for 2-3 months while LO was teething. It went away on its own, but dang was it frustrating. At first I was flicking his mouth every time he bit and saying, "no, ouch, that hurts mommy!" With an angry face. He kept biting and eventually bit me while nursing, more than once. when he started that I would put him in his crib and leave the room for 5 minutes so he got the idea that that wasn't ok. Unfortunately that didn't work for long. To get the biting to stop for good, I had to bite him back every time he bit me. Not hard enough to hurt him or leave marks, just hard enough to get his attention and hurt his feelings. Worked like a champ. I only had to bit him 3 times and the biting mommy problem was solved. Can't say anything for the furniture or anything else though. That's all chewed up.

fishee333

I'm a child therapist and here's how I teach parents about limit setting with kids:

1. Acknowledge their feelings/wants. (You are mad! / You really want to play with that)
2. Communicate the boundary (My arm is not for biting / My shoe is not for licking / I am not for hitting / etc)
3. Give a good option they can do instead (You can bite this chew toy / You can hit this pillow instead/ etc

It's easier said than done, but if you are consistent with this method, it works wonders. Remember to stay calm too! If you are upset then your kid is getting attention for the behavior which just reinforces it. I do not think you should bite back - that shows them biting is ok. 

Cricket99

I should clarify that I only bit back when he bit me while nursing. He actually caused a significant amount of damage (severe bruising and bleeding). It only took 3 times while nursing. I definitely wouldn't use this method for biting any other time, and not when they are frustrated as it would teach the them that biting is ok when they are frustrated. 

If he was trying to bite other things I would put something else in his mouth after he tried to bite me. That worked well and still works now. 

Mamabeagle

You can also make the situation end, like when bit say We don't bite mommy and place LO elsewhere. 

Biting is very normal developmentally so please don't worry. In my sons daycare,of the three boys born in January, one bites, one headbutts, and the third pinches. It's all correctable behavior. 

krrpe99

Thanks y'all. I know it's pretty normal. Luckily she's not with other kids and biting them. That become much more important to correct quickly. 

JanuarysBaby1

Anyone still having the biting issue? Gina is still biting and she hits! No matter how many times I reprimand her throughout the day she still continues to do it. First she'll bite me and than hits me after I'll tell her no! So fresh.. 

krrpe99

No biting here, but the hitting is getting awful. It reared its head several months ago, but then went away. It's back with a vengeance. I have to try not to laugh, because it's actually hilarious. Her little face as she about to whack me cracks me up. I really hate it though, so I immediately reprimand her and put her down. I'm not sure how much that really helps. I think it's just something they grow out of (I hope so anyway.)

stephanienjer

Birdie will hit when excited. It tends to hurt and it tends to be targeted toward me. For a lot of sessions, I would grab her hand and stroke my face while telling her "gentle." I then do it back to her. Now, about 60% of the time, that works. If that doesn't work and she's corrected, I put her straight down on the floor and walk away from her. 
We are on the other side of biting, though. In 6 days of daycare, she was bitten 4 times! The first three times was the same little boy, who has developmental disabilities and a full head of teeth. For those, it was just wrong place, wrong time. I was frustrated with the workers that they weren't monitoring playtime for those. The last time was because she decided to hit somebody else, and that girl hauled off and bit her. While I don't love retaliation for bad behavior, I can understand why the other little girl felt like she needed to do it.