Biting

Jennifer - posted on 07/27/2010

My 15 month old thinks it is hilarious to bite. He is slowly getting out of the stage and now he usually just goes up to his older brother and barely bites his brothers shirt just to get a rise out him. Our home health nurse told me that babies bite when they are happy, sad , mad, etc. She also told me to tell him what mood he is in when he bites like for instance if he is happy when he bites I have to say "Adrien, I know you're happy but you don't bite. That hurt's mommy." So that way he knows what he is feeling. At first I thought it wasn't working but he hasn't bitten anyone in awhile or atleast not on purpose. He'll bite me while breast feeding but that's only when he has fallen asleep.

Tarrin - posted on 07/19/2010

my son is exactly the same i do the same and get the same reaction i dont know what to do either just know your not alone

Sarah - posted on 07/18/2010

We had a problem with my son biting me and other kids at daycare. For him it was when he was teething or very tired and frustrated. I usually say "No Bite!" and set him down. Or I hand him a teether and tell him "don't bite mommy bite this" Persistence and consistency will eventually work. Good Luck!

Jennifer - posted on 07/16/2010

My little one does this too. Ive started saying 'no' and putting her on a rug in the living room every time where she cries and comes back to me.
Ive heard though that its a sign of affection... they dont know it hurts you... its like a super big kiss to them!

Stayce - posted on 07/14/2010

My oldest child used to bite me hard. He would leave bruises on my arm because he would latch on and not let go. I would flick him in the mouth. It would at least make him release. I did get to the point where i did bite him back and he stopped. My baby now is 15 months. When i am sitting on the couch he will come up and bite me in the leg or my pants. I flicked him in the cheek and he has stopped. Not to hard, just enough to make it uncomfortable.

Susan - posted on 07/14/2010

dont give him attinttion so he will never bite you again

Ink - posted on 07/14/2010

First thing we had to do was teach the baby what HURT means. Use your own word, Hurt just happens to be what made that light bulb come on over my baby's head. Any time he hurts himself we always use the word HURT. Did you HURT my table? Does that still hurt? Does your mouth HURT?
Once I was sure he knew the word hurt... I tell him when he hurts me that it HURT! He has the association, he knows what hurt means, and he stands there soaking it in... he hurt me.
I act like him when he bites me. If he falls and hurts himself he does his regular melt down routine. He learned from Aunt Sandy about 'shake it off' so he shakes whatever hurts. I do the same. If he bit me in the belly trying to bite my shirt... I grab my belly, roll into the floor and wail like he does. I roll around and tell him "you HURT me" I screw up my face to look like his pout. I cry like he does and I try to shake it off like he does. This put a stop to his biting. It took me about three or four 'pretend meltdowns' to get through to him, but we seriously do NOT see him biting people anymore.
No hitting, no biting back no thumping him in the face... just use his OWN language and communicate with him the way he knows to communicate.

Pam - posted on 07/14/2010

I am sorry to hear about your 14 month old, but glad I am not the only one. I have a 15 month old who does exactlly the same thing. I will be reading the advice for some help too!

Anna - posted on 07/13/2010

Is he teething? I would maybe bite back a little harder- he needs to know it really hurts, and consistency on your part- sometimes I would give a little flick with my finger to the side of his face right near his mouth and say do not bite. That helped for me.

Lisa - posted on 07/13/2010

"Slapping" a 14 month old is no way to deal with any 'problem', behavioural or otherwise. My 15 month old bites too and I say No Biting, Mommy - Biting hurts Mommy....and she will stop and kiss me instead. I think they are trying to tell us something, probably that their teeth are aching. At that age, they don't know any other way to express pain, or excitement, and it is our job to help them learn the words. May I suggest to you that using WORDS works much better, than any physical action will. What will you do when the next thing he does is hit when he doesn't like something you are doing to him? -- they do learn from example.

Mary - posted on 07/13/2010

My son Adrian always bites his twin brother Dante whenever he gets angry. He even bites me sometimes too. But Dante NEVER bites Adrian.

Una - posted on 07/13/2010

My sister's boy used to do that when he was about 15months onwards, but he never bites anyone just clothes or receiver blankets. She starts applying some teething jell and powders and it stops. This was happening everytime when a teeth is about to pop out. Try that maybe it will help.

