Any advice for a biting 2 and 1/2 year old? Already been kicked out of 2 daycares :(

Kevlyn - posted on 12/14/2009

Have you tryed to bite him when he bites? That's how I got my oldest to finally quit biting... It took a few times for her to learn but it worked... I also realized that the only time she got really bad about biting was when she would be cutting a new tooth...

Cassandra - posted on 12/14/2009

I guess I was very lucky. Sabin bit me one time when we were playing on the couch. I just stopped playing, put him on the floor and firmly said "if you bite mommy isn't going to play with you anymore..now go in there with your dad". He cried as if I had spanked him and every since that day I've never had a problem with biting again. He gets bit alot at daycare but thank God he's never picked it up and bit anyone himself.

Kylie - posted on 12/13/2009

My son bit twice (me and his dad) the first time I told him no it hurts, (he was about 2 at the time also) the second time his dad bit him back and he hasnt bitten again. It does seem harsh but the longer it goes on for the harder its going to be to et him out of the habit.
Also I dont know how well ur son communicates but they say biting from a young child is a communication issue. ie when they are angry or upset they bite. Tell him your teeth are for biting food and if he is angry he should use his words and tell mummy/daycare person..
Hope this helps
good luck

Janet - posted on 12/13/2009

This problem your are having with your child is serious. You need to stop him from biting immediately. I have heard of two ways to stop bitters. The first way is as Corynn stated in an earlier post. Every time he bites, bite him back, just hard enough so he knows that biting hurts, not hard that you leave a bite mark but just enough so it hurts him. You biting your husband means nothing, he can't feel the hurt and may actually think its a game. So that every time he bites, that means that mom bites dad too.
-The second way is to tell him that biting is dirty. That whenever he bites he is getting germs into his mouth that can make him sick. So when he bites you need to get out some soap and give his tongue a little wash with the soap! Soap tastes awful, and after a few washings he may understand what the consequences are when he bites.

Georgia - posted on 12/13/2009

I agree with Corynn, as well as keeping up the time outs. Perhaps if a time out isn't working, maybe a time out from a favourite toy. That works more for my son than a regular time out. I've also done the biting thing. My son bit his baby brother on the back one day and made him cry, so I bit him. He yelped and I explained that's what it feels like. The next time he thought about biting, I told him that I'd bite him and he stopped. It's never happened since.

The only other time my son's bitten (he was only about 18 months at the time) was when he was angry or felt threatened by someone. The neighbour's younger daughter used to be the target most of the time because she'd try to physically make him do something he didn't want to do, such as picking him up and moving him from where he was happily playing or trying to force him to play a game. She used to fuss with him a lot, and it would piss him off and he'd bite. This could be what's happening at preschool.

Good luck!

Jen - posted on 12/13/2009

My son, who is 2 1/2, never really had a problem with it, however, he did bite one of his friends pretty hard at daycare. My daycare lady put just a dab of hot sauce in his mouth. He hasn't done it since.

Alina - posted on 12/13/2009

i agree with Corynn, i have had to resort to this to teach all of my kids that biting is not ok. you dont have to do it so hard it marks him for it to hurt. they get the picture pretty quickly that if they get bit when they bite its no fun anymore.

Corynn - posted on 12/13/2009

instead of doing time out and biting ur husband to show him it hurts, bite him to show him how it hurts... ask him after u bite him if it hurt (do it hard enough to hurt a little but not too hard) and when he says yes tell him that thats what other people feel when he bites them.... it might take a lil bit but he will def. learn soon enough that he does not like to be bit and he will stop.... good luck!