Biting -- help!

thiswillbe

DS and DD have gotten into biting each other when they are frustrated or when one steals a toy from the other (and there is a lot of toy stealing, unfortunately). We try to catch them before they do it and redirect them, but sometimes we can't get there in time or don't see them. At daycare yesterday, DS bit DD on her back hard enough to leave a mark (which was a little surprising, since DD bites more often and harder than DS does).

What can I do to decrease the biting in the first place? What do you do afterwards if one has bitten the other? We say "no biting" in a firm voice, and if one has succeeded in biting the other we sit them down a little way away from us for a few seconds and go comfort the other one, but neither thing seems to be decreasing their tendency to bite.

finallyreilly

DD is my biter, but DS does it every once in awhile.  We brought it up with our pedi yesterday to get her  thoughts.  She said at this age they still don't completely know right from wrong so punishing them is hard.  She said for small things (like getting into something they shouldn't) you can tell them 'No' and then use distraction methods to get them away from it.  For biting and hitting, you can be a little more aggressive and tell them 'No' and then do timeouts in a crib or pack and play for about a minute.  Stay with them in the room where you put them but don't speak or engage with them.