Gina - posted on 07/12/2010

I have been told it is normal. Also, I have noticed that my son only does it when he is teething. I think his gums must itch and my shirt feels good. I think he is trying to bite my shirt and not me but accidentally gets me sometimes. It is very difficult for him when we tell him not to bite but he has this urge from teething to bite.

Renee - posted on 07/10/2010

My son went through a period of doing this really bad, especially on the shoulder when i was carrying him. The nurse told me to try & link a trigger to it, something that happens every time because it is usually something they do when they are teething because the sensations are there but its more so relieving frustration.
I pinpointed that my son did it when he was getting tired or if we were out & about when he was over stimulated.....
I just kept being consistent with 'No! No biting" and then following through by putting him in his pram/bed/carseat or carrying him the opposite way so he couldnt bite-

Some people have said it can also be an attention thing but that worked for me. It took about 2-3 weeks & even now when he is teething he wont bite.
Just make sure your consistent with the same reaction every time & that he has teethers and things he knows he is allowed to bite on.

Brittany - posted on 07/09/2010

My son does this to and I believe it is in part of teething...They tend to go through this stage and you have to reprimand them and lately we have been trying time out where he must sit for a minute after each incident and usually he sits the whole time and goes on about his business playing. If your son is walking you can carry him less or put him down when he does this.

Lisa - posted on 07/09/2010

My 15 month old daughter has gotten 2 warnings from daycare about her biting other kids and teachers. I put her down or walk away when she tries to bite me or my son, but I can't do that at school. They told me its when she gets tired, instead of whining or crying she gets aggressive. We're trying out the time out in school and at home... so we'll see how that goes.

Claire - posted on 07/09/2010

my youngest is 14mths old and bites her sisters. tell her in a firm tone do not bite, biting hurts and take him away/put her down. under NO circumstances should you ever slap or bite a baby of this age. they haven't learned empathy yet and don't understand why you are hurting them. leave biting back till much older!

Emma - posted on 07/09/2010

I have a 14 month old daugther and she sometimes bites into my cloths when iam sitting down or when iam standing up and when she does it i put her down at her toys and say "no" in that tone of voice.

Eleanor - posted on 07/08/2010

My son did the same thing. Putting him down and saying "no biting mummy" worked for me too - biting was often to get attention so I had to show him it wouldn't work. Also the teething thing, the biting was always worse when his mouth was sore.

Michele - posted on 07/08/2010

Have you tried any of the teething pills for the teething they work so good on my twin girls i use dthe hylland teething Pills and they r the best I know they r working b/c my girls eat their hands all day but when I give them this stuff their hands arent in their mouths anymore so far so good you can find it in th eteething section of any drug stores or babies rus

Wendy - posted on 07/06/2010

Thanks for the advise, yes he just got his 4 molars and is working on his top canines now, so i think the sore teeth have a lot to do with it. He seems to mainly bite when he is upset or grizzly which Im guessing is because of his teeth. I tell him no biting and give him something that he is allowed to bite but he still tries to bite me first, i suppose im the closest available object to bite!!

Katie - posted on 07/04/2010

Tell him in an angry tone"Teeth arnt for biting, or no biting". Put him straight down and walk away. Once you walk away it means hes not getting your attention. He is obviously trying to tell you something or get a response so he will learn that biting doesnt get him anywhere. And he will hopefully come up with a more positive way of attention seeking

ALEXIA - posted on 07/03/2010

my daughter never bit, but my son does! he bites my daughter when they are playing! so sad. he usually does it when hes excited:( i haven't figured out how to stop it..if i say anything he cries. goodluck!

Stina - posted on 07/02/2010

My dd took a few chomps at my shoulder about a month ago. As soon as she bit me, I placed her on the floor saying "Ouch! No biting!" She cried b/c she didn't want to be out of my arms and in a few seconds I picked her up again.

The next time I felt she was about to bite me, I stopped her mid-chomp and set her down again. "NO Biting Mommy."

She stopped biting me about as fast as she seemed to have started after a few exiles from my arms.

Sounds like this may have become a bit of a habit with your son so It may take a little longer. When he bites your clothes, treat it like an actual flesh bite with the same brief out of arms time out.

It can also help to give him something he can chew on. He may be working on Molars and is biting b/c his mouth hurts.